hong kong

i can post my own blogs now that we're in hong kong! feels like a looong time ago that i was on this website last.

to honor our very last overnight trip from one city to another, we opted for a 'luxury bus' from yangshou to shenzhen, which is the border city from china to hong kong. we opted to pay 40 yuan (a little less than $6) more in order to be on a bus that would drop us off right by the border so we didn't have to take an extra bus. naturally, that didn't turn out to be the case. the bus itself was kind of hilarious. we were in these teeny beds where you couldn't lay down flat, you had to scrunch up your legs. that wasn't so bad, but when the bus pulled in, everyone got off and we just got right back on it.. so your bed was literally still warm from whoever was sharing your duvet and pillow from the previous trip. a little gross. in spite of that though, i think we both more or less slept the entire 10 hours.

when we got to the bus station, we found out that we weren't actually by the border at all. luckily we just followed these dutch and norwegian guys who were students at a university in hong kong, and somehow we all ended up getting on the right bus to take us to the border. two stamps in our passport later, we had made it to hong kong.

our first impression of the city is that it's super fashionable. we thought shanghai was fancy, but that was the small time compared to this. there are luxury shops and giant malls everywhere. everyone is really fashionable and super put together. there isn't as much neon or lace or bedazzlement. the biggest noticeable change is the huge number of foreigners and foreign kids. we must have seen 20 white kids under the age of 10 today.. which hasn't happened in all of the other cities combined.

anyway today we had the best lunch we've had so far at an italian place across from jane's apartment. she met up with us after that and showed us around a bit. her apartment is LOOOVELY to say the least. on the 4th floor of a tiny little 6 apartment complex. it's airy and white and IKEAd out in the best possible way. she has a postage stamp kitchen that's super cute and it just feels like home. she's lived here for 2 years and in hong kong for 4. she's very nice. and she's going on vacation this week so we'll have her apartment to ourselves. i'm excited about the possibility of leaving leftovers in the fridge and maybe a juice or tea or two for when we feel like it. funny the things you miss when you don't have them.

tonight we went out for thai and malaysian food in a place called rat alley.. which very well could be because there are actual rats, though i didn't see nay. the food wasn't suspect at all. so that's the update. 2 and a half more days in hong kong and a whole lot on our to-do list.