Hong Kong

I pride myself in my flight searching abilities, so when I found a round-trip flight for $250 directly to Hong Kong from Chiang Mai for the Chinese New Year, I gave myself a hefty pat on the back.  One of my good friends is currently living in Hong Kong, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to visit.  Only later did I learn that my flight was actually during the New Year celebrations, and that it arrived at 12:50am, just two minutes after the Express train stopped running for the night.  Luckily, I was able to easily find a cab from the airport.

Arriving to Steph's apartment at 1:30am, I felt fully awake, and full of excitement.  But, my actions might tell otherwise.  I paid the driver and subconsciously swung the door open...right as a bus was driving by.

"No, no, no, no, no..." the driver yelled, wincing in his seat.  For what might be the longest three seconds of my life, the taxi door skidded along the bus, until the bus came to a halt.

Amused passengers on the bus made sure to document the incident with their iPhones, as I stammered to find some words that might make the situation any better.  As traffic piled up behind the bus, I apologized profusely to the cab driver, while waiting to see what would happen next.  Police officers arrived at the scene a few minutes later chattering away in Cantonese as I stood there awkwardly.  To make a long story short, my first night in Hong Kong was a memorable one.



*In case you're wondering, the taxi had insurance to cover its repair, but I had to partially cover the damage to the bus.  Well, technically I'm sure I could have easily gotten out of it since they really had no way to contact me, but $250 wasn't such a terrible price to pay.

Hong Kong was basically as expected: an overcrowded international city with small apartments, the longest skyline I've ever seen, delicious pork buns and egg custard buns...and really nice beaches!