Hello all!
Here is my first blog entry abroad! It is far too long, I apologize, but wanted to write down everything that's happened to go back to. You guys are welcome to just skim! Nothing that exciting or crazy has happened yet, but here are my observations and what's happened so far!
I am currently in Hong Kong, which is a cool place, but I figure I should start off with my journey. So my twenty-four hours of travelling started in Houston, where I flew to Dallas. Pretty uneventful.
Then I flew to Tokyo - a wonderful 13 hour journey in coach. There were about 8 movie options. Of course, I made the smart choice to watch "Taken," which if you havnt seen it, is about two girls who go backpacking and get kidnapped to be put into the sex slave trade. It was all well and fine, because one of the girls' dad was in the CIA or something and could kill all the kidnappers. I love my dad, but he is just not skilled in that arena, so I did not find any comfort in its ending! I also watched "He's just not that into you." No comment there.
There are three main points I have to say about Tokyo (or I guess, just its airport).
First, I stood in three lines trying to get my boarding pass, because I just didnt think it was okay to go through security without one. But, in actual fact, the Japanese will come at you with masks and make sure you are not coughing or sneezing, but they will not care if you go up to the gate, sans ID and ticket. Yay national security.
Second, the bathrooms. The Japanese take their use of electronics even further than us... into the bathroom stalls. Besides cleaning your ass at a touch of a button, you can also press the button with the musical note, to play a noise immitating water to "muffle toilet noises" (quoted from the instruction manual on the wall). Also, you have the choice between the "American style toilet" and the "Japanese style toilet", i.e. toilet vs. hole in the floor. Still trying to figure out why one would choose the japanese style, but to each his own. I realize that may have been a rather gross bullet point, but i thought it was worth telling.
Third, the Diet Coke was really good - it was called "Coca Cola Enhanced" or some shit. It had vitamin C, so it was actually a healthy choice. And yes, I will probably update you on the Diet Coke in each country.
Ok, now for Hong Kong!
Thankfully, Anna was waiting for me at my baggage claim! So I was not left without a translator for long, not that you really need to know a whole lot of Chinese here. My bag got to Hong Kong safely with one of my granola bars next to it on the conveyor belt, and one granola bar missing. A loss I can deal with.
The first night was really rough - my parents paid for a nice hotel - and the flat screen tv, minibar, and soft beds were really hard to deal with... Anna and I went to a bar across the street for dinner and drinks. Entertainment consisted of a Chinese "band," who, among others, sang "Where is the Love" by Black Eyed Peas and "Take a Bow" by Rihanna (thought of Kali and Jackie - y'all better be reading this...). During their breaks, they played some great Eminem. Bryant finally got in during our bar excursion, where waiting for us, he saw a guy puke all over a 6'x6' area of the lobby, and watched his girlfriend photograph the whole event.
Yesterday, or maybe its today for y'all, we transferred to our hostel, which we knew would be exactly the same quality as our hotel. Hah. It is located in what is called the "Miradaor Mansion," where you walk through a few cheesy stores and people trying to sell you watches, and then line up for the elevator where a man sanitizes his hand everytime he presses the button for you (people are really taking this swine flu seriously). The building is currently under renovation, and so there are signs that say "Scaffolding invites invaders, be safe." Sweet. But through a fairly sketchy hallway, there is a door to our hostel which is actually quite nice and airconditioned. The bathroom is quite efficient - the sink, toilet, and shower are not separated, so you can pee and shower at the same time. Yipee! And the glass door that separates the room from the bathroom is see-through upon contact with water - so people can see in, but you actually can't see out. Something is wrong about that.
We walked around after checking in, but since we've gotten here, it has been continuously pouring, which does not make for great sightseeing. We went out though to a place called "Lan Kwai Fong" in the central district of Hong Kong, which was basically a block of bars, situated on a hill. We really had quite the cultral experience, starting off in "Agave" (the name of the plant that makes tequila) and drank tequila drinks and ate quesadillas. Then we went to an Irish pub where drinks were 2 for 1. Yipee. We ended at Reggae Night.
Today, we are going to Macao, because we figure, if its going to pour, we might as well be inside drinking and gambling. Ok I think my time is running out in the internet cafe. Miss you alllll.
