The trip is on. i still don't quite understand that as i am hungover and being driven to o'hare by my month long living partner dan mohar. but whether or not i accepted the reality, i was soon to be half way across the world if all worked out according to standby plan.
i realized my dream of digging a hole to the other side of the world was going to be fulfilled. and i was excited. except getting to the other side of the world would be accomplished by other means. thank you Wright brothers.
Dressed in a half ass dress shirt, black gym shoes, and somewhere in between black and blue cargo pants, i was fully prepared to represent United Airlines while on the flight. my father works for united airlines, and consequently i am fortunately able to fly for very cheap. the only problem is that when i fly, i am technically representing united airlines and therefore have to get "dressed up"; which for most people in the western world equals "socially acceptable".
i did not buy a ticket. as i was flying standby - the only negative thing besides having to dress up - is i have to wait for a seat on the airplane to be empty. if there is an empty seat after everyone has checked in, i get to fly. if not, i have to wait around for the next flight. last time i combined "flying standby" with "asia", i ended up sleeping at the Pudong International Airport for two nights. yes. Pudong.
being as for one reason or another, i didn't get enough sleep in my room - perhaps b/c it got up to the semi-unbearable temperature of 135 degrees -
and so i figured getting a bit of shut eye before the 15 hour trip was a tremendously brilliant idea. but what saved me from myself, was the technological gadgets of the asian individuals preparing to jump on the same plane as myself. in particular, one asian kid who was dressed to the Hollywood T, had an iPod-esque-looking machine which was blasting his newest american music single fetish to be blaring at some karaoke bar: "Welcome to the Jungle", by Guns N F*&$%ing Roses. and when i say blasting, he was not merely playing the music loud enough to the point where i could rest my head and dream of bipolar polar bears. instead, he was allowing "Welcome to the Jungle" to rock out of his iPod thing loud enough so as to make everyone in the waiting room, and the next one over, to see what the commotion was.
the irony of an asian individual's technological gadget welcoming me to my jungle-esque travels was not lost.
a fair visual representation of the jungle:
boarding the plane turned out to unfold into the ultimate dilemma: the chair seat selection scenario. i had 2 selections. the first alternative allowed me a seat on the aisle, with an empty seat next to me. since i can sleep in any position at any time, this allowed me the opportunity to curl up between two seats, thereby effectively giving me a bed. but no. i got greedy.
the steward (yes, steward) came over and told me i had been move to the emergency row. sweet. all frequent travelers understand the emergency row seat is code word for "extra leg room" and "first one out". so without thinking too much, i moved from my bed to the emergency row seat.
problem.
there is the aisle seat, the evil middle seat, and the at times coveted window seat. sitting in the evil middle seat, is a male. ok. i guess i will sit down, and the guy will request respect of his personal space, and will then get up and shift over to the window seat in the emergency row where he gets not only the sight-seeing and window shade control benefits, but he also gets the leg room. as a cherry on top, he creates a great divide between himself & the new creepy looking kid with an oversized backpack he is staring at.
unbelievably, he does nothing. ok. maybe he is waiting till after take off. no dice. maybe he is just waiting until he gets up to visit the little boys' room. nope. for 15 hours, i had to fight for elbow space with this guy. and i am happy to report, that as i had nothing to do for 15 hours and wanted to make this guy's such a living hell as that he would force himself to move over to the window seat, i won the elbow room battle by about a ratio of 9 hours to 6 hours. i wanted to punch him in the face. but i chose not to. i had yet to even enter the full cover of the jungle. for 15 hours, this dipshit chose to sit in the middle seat, directly next to me, leaving the window seat completely empty. if there is a spot in hell for inconsiderate oblivious jagoffs, that seat is his.
HONG KONG INFORMATION
While perusing the only Lonely Planet book i managed to get my grimy little paws on, i learned several things of Hong Kong. First, there is $1 U.S. dollar to every 8 Hong Kong dollars. Second, i learned i had to get from the airport to Hung Hom station, also known as Kowloon station. this station is the main train station for hong kong, and i was hoping it was there where finding a place to stay for the evening would be cake. Third, i read i needed to somehow get to either Chungking Mansions or Mirador Mansions. it was at these "mansions" where i could find several hostels all under one roof. the description made it seem as if these "mansions" were your one stop shopping sensation for hostel stays.
the lonely planet got it correct that the mansions were small shopping centers for hostels. however, any conception of myself finding a room in a mansion is way off. more on that later. let's just say the use of the word "mansions" on Nathaniel Road of Hong Kong is a serious misnomer.
HOPES
The following are what i wrote as hopes for my trip. Below each numbered hope is a sneak preview as to whether or not i screwed up these hopes.
My hopes for the trip are as follows:
(1) To not die
- Eventually succeeded
(2) To learn some things about myself
- This is ngay. But i succeeded.
(3) To push a few limits
- Check
(4) To enjoy different perspectives
- See (2)
HOW ONE GETS FROM HONG KONG TO HANOI
As I was to meet Sarge in Hanoi, I had to pull off a miraculous feat - i had to not get lost over the course of 3 days and jump on the correct form of transportation at 7 checkpoints in order to run from Hong Kong to Hanoi in 3 days. 7 transportation checkpoints in 3 days. with my track record of being a planner, it seemed i was doomed to fail from the start.
Day 1: Arrive in Hong Kong.
Day 2: Get to Kowloon. Then from Kowloon get a train to Guangzhou, China. buy a train ticket from Guangzhou to Nanning, China.
Day 3: Get from Nanning to a place called Pinxiang. Then take a taxi from Pinxiang to Friendship pass - the Chinese / Vietnamese border. after the border check, I was to take a taxi the next 3 kilometers into Dong Dang. this is the name of a town. a funny sounding vietnamese town, but a vietnamese town nonetheless. the final step was to take a train from Dong Dang late int he afternoon into Hanoi, arriving there in the late evening.
piece of cake, right? absolutely foolproof, right? no chance in hell anything could possibly go wrong and force me to take a different alternative, right?
