So the flight was like any other: cramped, long and with that peculiar smell in the air. We left Sydney at 15:50, leaving behind a tearful family and a close-to-tears boyfriend. The flight was only 8hrs32mins, so it wasn’t as long as anticipated. We both sat back and loved the video-on-demand service on Virgin Atlantic. This means you don’t have to wait for all the other movies to finish before you watch another one. It also means you can pause, rewind or fast-forward.

We got into Hong Kong at around 2130 local time. The immigration was rude and very slow (compared to Sydney), but customs was a breeze, having nothing to declare. After following the terrible directions of the map, we found the bus station. The double-decker bus took us to Tsuen Wan, which from there we caught a taxi to the hotel. Our shared confusion and plight must have shown on our faces as a young man asked where we were headed. We told him where and he said that it was the end of the line and he was getting off there too. After getting over my original paranoia (stemmed from the movie Taken) I realised he must be genuinely interested in helping us. So he showed us where to get off. When we told him which hotel we were headed too, Ken (our new friend) said he had never heard of it. Neither had the taxi driver. So Ken called directory assistance (on his own phone) and found out what the address was. In hind-sight, we should have probably checked this out when we had internet access.

The taxi was one of the scariest drives I’ve ever been. This includes a mini-cab in Bali. The driver clearly had never heard of keeping a constant speed and was constantly going up and down on the accelerator. Rather scary and caused sea-sick feeling. We arrived quite suddenly a the hotel (nearly killed by him turning off very quickly). Having never been outside Hong Kong airport before, we were both schoekd to see that Hong Kong was not as expected. We assumed it would be beautiful and clear and shiny, but it is as dirty and tatty as any other city is. Smog is a huge problem here, and I feel that my lungs have aged 20 years just by breathing in the air here.

It was nice to be able to have a shower and sleep. We both woke up in the morning feeling refreshed, if a little hungry (the plane food wasn’t excellent). We got safely back to the airport and munched down on foccacias. Very yummy, but I guess anything is compared to aeroplane food.

So we’re now waiting in Hong Kong airport, waiting for our check-in to open, so we can get through the gates and spend our millions on electronics. Hahahahahaha.

The following pics are of our adventures so far.

Love, light and peace, Em xox

Just in case you need to send a didgeridoo in time for Christmas.

After years of travelling, Em is still secretly afraid of flying.

Goodbye Sydney…

…and hello, Hong Kong!

Our hosts.

Our hotel room view. When you’re there, the smog seems worse.

Christmas at Hong Kong airport.