hyped-up hongkong

It is hard to recall the details of one memorable travel I had in 2005. I was quite very busy during those days so I chose to keep vivid in my memory the wonderful events that happened during my stay in Hongkong. I think its about time that I write something about it because I have been mourning for days. Talking about this might hype-up my spirits and let me start moving on.

It was my first (ever) travel outside of the Philippines so I was so excited and at the same time anxious with lots of pending reports for submission on my mind then. Now I realized, I should not have occupied my thoughts on that report but instead have appreciated some really interesting activities or subjects around me which could have given me opportunity to gain more insights of Hongkong's grandeur. I also have such a bad habit of composing some notes or concepts during lull moments so I think I really have lost some more important details. But I still want to write about this travel anyway.

Here it is:

I do not know what could have been the immigration officers' reason for holding me in their office for almost 2 hours. I thought later that, they must have accused me of posing as a tourist and later on work as a Domestic Helper in their country. I was fuming mad not only because they did not tell me the reason but also because they do not talk to me in English. I was the only one among those who were held in the office, who kept on asking and talking to the officers. I remember telling them that if there were some problems with my papers and cannot enter Hongkong then I can take the next available flight back to the Philippines. I guess it worked because in a few more minutes, I was escorted out to the arrival area.

Hongkong International Airport was beaming with people and I really just wanted to get on that Airport Express Line train to bring me to Tsim Sha Tsui Station. It was a fast (less than 30 minutes) and comfortable train ride going to the Kowloon Center where I took a shuttle bus. The shuttle bus ride to the hotel was wonderful because while sitting and looking around, I felt an extraordinary warmth enfolding me on that cool September night. The welcoming glittering lights and the late night shoppers confirmed that I am indeed cruising the streets of Kowloon.

Inside my room, I was not hearing any sound, not seeing the night's darkness or minding my other senses. As I laid my hands on that window sill in front of the big glass window from that Austin Road hotel, the sight was just something else. I felt I was on top of the world! And had one heavenly sleep in my lifetime.