See mamma had been living it up in China and emptied my Korean bank account. No worries though payda

To what shall I compare thee, Hong Kong? City that stole my heart in 4 short days? Despite foul weather and cramped living quarters? If I think about it, my taxi ride from the airport to HK island reminded me of one of those bus trips you take around Sun City
Arriving in Hong Kong after a week and a half of very successful, timeous and well planned solo-travelling in China, I was very confident in my abilities. If I can survive in a developing buy flight ticket country I can surely survive in her developed daughter, the so-called gem of the orient and former British territory. This card is not suitable for this type of transaction account error Please contact your bank . Fuck.
See mamma had been living it up in China and emptied my Korean bank account. No worries though payday was just 24 hours away, so I thought I would use my South African account in the interim. FNB the most innovative bank in the world had other ideas. For some reason buy flight ticket it said I had withdrawn cash, yet the ATM dispensed none and froze my account. In another timezone and with no money I was truly screwed. Thank the lord for the free WiFi at the very glamorous HK International Airport, that way I could have my lifesaving friend Zachary transfer me some cash to my Korean account. Problem number two? It was 2AM I would have to wait till the banks open at 6. UGH
Nestling in with the nomads buy flight ticket who were waiting for their flights I thought I would have a few quiet, if frustrating, hours of waiting. The travelling gods had other ideas. Out of nowhere, a women dressed in very interesting and colorful garb stormed at me and seemingly singled me out of the many other foreigners who were chilling at the terminal.
You want to work for me? This woman, obviously homeless and disheveled asks me. I was like, Uhm, I have a job thanks! Long story short, in the space of two hours, this woman offered me a job at her school , showed me very disturbing photographs of her students dancing in masks loosely taped to blank paper pages of a book , showed me her costume collection (that she carries around in her bag), offered me another job, to distribute her clothes in Korea (what clothes MAD WOMAN!!!), and even gave me a hat to take with me. LORD. If I wasn t so damn petrified, buy flight ticket I would have ran away. I don t know what drew this creature, fowl breath and all, to me. But when she said she was to take a nap, I was out of there like no one s business.
Money transferred, I was finally out of the airport, glimpsing a sunrise through the mist over the mountainous city. Then I saw it, what seemed like an Emerald City. Maybe this is where the Sun City feeling came in. As you arrive at the gates of SA s favorite play park, hoards of the less fortunate attack as you fill up your car or stock up on some booze for the weekend. All the angst is forgotten though when you see the Palace buy flight ticket reaching towards the sky. ANYWAY, I was in a taxi and on my way to my hotel, finally.
As we all know, Hong Kong was ceded to the British due to the Opium Wars blah blah blah in 1886 and was given back to the Chinese in 1997 under the agreement that its government system would remain unchanged for 50 years. So while I was technically in China, I wasn t. It was so glamorous. I hate to say it, but China was a little bit scary, not in a bad way, just in a keep your wits about you kind of way. South Africa, buy flight ticket my beloved homeland, is the same. So it was nice to let go of my over careful travelling persona and just soak up the glam as I would in the protected resort that is Sun City.
Hong Kong has an energy of a thriving modern city with the backbone of years of culture and tradition. After settling into my very cramped quarters at the so-called Alisan Guest House (staff were fine, but don t expect service with a smile) I walked the streets of Causeway Bay and I was hooked. Bamboo buy flight ticket scaffolding, traditional fish markets seemed naturally located at the base of the electric chapels of consumerism: the tall skyscrapers that give HK her iconic skyline.
The feeling of being contained was reinforced by a few subway lines that easily and cheaply transport you across the length and breath of the tiny territory buy flight ticket with a dedicated line to Disney Land even! I loved how the city functioned as a unit. The harbour light show at 8pm everynight was a treat-for-the-eye example of this synergy while the downtown airport buy flight ticket check-in was convenient and another reminder that there was logic working for this city. I felt that someone buy flight ticket wanted buy flight ticket to make sure I was having the best time possible, as if I was at a metropolis themed resort, which brings me to point number buy flight ticket three.
Imagine walking into a bar and you are told Vodka is free for the next two hours not just at one, but at many bars. Why? Who knows! But I was taking advantage of that. I made the nicest friends. Ken, Colin Edward were three locals who didn t hesitate to make me feel welcome and show me all the local sights. Whether it was a nighttime cruise buy flight ticket on the star ferry, taking the tram up to Victoria Peak or singling out the happening night spots in Central buy flight ticket and Soho, accompanying me to the encroaching squalor of Kowloon (with streetfood) or chatting at the chic yet affordable places to eat the deliciousness that is Dim Sum like Din Tai Fung. I was truly blessed to have met them mostly because as an international city it is easy to get caught up with this cross-cultural quality of the city, but these guys showed me how locals lived and I loved it. Add to that as a newbie, people were interested and I felt like a super star. Succesful people, who earn more than I will probably ever earn, didn t scoff at me for being an English Teacher, were friendly, buy flight ticket and my favorite part, were generous with insisting on picking up the tab (I did too a few times, #justsaying).
While I visited some touristy essentials, like Man Mo Temple, the captivating Hong Kong Museum of History, the afore mentioned Victoria Harbour Cruise and Peak, as well as the cheesy Avenue of Stars, for me Hong Kong was not about the sights. It was about plugging into an energy of a city I could easily see myself living in. After speaking to two of my friends who also recently ventured there solo, I am glad to say their experience was similar: a trip to meet people and live, albeit for 4 days, the life of a local on a stage framed always by the beautiful skyline. Sadly the constant rain prohibited me from being an obsessive tourist and visiting outlying buy flight ticket sights like Po Lin with her giant Buddha, or the actual buy flight ticket gambling capital of the area, fabulous Macau. The solution? Plan my next break to my two-hour flight (same time it took me to drive to Sun City!) away pleasure resort, and possible future home (haha), fabulous Hong Kong.
And there we have it! A short 8 hour layover at Beijing Capital international (ㅠㅠ curse you stupid travel agency ㅠㅠ) and I was back in Korea. My summer break has come to an end. Next week, I will churn on as before, catching you up on my activities in my home away from home, beautiful 한국. Click through Monday as I report back from a (half) marathon along the border with North Korea, the dreaded DMZ. Bam Bam Bam.