Oh f*ck.

Yeah, really. I lay in bed after I got in last night, not sleeping, and thought of the title for my first post. That is the phrase that ran through my head hourly throughout my travels yesterday.

In the morning, when I realized I was all ready; packed, dressed, fed, waiting for my ride to the airport, and all that was left was to wake up Leif to say goodbye. Oh f*ck.

On the plane, waiting to take off from Victoria to catch my connecting flight in Vancouver, and the pilot said there would be a 30 minute delay due to a baggage issue. I'd possibly miss my connecting flight. Oh f*ck.

In the Vancouver airport, as I ran the length of the building, from local to international, in flip flops, carrying my suitcase, as I'd opted not to check my bags for fear that they'd get lost. I arrived just in time to line up with the last few passengers. No time to get lunch or any snacks for the 14 hours flight. Sweaty as a glass of beer on a humid day in Hawaii. Oh f*ck.

On the plane, as it taxied down the runway, picking up speed and finally lifting off and banking right to fly North over the Pacific Ocean. Knowing that this was it, I was in this, and whether I liked it or not, there was no way out now. That I'd be spending my first solo travelling experience ever in a city as foreign to me as possible. Knowing that the things that comfort me most in the whole world, Kit, Leif, Hannah and Ivy, weren't with me, and I couldn't get to them to distract me from my anxiety. This was it. Oh f*ck.

I had the best luck on the plane, in that there were many empty rows and I snagged one before take off hoping I'd sleep on the long flight. I'd be arriving at 4am my time (5pm the next day HK time) so planned to try to sleep about halfway through the flight. I brought knitting to keep me busy.

A deliciously soft skein of Manos Del Uruguay

Realising I might have brought the wrong needles, I improvised the pattern to make it stretchier.

After 10 hours in flight, I was done with this stupid activity. Fresh air and room to move about please.

 I never thought I'd say this, but I got tired of knitting and watching movies. We were chasing the sun to HK, so my brain just couldn't think 'sleep'. I tried, really. But eventually I decided the est way to over come the jet lag fastest was to stay up and then just fall asleep on HK's schedule. This plan turned out to be crap, but I didn't know that then. And I couldn't sleep, so whatever.

As we approached HK the clear blue sky and white clouds we'd been flying over changed to grey and turbulent. It is thunderstorm season here, and we felt it on the way down.

Some outlying islands as we approach the airport. The airport is on an island as well, and it looks like you're going to land on water until the last minute when land appears.

I arrived at 630pm, exhausted and hungry. I ended up walking to my apartment after getting so turned around inside the train station that I was done with being the lost tourist, asking directions of people who did not speak English. I felt very bulky amidst all the commuters, with my suitcases and uncertain steps. The sidewalks are very narrow, very steep and very uneven, so you need to look down to not break your ankle. Or at least I did. My plan was find food and create a space in my apartmemt to get my mental shit together. I bought the above goods at the nearby organic grocer (it was food I recognised, okay, so I went in). I tried to buy stuff on sale (my soymilk was marked down to $2 Can!) but the whole bill came to 400HK dollars. Oh f*ck. It was insane. That's about $65 Canadian. As I walked back to my place, the downpour began. So glad I followed the online advice to bring an umbrella and flip flops. I passed many cocktail bars and very hipster lounges and eateries. Signage advertised happy hour prices, $10 Can for a cocktail and $15 for edamame. Oh f*ck. I'll be eating in a lot this trip. And likely surviving on a lot of appetite-supressing coffee.

My first night was hard. I reminded myself that I was starving, tired, and in a really foreign situation. So having a wee crying was okay. My one savior was having my music with me. It made me feel a bit better, a bit more grounded, enough to drink some water and make some of my costly food for dinner.

So it's now 8am HK time, and I've eaten most of what I bought, having been up all night (still can't sleep! Which is now a migraine, oh f*ck). So I'm going to head out and try to navigate the city. It's pouring rain and about 31 degrees (plus the humidity brings it to about 34+). I'd like to succeed today, to find where I want to go, and not feel like I'm in the upside down world of another dimension. I'd like to not cry. Wish me luck my lovelies.


until later
xoxo

C