Happy Thought

I had a very stressful day... Arguments left and right... trying to make your point but some people refuse to understand. Friday really beats the heck out of you. It so happens that it is the time of the month, so double the stress. I need to think of at least one happy thought and i should be okay... =)


Hong Kong.... the limelight of our trip? The "lost" story... definitely a funny and unforgettable experience... Nadine and i were on our way back to Hong Kong from China. Our first blooper encounter was changing buses from China immigration back to Hong Kong. We memorized the bus number that we were riding. After having our passports checked, we headed straight to the other side of the building to wait for the bus we rode. Thirty minutes has passed and we were wondering where the bus was. Everyone has ridden their own bus and we noticed that everytime a new batch of people came they would eventually get on their bus right away. Another 10 minutes and we realized that the bus we rode will no longer come for us. China is right hand drive and Hong Kong is left hand drive! (@$&*!?) So we ask around on which bus we need to ride to get us to Hong Kong. Everyone looked at us blankly not understanding a single word we said. The signs everywhere were in Chinese. This is not a foreigner friendly place! We had pink tickets so we followed those that had tickets of the same color. Thankfully we get the right ride! Haha! Two of our other friends were waiting for us at the Sheraton hotel in Kowloon.


It was a 30-45 minute bus ride. There were few vacant seats so Nadine and i sat on different rows. I was a seat infront of her. We had entered Hong Kong area and the first bus stop was coming up. As soon as the bus halted, almost half of the passengers started getting down. I assumed that it was our stop too so i grabbed my luggage, stood up and headed down the steps. As i was waiting outside for my friend, wondering what was taking her so long to get off the bus, the doors suddenly closed! The bus started moving. I started running after it, dragging my luggage along with me, waving and screaming "WAIIIT!!!"... Nadine saw me from the bus as it was pulling away, she started yelling for the bus to stop but the driver kept on going... they had a rule of stopping only at bus stop points... she didn't notice me get off the bus because when i stood up, she was looking for something in her bag so she was bent over... and so there i was standing in the middle of the street, out of breath carrying all my luggage, staring at bus as i see it disappear into traffic. I saw a nearby park with a beautiful fountain. I sat on the edge to take a rest. I was seated in between two elderly folks. And then it suddenly hit me.. i was lost! My cellphone roaming was not working, i did not know a single person around me and i was thousands of miles away from home. I sat there for about 15 minutes, on the verge of crying... waiting... just in case my friend would come back for me... but nothing happened...

Luckily i had the map with me. It was so easy to take the train and head straight to the Sheraton. I was just two cities/towns away. And then i remembered that i was not the only one lost, Nadine was too! She had her working cellphone but she had no map in hand. My cellphone was about to die as my batteries were running low. I decided to start walking down the street looking for a payphone but to no success. I started asking people if they had cellphones i could borrow so i could call my friend. Everyone looked at me in a weird way thinking of how crazy i must be... haha... it was truly embarrasing! But i didn't care... nobody knew me anyway... and so i go into a bank. I asked them if they had a phone i could use explaining to them that i got separated from my friends. The woman knew how to speak english (thank god!) so she gave me directions to the nearest payphone. She even asked me if i had change (very kind person)...

I get to the payphone and i almost kissed the booth when i saw english transalations on the instructions for placing a call... hehe... after about 15 minutes of figuring out how to call a roaming cellphone from the philippines, Nadine's phone started ringing... almost made me jump for joy! When she answered, we both started screaming out of excitement... probably so thankful of hearing each others' voice... we agreed to meet infront of a certain building. It was the nearest to my payphone and it was big enough to be able to easily find. I walked my way to our meeting place and while waiting i started observing the people passing by. And then i noticed that i had been standing there for 30 minutes and still no Nadine. I go back to the phone booth and dialled her number again. She couldn't find the building! Haha... Finally we agreed to meet halfway... I practically spent almost 100 pesos for a two minute call!

I was walking down the main street and just a block away i spot her... standing infront of a Watsons store! We were in the same block going in circles! Haha... we let out our screams and hugs... so happy seeing each other again after about an hour and a half (seemed like years that we didn't see each other.. hehe)... and then like as if nothing happened, we enter a nearby bag store on sale, and started shopping again... shopping does take all the misery away! Then off we went to Sheraton to meet Kitty and Cindy... =)


Thankfully my cellphone did not die on me... otherwise i wouldn't have been able to retrieve Nadine's number... i should have gotten one of those shirts that said "I got lost in Hong Kong!"... haha...

It was truly an unforgettable and funny experience... One happy thought!