Japan at last

0759 21-Feb-08: /I want to leave HK/
0800 21-Feb-08: Looked at ticket availability
1830 21-Feb-08: Bought a one year return ticket to Japan!

Ha, how is that! Just 72 hrs ago, I thought I would finally go sailing again. I even looked up the Pico availability at Stanley and marked Thursday off for a fun day on the water.

Instead, I am now frantically trying to get things ready for Japan. B4 I go, I need to:
1) Change money
2) Get some passport photos in case I need to apply for a visa
3) Get a IYH membership card
4) Buy a looooonely planet guide to Japan.
5) Find my Aikido dogi and obi. Gosh, where is it??
6) Buy some makeups? I managed to survive Canada, Indonesia and HK without them, but I don't think Tokyo would be so kind. Bahh, why can't I just be a simple peasant? Maybe I should just go to a farm in Hokkaido or join a whaling ship ...
7) Buy a down sleeping bag and a 60L backpack.
8) Find my Olympus digicam, and the XD cards...
9) Hopefully have Hilary Sensei's blessing to train in Hombu. But then, I haven't train for 3 years now. I might as well go as a complete shiro.
10) AC plugs adapters for Japan.

Things to take with me:
1) Passport
2) e-Ticket
3) Cash
4) Fujitsu + Charger
5) Matching socks with no holes in them
6) MSR stove + camping cookset
7) Some LKK seasonings
8) Lonely planet
9) universal charger
10) AC plug converter
11) Omiyage

I've stayed in Hong Kong for nearly two years before I hit the road again. I don't think I would miss Hong Kong, but a strange sense of separation anxiety hits me less than 24 hours after I got the ticket.

I tried to e-mail my college buddies in Canada to tell them about my travel plan (or specifically, lack of a plan), only to find that most of them have graduated and their e-mail addresses are no longer active. It makes me feel really... lonely. On the brighter side, I managed to contact Dr. Poulton, Aaron, and Ryan. So at least I found proofs to myself that I really did exist in Canada at some point.

I just gave away most of my kitchen appliances to Fred, it's already 2330, I know he had a long day and so did I, so I explained to him how to operate the oven, and we said good bye. I had wanted to give him a hug, probably not a common gesture of friendship in HK, but what the hell, we have been close friends. But then, the huge oven and coffee maker he held ever so gently stood in the way, so I gave up the idea. I would die before I admit I am actually jealous of the oven. He asked me if I will come back to HK after Japan, I told him yes. He asked if I plan to stay in HK for long after that, I told him no.

I didn't realize the finality of what I have said until after I said it. I wish he would stay a little longer. I wish I would stay in HK a little longer. I want to go to Japan; but I don't really want to leave Fred, and my night shift comrades, and Dennis, and my family. Despite the on going family conflicts, I don't even really want to leave my cousins. I want to see the world, can I do that and still have all my friends? Or are they going to change their e-mail addresses on me too?

It's like dying all over again. I am entering a world where nobody knows or cares that I exist:

1996: First death - erased all my childhood schoolmates and family to go to Canada, alone.
2005: Second death - erased all my surrogated families and friends and dojo-mates in Canada to go to Indonesia, alone.
2008: Third death, or is it? I can almost get used to it -- get used to losing my lifestyle and stability and all the things that I took for granted so easily.

But I still think this is a good move; otherwise there is no way for me to know, that I am capable of loving them so much.

So good bye, Hong Kong.

-Cordelia