day 29! zhongxiaoxinsheng, taipei airport, hong kong

I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat, throbbing head, and sluggish everything else. Definitely felt like I was getting sick yet again. We had told my grandmother that we'd be over there at 10, but ended up waking up at 10 so we were in a rush to get out and get going. Had to toss some trash, package up some blankets, and then we were off. Cabbed over because of all the bags we had to bring.

When we got there she made a big fuss over us cuz apparently my aunt/cousins had been calling all morning trying to figure out what the plan was! My cousin was gonna offer to drive us from our apartment to our grandmother's because of all the bags, but we had no idea of any of that because we have absolute shit reception in my room. :| I felt bad for being a hassle to them but I also felt kind of resentful cuz it's not my fault we had no reception, plus she kept talking and fussing and I was just feeling sick and unable to communicate. Was also a bit worried about how I was going to get to the airport, as Michael and I were no longer planning to ride together, which meant I'd have to figure out how to bus back. I'd looked it up the night before but....it was just a lot of unknowns to conquer. How to get on the bus, how to get from HK airport to where I was staying, having to change money, ack! Too many hurdles.

But before that, lunch. Didn't have much of an appetite so I went to eat to get away from my grandmother more than for nutrition. 

We went to popomama's liang mian restaurant, cuz we just wanted something quick and reliable. Plus the lady there is cool and as Michael keeps saying, she wants to adopt me. >D

I feel obligated to post a pic of food, so here is what Michael had. :)  It is just gan mian ("dry noodles"), and they dress it up with whatever house sauce they have, I guess. It's good!! I like dry noodles way more than soup noodles.

After hanging out at the apartment a bit more, it was time to go. Michael walked me to the bus stop (there are a bunch around the area, but we found the right one) and after about a 10 minute wait and confirmation from some nice lady, I said bye to Michael, wished him good luck, and hopped on. :) Area 1 complete!

Checkin at the airport was very straightforward. I only brought a backpack and a handbag so nothing to check in. So I wandered.......and found.........

A pink abomination. D:

Just kidding!! But I DID take these just for you, Janet. I guess Eva Air has this special Hello Kitty promotion? Hello Kitty....marketing? going on. It definitely worked, there were lots of people taking their pics in and around this little booth. I think it was just normal Eva Air check in, but everything is pink and covered in bows....

Another view. It's shaped to look like the cabin of a plane.

Looks like really easy wallpaper to do for your room.

If hello kitty was my pilot, I would probably just grab my seat cushion and jump out the window. I mean, the guy doesn't even talk.

Even the checkin kiosks were decked out. :p It was pretty cute though, the hello kitty face would stare at you and then blink (cuz it's just a monitor).

This little booth caught my eye though, I think it's like a post office or something?

I met Pengu's cousin!! He is a mailman that travels the world bringing people their mail. :D

Oh the hello kitty epidemic also spread to the baby's changing rooms.

The Green Relaxing Zone!! There are chairs with massagers, and I think you can buy tea, so you can just sip tea and enjoy the greenery. My mom needs this place.

The flight was pretty non-memorable. Got a row of 2 seats too myself, slept for most of the trip.

This was our meal cuz we all know how much I luurrrvee airplane foods.

Ooooh! First sighting of Hong Kong.

 I did find the bus terminal ok....

....and baaarely managed to get out at the right stop, Metro Park hotel.

I met my airbnb host there, Andrew. He was a nice enough guy. My first impression was that he was rather odd. Really really softspoken and subdued, had kind of a strange, awkward way of looking at you. Not suspicious though, just, kind of made me pause for a second. Anyway he walked me back to his apartment, on Fa Yuen Street in Kowloon (after stopping to pick up his laundry first..I was like...dude, it's hot! >( bring me to the AC!!)

His place was nice, very very small, but perfectly fine for what I needed it for anyway. I'm kind of wishing I got pics.

This is what my room looked like. I'm backed up into the very corner of it so you can somewhat imagine how small it is. :p

Oh also, he lives on the 9th floor of a building with no elevators. Needless to say, my legs are very strong now.

So we chatted a bit, about HK and my plans and whatnot. I explained the whole visa thing, and the 2 night stay, and made it abundantly clear that I am very ignorant about HK history and geography. So he offered to chat it out over some dinner! That was pretty thoughtful, airbnb hosts often do socialize with their guests and/or provide insight for traveling, but of course aren't required to. Most do host because they enjoy being around people though.

We went to a traditional mom & pop HK cafe, where I was very quick to order a HK milk tea!!! :D It was sooooooo gooooood. I have not mentioned yet, but HK was damn hot that day. Hotter and muggier than Taiwan. The cafe was air conditioned to the temperature of a refrigerator, and the second I stepped back outside my glasses steamed up. :p

My entree was I think...pork and mushrooms cooked in XO sauce. I just saw XO and knew I had to have it.

We mainly chatted about personal stuff, and not HK, actually. I was pretty curious where he was from cuz by his accent I would have pegged him for an Aussie that got dropped on his head as a kid. Turns out he grew up in Tennessee! But moved to New Zealand when he was maybe 18 (hence the strange accent), and has hopped around quite a bit since then. Been to China, San Francisco for a while, and now Hong Kong. He's also a programmer, and does some consulting stuff now, which allows him to work remotely. So the conversation swung towards more the nerdy tech talk stuff, which I don't know much about but am at least somewhat exposed to. He talked about some products he's worked on, we hated on large corporations, it was all well and good.

It does explain that strange vibe I got from him though. He's very nice and sweet and harmless actually, he's just maybe a bit socially odd, but pretty normal within the realm of software engineers. :)

So after dinner we walked back to the apartment, and I got to see the perks of living on the top floor of the building -- you pretty much get the ceiling all to yourself!! It was pretty nice, not the tallest building around but you still get a pretty unadulterated view of the city. He also had a table and some chairs up there, and a random bunk bed (just the frame, no mattresses, which wouldn't fare well in the rain anyway) that he found in the street. I dunno! If I lived there I'd have friends up there to drink all the time. Ok who am I kidding, I'd just drink alone. T_T

I pretty much just wanted to go to sleep at that point, so I hopped into the room, turned on the AC, and did some internet things before thoroughly enjoying the soft mattress. :D So much better than the Guting mattress!!!