gb2/hk/

First day in HK! Well, technically, its my second, but I'm writing about the first.

I got to HK an hour and 15 minutes early; a pretty fast flight. Alex met me at the airport, and we went back to his place. God, I love my room. (Photo from last year; it has hardly changed):



We tried to catch up on sleeping, so we could actually use the day productively. Naturally, we ended up taking for 3-4 hours and only sleeping 1.

His dad came back from Taipei for 3 hours - just to see how Alex was doing. Then he went back to Taipei after lunch (we had pecking duck).

First thing we did was hit the arcade, but we didn't play much. The arcade is much more than an arcade really, we just refer to it as such. There are multiple restaurants, stores, ice cream stores, bakeries, etc. Brings back memories of being here with Jen, haha. Good times.

We headed down to MX, like we always do, and I tried a new flavor of their drinks (named Spunky Monkey xD). It was really good! Pineapple and other fruits.


We walked around the arcade and went to the bookstore (named Page One). Alex has $300+ USD of gift certificates there :P. We also got some drumsticks at the instrument store.

We left the World Trade Center (where the arcade is), and took the MTR to Wan Chai, where 188 is. 188 is basically a center for technology. They specialize in gaming, but in building/modding systems rather than playing. I looked around, but I hadn't exchanged any money to HKD, so it was mostly just window shopping.

We went to other places in Wan Chai, but nothing really worth mentioning. We were just hanging around the streets.

Going back to Causeway bay (where the World Trade Center is), we headed to the Lee Gardens, where we shopped and just enjoyed the fact that we were in HK. We had dinner shortly after, at the Lee Gardens. It was a restaurant named Cova; the food was delicious (and expensive xP).

Again, we went to the bookstore. I was looking for a book named The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, but they didn't have it in stock. They said the store in Tsim Sha Tsui had it, so we'll be heading there today.

We called Alan after hanging at the bookstore for an hour or so, and headed home. At home, we opened a bottle of sake and played some Go. We ended up playing speed Go, and then just dropping the game because both of us were pretty tired (he and I didn't get much sleep. Me because of jet lag from US, him from jet lag from Europe).

We checked some things online, mostly concerning what we'd do the following day (today). We're probably going to check out some kick-stores, go to the other book store to find my book, go to the bank so I can exchange money...Not sure what else. Looks like a great day so far though =]

I suck at planning

wow i screw up so badly.

so on the 5th, i decided to get my permit (or at least take the test) and when i got there, they were like "you need proof of signing up for lessons, something something, something something, and fill out this form. so i went back home, got the stuff, but i supposedly had senior portraits, so i ended up not going. After reaching FUCKING SAN JOSE for senior portraits, i found out it was July 3rd, 5:00 not July 5th, 3:00. -____-;;

hooray for me.

Last post

Well, that last post helped a lot; as much as I want to go, it's not so bad that I dread staying here.

Yesterday I went to the beach (Boardwalk) with my family. I fell asleep for 5 hours there, so I didn't do very much. But when I woke up, everything was dark, and the beach reminded me of HK again.

They set off fireworks at 10PM, which was nice. The food was better than I expected. I never touched the water - the mood just wasn't right. We ate and I wandered around for a bit. They had an arcade which had some fun games (Dance Maniax) but I only played once or twice. Again, the mood just didn't fit. I guess some things are best left to HK. I'd rather enjoy these moments to their fullest in HK than half-ass them here.

Not much else to say...apart from 7 DAYS LEFT.

Hello, World!

Hi everyone,
I just started this blog because I'm going to Hong Kong on the 11th. I'm psyched, I'm pumped, and I'm schizophrenic. With no way to release these pent-up emotions, I've decided to put them into words.

I'll probably post about last year's trip to HK with each day; the memories become more vivid as the 11th draws nearer.

In fact, I feel like going over a day right now.

I woke up at around 10 AM, and Alex was still asleep. Going into his room, I borrowed his laptop to make a few emails to my parents/family. Playing DS for a bit, it soon reached 12, and Alex woke up. I went downstairs and requested his maids and Benny (the house caretaker) to prepare lunch. It was the best curry ever (eggplant! So weird, yet amazingly good). There was also toast, orange juice, tuna (for Alex, I don't usually like fish), a beef and broccoli dish, and rice. I even recall Alex and me spilling a bit of orange juice at the exact same time, and we laughed about it.


Completely random substory: I called Alex on skype a few days ago, and I talked to Benny :P He said he was preparing tons of food for me haha (I loved Benny's cooking)

Around 2 we asked his driver (Alan) to bring us to the Pacific Place, where we shopped and played in the arcade.

Completely Random Sub-Story: (A different day) So we had a friend, named Jenny, and we wanted her to come into the arcade with us. For those of you who aren't familiar with HK laws, you must be older than 16 to enter the arcade. Being a freshman, she was still 15. I gave her my passport, and they looked at it, looked at her, and looked back at the passport, and let her go. XD

Anyway, after getting a drink at MX (sort of like a wannabe Jamba Juice, but even better cause they're healthier) we walked to the subway and took it to Mong Kok. We wandered all over the street shops there, along with some of the formal shops. I bought a shirt or two, and we hung around there for a few hours.

Another random substory: We were taking the subway one day, and I saw somebody carrying a new PSP. Thinking he didn't understand English, I said (aloud) to Alex, "You hold him, I'll take the PSP and run." Unfortunately, he did understand English and so did the people around us. Fortunately, he took it for a joke (which it was!)

Approaching 6:00, we called up Stephen (a friend I met in HK, and the driving force behind my effort to go to HK again) and we decided to go out together for dinner. We ended up going to a Japanese restaurant, because Alex and Stephen wanted to get me used to eating fish (and it was damn good at that), and because Alex wanted Kobe beef (orgasmic. 'nuff said).

We ordered a rather large bottle of Sake, which we shared. It must've been really good, cause I drank quite a bit...

Finishing dinner, we headed to Stephen's house, and we talked and swam (in his swimming pool/backyard mostly..it's beautiful)



While we were at his house, I recall talking about one of those "isolation chambers" or something, where you go into a huge sphere and it seals off all of your senses.

I also started reading Generation S.L.U.T. that night; that book was as weird as hell.

At about midnight, we decided to go out for some ice cream. Stephen drove us out to the beach (they have little stores there) and we grabbed some ice cream. We sat there, munching away, watching the ebb of the ocean. Alex started to dance around with his feet in the water, and, after he had finished the ice cream, Stephen tackled him and they both went in. Seeing their carefree joy, I had to join them.

Swimming around until 2 AM or so, we lay on the beach - relaxing and watching the stars.

Finally, around 3AM, Stephen dropped us off at Alex's house. On the way in, I had to pet Muji, Alex's dog. The cutest, most lovable dog ever.





Going into Alex's house, we soon fell fast asleep. The day had been a perfect one - just like the 17 days surrounding it.

Thanks for reading; that was great to relive in my head. Sorry its not too descriptive, I know that. But in my head...a slideshow is playing, and I can't find words to share it.

8 more days...