I'm in Hong Kong!

Kamil is so great! Kamil is so nice to me! Kamil is my best friend! I am so happy to be with Kamil!

-- End of sponsored messages --

Uh yeah, I'm in Hong Kong. Kamil has in fact been great; he's letting me stay at his place, and he's taken me around to see all the sights. The first day I've been to Stanley, Aberdeen, the peak, Central Hong Kong,and some local sights near his home in Tai Po. There's too much to mention and I can't upload pictures right now, but I'll make a gallery on Picasa later. IOU.

A funny incident happened yesterday while we were looking to make a tour of the harbor area in a traditional boat (Sampan). A lot of Hong Kong people understand and speak English, so whenever we have something to talk about that we don't want other people to hear, we speak to each other in Japanese. In this case, I asked Kamil if the boat ride was expensive, and Kamil answered to me in Japanese: "takai" (expensive). But the boatwoman understood! What the hell! I guess we have to be careful here even when speaking in Japanese, since there are a lot of Japanese tourists...

Today we went to Shenzhen, in China! o_0. I wasn't even thinking of going to China until a couple of days before going to HK, and I totally forgot about my Chinese Visa... As it turns out, the Visa I used to visit Yu Huan in March was already expired, and I had to apply for a new one. Kamil's dad (Mr. Shah!) assured me it was no problem to get one, so we just took the train to the border and tried to pass. Not. Yup, there's two stations bordering Shenzhen, and we went to the one without an immigration office -__- so we had to backtrack and go to the other station. Getting the Visa was indeed easy, and 30 minutes later I was in the proud possession of a one-day Visa valid only to go to Shenzhen, and no other place in China! Yay!

Shenzhen was great. Great is the only word I use to describe it, although I've heard other people use the word 'boring' and other negative words for it. It would appear that the city has nothing special. No very special sights to see or famous things. But it's a very nice city. Compared to Beijing, the only other Chinese city I know, I think Shenzhen must be a hundred times better. The atmosphere just feels nice. And they have so many English signs, and the people speak English. Public transportation is just modern, like Hong Kong and Tokyo. I really feel that I could have no problems living there. Also, Shenzen girls are really really pretty!!!

Kamil and his parents went with me, and it just felt so normal. They helped me get the Visa and cross the border, and they showed me around the city, and the shopping areas. It reminded me so much of being with my parents in Holland, and going to Germany for shopping. It was really great. Not what I expected at all, by the way. I expected something a bit more 'exotic'. More different from what I was used to in Japan. But it was quite accessible and enjoyable for me. The actual day itself was not that exciting or adventurous, but it has inspired me and given me the confidence that I could survive in China if I have to, and that I could actually enjoy myself there :)

I'll be going back on Tuesday. So far I'm planning to meet Joanne, another intern who I worked with the first year I was in Japan, some souvenir shopping, and some countryside exploring. I'll keep you guys posted :)

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