Getting Internet access is surprisingly difficult here in HK; looks like I can only blog occassionally.

I am doing fairly well, except it's hot here I can't breath. That, and I miss my Kirara.

Cultural shock begins on the flight in Vancouver; I flew with China airline and I couldn't understand the instructions on board, as I only speak cantonese, not mandarin. They ocassionally suppliment the instructions with English, but it's also thick with accent. I ended up harrassing the Taiwanese people around me to ask them to translate for me.

I stayed up all night the night before I fly; I didn't sleep on the flight either. As soon as I arrived HK in the evening, I (with luggage in tow...) bought a guitar(!). I wrote a lot of songs on the flight for Kirara... well, actually, they were for myself, they are just about kirara >_< Child, I miss you!

After that, I headed "home" for a quick shower. I played guitar until about 11:30pm HK time, then I went to sleep. Now, I am perfectly adjusted to HK time - no jetlag whatsoever :)

The airports are ... very strange. The Taipei airport was so rundown, I felt a bit depressed just being inside the building. Plus, there are chinese signs written everywhere, it was just weird. HK airport seems "cool" enough, it's even all shiny and most signs are still in English, just like the airport in Vancouver. The only thing I didn't like was the police that are littered throughout the reception area, it makes me nervous. Oh, and the duty-free shops in airports are quite different as well. Most of the duty-free shops in Taipei and HK sell alcohol exclusively... if I didn't know any better, I would have thought Taiwan and HK are full of alcoholics!

Speaking of airport security, they seemed quite anal in Vanc airport. I had numerous items confiscated. Since I only have a small daypack full of stuff, I didn't bother to put it in the luggage compartment. What I didn't realize is that things like swiss army knifes and mosquito repellents cannot go on board. I got searched three times before I even stepped into the airplane. (And I am just a little asian wallflower!)

On the Taiwan and HK side though, security seems non-existence. they didn't even look at my passport in Taiwan. In HK, I told the guy I left for Canada before I turned 18 and I don't have a citizen card yet. The officer just chatted with me in Cantonese for a bit to make sure I really am HongKongnese and let me go. No id proof required, nada!

Anyways, it looks like the visa can be time consuming to get. So I posted a few ads in supermarkets here, with my broken Indonesian, hoping some Indonesian home-makers will respond and be my temporary tuitor. Guru Micaela, how I regret not studying harder while I was in Canada ;__;

I also called the Indonesia Consulate, the Indonesian guy was so chatty I couldn't hang up! (and my cell is being charged by the minute!) I even talked to him a bit in Indonesian, that made him laugh, I am not sure if it was a good sign or not ^_^;;; He recommanded a school to me in Lombok; I am going to contact the BI instructor there and see if he can help me secure a longer visa for language study.

That's my plan for now. I must have called my best friend Winnie for over 30 times in the last few days, I still couldn't get a hold of her yet. I hope I get to see her before I go again.

Speaking of, I am living in the Discovery Bay area of HK, it's nice and ... weird. There is a artificial beach! =__=;;; I think, the whole point of going to a beach is to enjoy the nature. There is something very wrong about an artificial beach... I know most of the foreigner populations in HK stay at Discovery Bay, but I was surprised how much foreigners I am seeing, especially since HK is no longer a Brit colony and it's not exactly tourist season. I ran into my first embarrasing experience soon enough. I was waiting in line at the supermarket and there is a foreigner in front of me. I started small talks with her and expecting her to speak in English in return. I think she is French...... >_< (nevermind that I lived in Canada for 8 years, I can't even roll my tongue yet.)

I will go back to make more phone calls etc now; I am at a private internet cafe thing, and there is a huge line-up. I hope you all are well in Canada, and, take care of my cat!