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Hello Friends, Family, and others who I just added to be nice...
Ever wonder what it's like to wake up in alone in very strange place halfway around the world?...
Scary. But back to that later...
I know that many of you enjoy lots of details, so I will do my best.
Our story begins in terminal 7 of JFK International Airport. Moving forward, I will refer to it as the "fancy terminal (because it is home to fancy airlines, including mine, Cathay Pacific)." After a delicious sandwich (salami and swiss), I wandered the airport until the gate opened, the plan being to change my seat to a window seat, as I like to rest my head on the wall. Luckily for me, I found a nice man with an aisle seat who was willing to switch with me.
As I made my way to 32K, I was forced to walk past the business class section. Let me pause here to say that you are a sucker if you weren't in business class. The seats were like thrones, beds, and forts all in one. You know when you fly you always hope you get somebody good/pretty/etc to sit next to (yes Silveman, I'm still jealous of that story). Well I'm not that lucky. I sat next to Benjamin. Benjamin is 2. Benjamin cries. Benjamin drools. Benjamin kicks in his sleep. Luckily for me, Benjamin's parents, and the rest of the plane, I happen to be an expert with two year olds (who said Club Med was a waste of time...). It turns out we liked the same food (pasta), enjoyed the same TV shows (SpongeBob), and both liked the same songs (All the Single Ladies). And after an ominous beginning, both Benjamin and I went to sleep.
Otherwise, the flight was uneventful, but for people who like this kind of stuff, I had my choice of 70 different movies (between drug induced naps, I watched the Matrix: Revolutions, clearly the worst of the trilogy, and He's Just Not That Into You, which I think is quikly moving up on Matt's Favorite Movie list), 100 TV shows, and loads of games.
We arrived in Hong Kong on time, and I found a train that took me to my hotel, which is on the Island of Kowloon. Being completely disoriented, I ended up ordering room service, and switching back and forth between Wimbledon and the Yankee game (apparently the Chinese LOVE the Yanks!).
I then went to sleep. When I woke up, it was 6:00 AM, and, being scared, lonely, and jetlagged, I figured I should sleep a bit more. The next thing I knew, it was NOON! To be completely honest, it was a bit lonely the first morning. Luckily my stash of anti-anxiety pills are in full stock, so, I got myself up, showered, and out. My plan was to go to Victoria Peak, where I was told I would get a nice view of the city. Not quite knowing what to do about food, I left the hotel and made my way to Victoria Harbour, one of the main harbors in the city. During my walk, I learned the following things...
1. Everyone carries an umbrella here in the summer, because it rains all the time
2. The Indian salesman on the streets (no offence to any of my Indian friends) are more pushy than any other salesmen I have encountered. One of them actually followed me for 3 blocks. No, I did not buy a custom suit.
Anyways, after a 20 minute walk from my hotel, I took the Star Ferry Line across the harbor from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island (a MUST DO according to my guide pamphlet that I got from the airport information desk). After the ferry (which was 5 minutes, but pretty cool, I looked for signes to the tram that takes people to the peak). As I was looking, I noticed two non-asian people looking at a map and decided to say hello. It turned out that they were looking for a bus to the tram, so I suggested we walk together. They were a couple; the guy, Rob, was from Texas and had been living in Beijing for 3 years, and his girlfriend, Iva, was from Croatia, and went to school in Beijing. We decided to go up to the peak together, where we had lunch (I hadn't eaten all day) and saw nice views of the city. Also, the top of Victoria peak is where the rich people live (most of them are white). We started walking around, and there were mansions all over, each of which had at least one Ferrari and one Porcha (I suggested we knock on the door and make friends, but I was shot down). After being caught in a torrential downpour, the three of us headed down the mountain, and ended up meeting up for dinner that night. All in all, a pretty good first day...
Day 2:
Up at 11 (stupid jetlag). Today's plan was to go to the giant buddah (in fact, the biggest buddah in the world). I got on the train (the HK subway is awesome and easy), and went the end of the line, where I then got on a cable car with great views of the city and surrounding areas. The cable car took me to the buddah. I ended up riding with three native Honk Kong (ers, ians,?), all 22 and working in the city. There were 2 girls, and one boy, and it was his 22nd birthday. We ended up taking funny pictures and singing him happy b-day in the cable car (in Chinese), which was funny. They then invited me to have lunch with them, which we did after climbing up about 200 steps to see the Buddah.
I am now back in the hotel and on my way to meet my friends from yesterday for dinner and some fireworks show before we go for a night out.
Things to note:
1. There are TONS of 7-11's here. Kinda weird.
2. Teva's are awesome, and back in (thanks mom)
3. If anybody will wait until I get back to see the new Harry Potter movie, I will pay for your ticket.
8:30 AM flight tomorrow to Bangkok...more to come.
Looking forward to witty posts...nothing inappropriate (sp? no spell check here) please.
Matt
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Balaban in your mouth
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First Comment
Salami and swiss huh?