"Wait Deanna take a video of me being normal"

So I guess I finally learned that Hong Kong is in fact totally separate from China… there was some discussion about this before we arrived. Nevertheless, I got my next stamp - still debating whether or not to count it as its own country since it is an international city but I will determine that by the end of this blog, I promise.

Hong Kong was a blur, but a fun blur. It is one of the places that surprised me most so far. As I described it to my brother on the phone, it is high end but unique. I arrived by plane from Beijing in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day wandering the mall which was attached to the port terminal and walking to my hotel to check in. Before we did all that, however, we had to take a 30-minute taxi to the port, wander through a mall, and find the entrance to the security for the ship. By the time we got on the ship, I was drenched in sweat from the mild heat.

Deanna joined me for these festivities and we made a little roomie date out of it before forcing Kelly to join us for the 30-minute trek to the Holiday Inn express - don’t worry it was only 20 minutes because we are speedy.

The walk to the hotel was interesting, it started out along the mall and continued with other shops until we hit an intersection where it did a 180. We ended up walking through an area which reminded me a bit of the less touristy parts of New York City. As we walked we explored the underground tunnel system which acts as both an access to the trains and an underground crosswalk.

The hotel itself was nice, we checked in, used the wifi to find something to do for the evening and the next day, and then made our way back to meet up with Valeria for dinner. We had dinner in the mall at this Korean place. The food was pretty good but it took us a while to order because we did not realize you had to be pushy and call a waitress over. It was pretty different than the States and some people in our group were starting to get frustrated. In the end, it all worked out and we ate our food peacefully next to a window with a close-up view of the ship right next to us.

That night I went with Jackie, Chantal, Laurel, and the twins to the next island over (still in Hong Kong) to explore the nightlife. We had an amazing time and met a bunch of people from all over the world. It was such a cool experience. Three girls we talked two were from all across Europe - from Spain to England - and had all met when they moved to Hong Kong for work. The night pretty much went on like that as we made airway through the streets exploring and talking to people. It was a great night which ended with a nice long taxi drive and a comfortable bed.

The next morning I woke up and went to check out, Kelly and Valeria met me in the lobby after their morning stroll from the ship. We wandered the city, getting lost until we found the entrance to the underground tunnel. Our goal was to find a lake and park on the outskirts of the city to wander through. We ended up at Nan Lian garden, a traditional Chinese garden. The garden was huge and BEAUTIFUL. it was like a mix of central park in NYC and Falls Park in Greenville but times 15. Imagine a legit garden with a reflecting pool and fish and temples in the middle of a city and being able to look up and see skyscrapers and mountains in the same view. breathtaking. Not only that, there was so much culture and history - we walked through a temple in the garden as well as a small one-story building which acted as a museum about how to build traditional buildings from wood. As I walked through the temple, there were statues and rock sediments on pedastools with quotes on them. If you know me, you know my love for quotes and probably guessed I walked and read every single one. The one that stuck out to me the most was said by Zhuang Zi: “heaven and earth and I were born at the same time. I am one its everything.” The quote stuck out to me because at that moment, walking along the path with locals and tourists alike, I felt peaceful and happy. It was the Chinese new year and I found myself relaxed and intrigued as I explored yet another amazing new place and watched it become less and less “foreign” right before my eyes.

Nevertheless, we had to leave the garden. We made airway back to the train station - aka across the street - and back down the island towards the boat. By the time we got back we only had about 3 hours until we had to be back for OST (On Ship Time). We decided we wanted to find a yummy hole in the wall place to experience our last meal. That was exactly what we did. The food was delicious and we were a few blocks from the port. When we first got there, we were handed plastic stools and told to sit at a table with a family that was finishing their meal. Confused, we took our seats and started looking at the menu. Eventually, we were shown our own table. This was an interesting concept, instead of making us wait for a table to open up, they just sat us somewhere random and waited to move us. Not to worry, when we were ready to order, we knew to “obnoxiously” call over a waiter and we ate our food quickly before heading back home to the ship!

Looking back, this city was amazing. It had everything from beaches to mountains to skyscrapers. the people were both locals and travelers. Being there on Chinese New Year was an experience all on its own, although we missed the parade because we left port for Viet Nam. Because it was so different from everything I've experienced, I’ve decided to count it as its own country, after all as an international city it has its own rules. So thank you to number 55 - I’ll be back!