The Chinese visa saga

Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

Will get the visa? Won't get the visa? We'll see!

I thought it would be more simple to get the chinese visa in Hong Kong... Faster maybe, but simpler, I'm not sure.

I flew from Sydney to Taipei, then to Hong Kong. Long enough to lose the notion of time. I got in Hong Kong in the morning with the intention of getting my visa during the day.

After some verifications, the office which receive the resquests is close to the hostel. You can walk there (and be hot because of the humidity) in 25 minutes.

Note : the office is open between 2 and 5 PM. Closed on the week-ends (I didn't think of that and we're friday). Closed on April 4th because of a holiday. It doesn't leave me a lot of time since my flight for Shanghai (if I get the visa) leaves on April 5th... The three working days they need to process the visa are starting to scare me a little bit.

Note : we are in Hong Kong. Finding an address is not always easy. But I got there around 3 PM.

I start filling the forms, but oh, misfortune, I don't have the address of the hostel I booked in Shanghai. And I haven't booked anything in the other cities. But I must declare everything.

Got back to my hostel really fast. Booked hostels. Printed proofs. Back very fast to the office, getting lost on the way... Not being sure what I should have answered to some questions. But... those forms are now in the hands of the chinese authorities. Gave them away at 5 PM on the dot. They didn't ask for any photocopy. *sigh*

I'm now without my passport. I will get it on Monday, hopefully with a visa, because I asked for the express treatment. I'm crossing my fingers and every other parts of my body for luck.

Hell... (but not really)

That first day in Hong Kong wasn't a easy one. Because I needed to apply for the visa. But also because I need to adapt to this first country where I have a hard time making myself understood. Also because my brand new bottle of soap for my laundry exploded in my luggage on the way to Asia. But also because my razor broke down... while I was starting to shave my hair. Doesn't work anymore... Needed to search for a new one I could buy.

That also mean my new "permanent" and "irreversible" look was inevitable. No more hair. And I didn't get to visit anything on that first day.

Paradise... (but not really)

Karma came back for that second day. I went for touristic places to get use to the area. From the top of Victoria Peak, where Gilly is on the picture, I got a 360 degrees view of Hong Kong.

After a while, you become used to the crowd. You start finding your way. You find out how transportation works. And fears go away until you need them again.

For the second time in three years, I walked randomly on THE place in town where a giant pillow fight happened to celebrate the International pillow fight day. I saw the same thing in Krakow in 2009.

Tidbits

When, in the restaurant, the waitress ends up bringing you a fork and a spoon, that probably means you don't look like you can handle the chopsticks...

Saturday was the event "One hour for the Earth". So instead of seeing the light show they usually have on the skyscrappers at night, around 8:30, I saw Hong Kong getting darker. The only thing I didn't get was why they had a show with microphones and speakers to celebrate it... You know, when you tell people to use less energy... do the same with your show.

Temperature wise, under the neverending grey sky, it's around 22 to 28 degrees for now. That's hot.

For the language, I'm ok, even if I'm starting to feel a wall in front of me. Hong Kong is bilingual and almost everything can be read both in english and in cantonese.

Note to myself : stop ordering chicken. When they give you the meat with the bones and the only things you got are chopsticks, you need to work hard to be able to eat...