Where should we go? And We literally missed the Boat....

Okay, since I last posted, I have been trying to find cheap flights to somewhere (anywhere) during the long weekend that we have coming up. Ray and I were looking and he found potentially a flight to vietnam for 1400 HKD. Not a bad deal considering that everywhere else that we have looked has been substantially more expensive and kind of out of reach, in some cases.

We found a site but they didn't have the flight information or anything so we tried calling her and the lady wasn't very nice saying that we needed to fill out this form, online, and then they would give us information and the like. I guess she could not hear Ray at one point and started telling him that this is a waste of time and that she couldn't hear him and that there is no point to trying to talk right now because she can't hear anything. It was kinda rude but really funny at the same time. I am sure many of the people int he world would call this a lack of common courtesy or customer service but I just think it was hilarious.

Anyway, that was possibly the best deal that we found so I really hope that it works out. Otherwise, there is this other group that is going into Mainland China to do some hiking, etc but that trip is way more expensive that I can realistically look into right now, not to mention the gear that I would have to come up with. I don't think I am quite prepared to go on a major hiking, etc adventure right now, unfortunately.
So that was more or less what I was doing Thursday and Friday. I was also looking into flights to go visit my friend Elizabeth (American Univ) in Beijing during the last weekend in October. I am looking into Shanghai Airlines but I tried to call them to find out prices and the like and I couldn't get through for some reason. I'll try again today and tomorrow, for sure.

On Friday night, Evan, Kyle and I were supposed to go on a dinner cruise thing with some fellow OSU students that had come to Hong Kong for approximately 10 days. We were running slightly late because we were wating for buses and trains and left slightly too late to get there at the 7:15 meeting time. We got out of the train at around 7:30 and the new plan was for us to take a taxi to Hong Kong Pier. Well, we got out of the train station and hailed a taxi, only to realize that none of the taxi drivers new what we were saying so we kept having to get out. We saw a man dressed in a suit and automatically assumed that he spoke English, so we asked him if he could write out the characters on Kyle's iPhone. He fandangled his way through the iPhone apps and wrote out the characters and then offered to help talk to the taxi driver. Awesome. We got to the pier around 7:50 and we immediately called the woman from OSU to help us find the boat. She tried to give us directions but I am not sure she, herself, knew where she was so we were left to ourselves to find it. We ran up and down the pier and finally at 8:02 we called and asked if the boat had left. The woman laughed a little and said yes and told us to have a nice night. Not quite the response we were expecting but oh well. I wish she had given the phone over to one of the OSU grad students that are also studying in Hong Kong so that maybe they would have been able to give us a little bit more insight as to where the boat was. Oh well. Kyle, Evan and I watched the light show (absolutely gorgeous) and then went to dinner at Shakey's Pizza, where I had eaten my first full day in Hong Kong, Evan and I high-tailed it back to UST, met up with Sumana and watched "The Gods Must Be Crazy" thinking that it would extremely, extremely funny (or so said the cover). It really wasn't that funny but we had a good time anyway.

With Saturday, came Navratri and the start of my 8 day fast. I wasn't sure if I was going to fast while here, in Hong Kong since I feel like I haven't been eating all that healthy in the first place but I decided that I would go ahead and do it anyway. I stocked up on Fruit after I woke up and sat with Sumana while she ate her lunch, after which; I went back to my room to get some work done (as if that ever actually happens). I sat around, maybe read about 5 pages in my psych book and then called my mom at around 5:45 because I knew she would be at work by then. I talked to her for awhile and then called my grandfather, who is in India and then met up with Sumana to go up to the cafe to get a dose of potato before we headed out for the night. We met up with Ray, Sungwon Jenny (Penn), Jenny (somewhere in California), Jane (somewhere in California) and Kelvin (Not really sure) in the atrium and went into town where we met Yannie (local), Chris (local) and Janice (local). While they went to go grab something to eat, Sumana and I went on an adventure to find a bank that she could use her Bank of America atm card at.

We finally found it and then headed back to the MTR station. We had about 15 minutes to spare so Sumana and I went to a juice stand that we knew of to get freshly squeezed juice. Absolutely amazing. I think that is what I will miss most about Hong Kong- the juice. Its only 12 HKD for about 10 oz worth of amazing juice. This time, I got pineapple juice and my goodness was it to die for. I really wish they had fresh juice stands in the US (that didn't charge an arm and a leg).

After getting Juice we met up with the rest of the group and they all went to get drinks (I still had my delicious juice) from the 7-11 and then we made our way to the water front and started a game of Kings. The area that we were at closed around 11 so we went and found a different spot and continued the game. At around 11:30, Sumana, Yannie and I decided to head out so that we could grab the MTR. After we reached Choi Hung station we we went outside to get the minibus to get back to campus and the line was sooo long! Sumana and I repeatedly thought about getting a taxi and once we decided to these two UST people from behind us wanted to share a taxi. I tried to hail a taxi but the two taxis that I saw were empty were not for hire and did not see me. We ended up waiting long enough that the minibus showed up and then as soon as I was about to get on the bus I saw an empty taxi for hire. Just my luck. Haha. Sumana and I got on the bus and one of the guys from behind us did. One didn't. Just his luck.

Anyway, its Sunday now and day 2 of my 8 day fast. I am doing pretty well (second day is normally the hardest for me) and I am about to sit down and start my finance homework and studying. My first midterm is a 2 weeks from tomorrow. Initial freak-out begins.

Have a good night and hope all is well!