Farewell Los Angeles
My departure day to Hong Kong
05/30/2011
Woke up at 8 AM and did my usual morning scramble of last-minute packing. Why people enjoy packing is beyond me.. Once I threw all my crap into the luggage it was off to LAX! The entire time I was thinking to myself, when will it hit me? The days leading up to this trip have felt just like any other day. Checking-in was a smooth process. I managed to stay below the 50 lb. limit (fortunately). There was a mere 30-minutes left before boarding time, so we headed upstairs to grab a quick bite. I really had no appetite due to my nervousness. Leaving behind everything I'm familiar with and love made me uneasy!! On to top it off, I was leaving alone.
Upon reaching the gate, I was forced to say my final goodbye and "I love you" to my mom and Ricky. And then it hit me... I was really leaving! At that moment it was more bitter than sweet. I couldn't help being rather emotional. No, I didn't cry. Teary-eyed? Yes. I told myself to suck it up and pressed forward. It has been more than 5 years since the last time I boarded a plane, so I may have seemed like a kid at a candy store all wide-eyed. We took a bus to boarding station and I found myself checking out the people surrounding me to see who I would be stuck for the next 15 hours with. It would really suck to get stuck next to a crying baby, or someone who was constantly coughing and sneezing. Good thing that didn't happen! I got seated next to a nice Korean man and a man who seemed to be around my age named Douglas, or Doug for short.
The flight felt like a century. I hate long rides anywhere. My ass was sore, my feet were swollen, and my eyes were tired from watching back-to-back movies. I felt like a hot mess! I couldn't be anymore relieved when we reached Narita Airport and stood up. I ran into Doug again as we were looking at the screen for our connector flights and I'm glad because I have to admit I was pretty lost. As we were talking, I found out he works for Groupon in China, or Gao Peng as they call it (lol). It was so crazy! I totally live for Groupon. We chatted for a while until we had to go our separate ways. The guy knew his stuff.
I landed in Hong Kong around 10:15 PM. It was pretty weird seeing my dad again after all these years. We did a lot of catching up on our bus ride to Sai Wan Ho. It's the district I'm living in. There were tons of stores and stands still open selling Chinese sausage, stir-fried noodles, and etc. Mmm.. It all looked so good. I would've so bought something if I hadn't already stuffed my face on the plane. When I got to the place I met my grandpa's second wife, Chung Yi. I had no idea she was Thai! Crazyyy. She speaks way better Cantonese than me! The house is seriously the tiniest place, but that's pretty standard in Hong Kong. I would compare it to the size of my garage. It definitely took some getting used to.
Posted by jenniferfer 04:22 Archived in Hong Kong
