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Looking rather unappetizing, and with myself still quite groggy, the pizza remained in
its packaging for the duration of the flight. I once again was able to fall asleep, and awoke
again at the next meal on offer, with about 3 or 4 hours left to go. I did think to myself at this
Once settled, we went downstairs to meet our host, Grace. She took us to a delicious
breakfast spot where we did our best to shake our jet-lag, and enjoyed something called a
“Pineapple Bun”, which as it turns out, does not actually contain any pineapple at all. After
We then went to meet Nicole’s cousin, Allen, at his crossfit box. His warm smile was
welcoming, and it was an immediate relief to know that we would be in good hands for the
duration of our stay in Hong Kong. Nicole and I were then left to bring her things over to
Allen and Grace’s apartment, where she would be staying for the next 5 days. Following this,
we took Nicole to see a doctor (who was seemingly full of shit) and get some medicine for
her stomach ache from the day prior. We had a delicious Hong Kong dinner at a nearby
restaurant, went back to their place, played a few video games, and then decided to call it a
night. The jet lag was still somewhat severe, and though we did our best to power through
the entire day without taking a nap, it was now night time and we could hold out no longer. I
walked back to my room, took a shower in the extremely luxurious, open layout stone
shower, and collapsed into my bed, drifting to sleep while doing my best to ignore the
uneasy feeling inherent of being up so high in the air…A good night’s sleep would be
important - after all, we had quite a big day planned for tomorrow…
Day 3 - Disneyland!
I knew it would be important to demonstrate to Allen and Grace that I was a man of
resolve - tough, unwavering, and willing to go the extra mile in life. What better way to do
this than to wake up bright and early and get an 8am workout in at the crossfit box. I knew
they had suggested it only half joking, but it was important to me that I show up and
perform well. To my own surprise, I made it to the box without getting lost, and additionally
was able to complete the workout with nearly all of my dignity still intact. I courteously
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Our first stop after Main Street was TomorrowLand, a familiar sight for someone who
so regularly travelled to Disney in Orlando. We grabbed fast-pass tickets to Hyper-space
Mountain (a star-wars themed twist on my favorite ride as a kid), and immediately ran off for
the Iron Man Experience. This was by far and away our favorite ride of the day, since Nicole
is such a massive Iron Man fan. It was very reminiscent of Star Tours, or Body Wars in
The streets were completely packed with storefronts, all offering their own unique take
on traditional Chinese wares such as chopsticks, jade figurines, communism idols, and other
trinketry. We somehow managed to escape without bankrupting ourselves, although I
couldn’t help but to indulge myself by sitting with a man who taught me how to write my
name in Chinese calligraphy using a traditional brush. While the lesson was “free”, I had to
part with 50 yuan in order to keep my creation, which given the uniquity of the moment, I
was only too happy to do. We concluded our adventure through the ancient district with a
delicious cup of coffee and a sweet treat at a local cafe, followed by massages! This was
admittedly not as relaxing as it sounds like it might be, for this was not a “Swedish” massage,
but rather a “Chinese” style massage. I will leave it there by simply saying it was a more
pain-packed 50 minutes than watching an episode of Gilmore Girls. We then prepared for the
evenings festivities - for it was New Year’s Eve after all, and we were slated to spend the
night with one of Allen and Grace’s close friends named Stanley. Stanley lived atop a
secluded hill in a high-rise apartment, which was extremely tastefully decorated - I would
Dinner had the unfortunate side effect of sending us into a slight food-coma, however,
and unfortunately Nicole and I were unable to last the night. As she faded into
unconsciousness with about an hour to go until the Hong Kong fireworks celebration, we
bid farewell to our new friends and took a taxi back to our hotel, where we would watch the
fireworks from the comfort of our own bed. It cannot be overstated how magnificent a
display it was - I have seen innumerable fireworks shows in my lifetime, and I can honestly
say i’ve never seen anything like this - it was the Grand Finale for the entire show, which
Despite this, I worked hard for the remainder of the afternoon to enjoy the rest of the
island and try to make her happy in every way I could. Our travels took us to a fish market,
which was unlike any I had experienced in the past. Everything in this market was alive,
The End