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The airline apologized multiple times for my tv not working. So unlike US airlines. Landing went smoothly. Taxi on runway took longer than usual due to intense fog. Appreciate pilot taking his time when he couldn’t see.
Exiting took a bit of time since ginormous plane.
Immigration was a breeze. Customs simple. So not UK style.
Then grabbed luggage and hit ATM. Dispensed 500$hk bills which are equivalent to $70 US $. Decided to take taxi to hotel. Cost 338 HK $. Driver not speak or read English presented slight challenge. But he tried and we tried and taxi attendants helped out. HK is very friendly city. So un-New York.
Hong Kong is stunning even after rainstorm in fog. Think of a tropical NewYork. Tons of sky scrapers amidst greenery and mountains.
But so fucking hot and sticky.
Get to hotel by 8am but can’t check in until 2pm. Ugh. Drop bags and set out for Times Square area with hotel map. But on less than 1 hour of plane sleep. So muddle minded. Took us a while to find our way because we had trouble figuring out where we were on the map. Ten minutes of map turning in front of hotel to orientate selves. Lol.
OL and I put our collective half brains together and found Times Square. They had. Replica of Hogwarts train and 9 3/4 track. Inside mini version of Diagon Alley. So cool. Nothing was open though. But the mall had a/c. Ahhhh.
Continued our search for breakfast place. Half hour later return to first cafe we saw. Nice. $5 Bfast. Coffee. Two eggs, toast, hash brown, baked beans.
OL had yogurt.
Required to keep walking around to kill time. Saw World Trade Center. Searched for restaurants and found door store. Lighting stores. So random.
The bamboo scaffolding reminds you that the urban jungle has its roots.
Finally in Times Square mall eating ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s. Obnoxious gaggle of kids playing game. Keep hitting my chair. OL looks at the end of his rope. We decide we can’t do anymore. We need to rest. So we go back to hotel.
Thank the saints we can check in! Get lovely room on 23rd floor overlooking quiet side. Graveyard. Mountains. Gorgeous view for $75.
Room is lovely and modern. Beds firm but with down comforters. Bathroom is modern and lovely. We crash for a few hours. Or at least OL does. I wash pants by hand, check email, unpack.
I crash at 3:30. OL attempts to wake me up 5:30 and learns why my mother hates doing this. I wake up when I’m screaming and sitting up. He said I look scared to death of him. I have no memory of him. I remember being scared to death of someone in dream.
Once I get back to my mind, we head out for dinner. Wander around Times Square. Found a place with English menu. OL has curry and rice, I had chicken on bone and pork congee. Delish congee. Then I grabbed a pineapple bun. Yummie!
Figure out the “subway” which does not have the characters for di tie and confuses the heck out of me is really an underpass to get you across a few streets quickly. Cuts our walking time to Times Square down by 10 minutes. A couple lives down there in a shanty tent.
We got water and headed back to room to shower and finally get clean. We collapse into bed by 10pm.
So I have a little secret that I can finally share with the world. I just finished the last Harry Potter book. But Kourtney, it was published in 2007! Yup. And I avoided all spoilers for 3 freaking years.
Because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the Potter books. I loved Harry, Hermione and Ron. They felt like old friends and I refused to say goodbye.
It was one of the main reasons I started writing my book. So I’d have characters to come back to as often as I wanted.
Finally with the first installment of the final book coming out as a movie, I decided now was the time to read it. I started in late October and finished last week. It was awesomeness. Totally worth the wait. Like a chocolate cake after 2 years of strict dieting. I was delighted to have another Potter to read. The final one. Sigh.
Was it worth it? Definitely. Would I do it again? Yup. Am I sad to say goodbye to the beloved characters? Of course.
Have you ever held onto the last book in the series, refusing to read it? Because you knew it would be so good and leave you bummed that there weren’t more? What got you over the doldrums?
