Hong Kong

Dense, deadly and down right delicious.

Hong Kong is pretty. There's no denying its got charm and charisma. It's a perfect mix of asian chaos with a touch of western class. Adding to its sweetness is its amazing harbour, modern architecture, cute mountains, surprisingly good beaches, fantastic food, great nightlife and friendly English speaking locals. Basically for an asian city its got everything you need (sometimes things you don't) and its all crammed into one tight little island.

And whatever your budget your spoilt for choice.

I was coming in from Chengdu China so like many I flew into Hong Kong Airport. This excited me as last time I flew to Hong Kong I accidentially flew into Shenzhen, which is not Hong Kong at all. But thats another story in itself.

But....Yippee I was in Hong Kong again.

First things first, this was not a holiday. I was updating my Chinese visa to continue working in China. Naturally I had to leave China to do this.

Once I crossed the border my current single entry Chinese visa wouldn't allow me to re-enter. So getting my priorities in order, I hopped off the bus and wandered across the many foot bridges in search of the Chinese Embassy. Now without a working phone and a map this proved rather difficult.

Hong Kong seems to be connected by a maze of overpasses joining one building to the next. Its complicated and can be overwhelming for a first timer.

Anyway, walking around like a headless chicken I finally found the gigantic line of Chinese people coming out of the immigration building on Harbor Rd.

And OMG, what a line. An hour and half off lining up and I finally passed security, only to be meet again by yet another line.

Boooooo!

I was ticket 396 so there were only an extra 395 people waiting to be serve in front of me. Hmmm.

It was just about now I wished my phone was working, how exactly was I to pass the time? Never one to mope, I watched the ticket screen above my head and learnt how to read Chinese numbers . Yi, er, san tsu ohh I was getting good.

When I got to the counter about 2 hours later, I handed the lady my passport and all my visa papers and was greeted with the following

"your passport no good, no can do"

I was like umm sorry, what?

"No enough pages, no can do"

Again I was like umm what?

"I have at least two pages in my passport, I'm sure you can do it, how many do you need?

"Look, no can do, stop wasting my time, you go now"

And before I could argue any further she had pressed for the next ticket and a Chinese man was already squeezing in front of me over talking anything I had to say.

And that was that. The Chinese weren't going to give me a visa, well not until a had a new passport anyway. A bit aggravated, I decided stuff this, it's late, I'm tired, I've been up since 5am and travelled quite far only to be rejected.

So I started to look for the hotel my company booked. After about an hour of searching I finally find it down a tiny alleyway covered in construction work. Once inside I was greeted by an old women about 100 years old who spoke no English except the words "no, no, no"

So I tried again, I have a reservation??? Tonight??

"No, no, no" she screamed again, however this time she decided to push me towards the door. Haha so in other words get out!!

Well that's just great, its 11pm and I'm now stuck in Hong Kong with no visa and no accommodation. Im just gonna go to Mcdonalds and use their free wifi and sort something out.

Feeling tired and miserable but with a little help from a few friends back home I had somewhere to stay, a nice shower and a warm bed. *insert smiley face*

The next morning I headed to the Australian embassy, there was no line, no ticket and I was greeted with a friendly face and a "morning mate, can I help you"

Oh the simple comforts of back home I thought..

I explained my situation to the young aussie girl behind the counter, she took my passport, packaged it up and got it ready to be sent off to Canberra for renewal.

Wow, easy I thought.

So I headed outside for some food thinking my problems were solved. As I chomped down on my sweet pork I started counting the days it would take to get my passport back. Subtracting the weekends, the Christmas break, the New Years break and general government holidays...

"Holy shit it's mid December and I won't get my passport back till mid January with all these darn holidays, I can't stay in Hong Kong till then".

I didn't have any accommodation, I had no clothes and I needed to be back in China for work. Plus I had friends visiting me in China and we had just booked a holiday to Beijing in the next few few days. Holy shit it really hit me, I really need to get back to China.

I run back to the embassy.

"Can I get my passport back"?

"No, it's already been canceled and cut".

"Argh, shit, really"? (Darn Aussies and their efficiency I thought to myself) I say to they young aussie girl behind the counter,

"I just realised it'll be about January before I get my passport back"

She thinks for a second "ohh yeah, you're right, is that a problem"

"Um just a tad. I need to be back in China".

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

I wasn't thinking, your calm and sweet mannerisms compared to the Chinese made me too relaxed to think.

"Can I get a priority or express service" I asked

"No that doesn't exist"

"Great. What about an emergency passport"?

"No that's only for lost, stolen or damaged passports"

"Whaaaaaaat.. Really? Well what options do I have now"? I begin to panic.

"Can you not stay in Hong Kong until then?" She questioned..

"Noo" I nervously giggled, "I need to be back in China"!

"When" she asks

"As soon as possible" I found myself glaring at her now.

"Why?" She asks.

"Why, because I live and work there, I have no accommodation here in Hong Kong, let alone any clothes. My phone doesn't work so I have limited wifi to sort myself out, plus I have a flight booked back to China tonight at 9pm not to mention flights to Beijing next week."

"Prefect" she replied with a smile on her face.

Ohhhh she thinks this is perfect, just perfect, I felt like I could punch her right in her prefect little mouth.

"Put everything you just said to me on this declaration, I'll see if I can get you an emergency passport approved"

Aww I take it back, I could kiss you on your prefect little mouth Haha

"Why don't you go to the Chinese embassy, get a ticket and come back, hopefully I'll have some good news for you, oh and get some passport photos and and fill out these forms"

Omg she's a genius! I love this girl. "thanks you soo much" I scream as I run out the door.

I run across Hong Kong dodging the hundreds of people, I line up for an hour, grab a ticket at the Chinese embassy then run around trying to find somewhere that does passport photos. I find a booth in Causeway Bay station, I look disgusting but who cares and I run back to the aussie embassy.

"How did you go mate? Did you get a ticket?"

I did, I'm ticket 194, better than yesterday's 396.

"Well Hun I've got some good news, Canberra has approved your emergency passport and I've printed off a list of hotels you can stay at, plus here's some cheap places to buy some clothes and this place has great pizza, just a precaution, in case you have trouble with your Chinese visa"

It's official, I'm in love with the Aussie girl called Michelle who works behind the counter at the Australian embassy in Hong Kong. What an absolute gem she was..

"The passport will take about an hour, have you got the photos and the forms?"

"Yes....." I say short of breath

"Ok, wait a moment and I'll get your passport ready"

1.5 hrs tick by as I sit and watch in horror of a siege taking place in Sydney's Martin place..

"Ok mate, here's your emergency passport, now go get your visa and if you have any trouble just come back here ok"

Feeling incredibly homesick and in shock, I run back to the Chinese embassy only to be told I have to line up again even though I had a ticket. Another hour or so in the line and I start getting extremely agitated. Fuck it's 4.45pm and they lock the doors at 5pm sharp.

But with 5 minutes to spare I make it inside. I can only think "bad luck" to the suckers behind me.

"Ticket number 189 to counter 5"

Yes and only 5 people in front of me. Michelle's plan paid off.

I hand in my emergency passport, my visa paper work, the Chinese lady tells me come back a 3pm tomorrow and I leave.

Whats done is done.

Now all I can pray is that the Chinese still give me a visa considering all the visa forms are attached to a completely different passport and passport number.

Wait what did i just say?

Ohhhh Fuck, I think things over again!!! Of course they're now going to give me a visa, the Chinese are so strict. All this running around for nothing... Not to mention the renewal and emergency passport cost me over thousand bucks.

Ugghhh!! Again I was hating life again.

I kind of gave up. Again with no working phone or accommodation I decided to just be a tourist. Hong Kong is one of the great asian cities of the world so I'm just going to enjoy my time here.

So I spoilt myself with a Hong Kong buffet dinner, caught the star ferry across the harbour, watched the sound and light show, made some new friends, walked the streets and checked out Temple street and Mongkok markets.

I ended the night eating some amazing Japanese food and downing a few beers with some locals.

The next morning I caught the MRT (metro) to the peak tram and headed up the peak. It was a clear and sunny day and the views were pretty amazing. Feeling relaxed it was nice to take in a birds eye view of this incredible city. I grab a bite to eat and head back down towards the Chinese embassy.

You know the drill, line, ticket, counter blah blah blah.

This was it, my time had come, visa or no visa... If it's no visa I'm stuck in Hong Kong with no accommodation, no clothes, no money or anyway of getting back into China (dammit my favourite hat and jacket are in China) plus I'd have to explain to my friends that I can't meet them in Beijing anymore (now that wasn't gonna to go down well).

Now the Chinese being Chinese take my money, hand me back my passport, don't say a word and I walk off.

"You lil' beauty, I have a visa"

I had no idea what visa but who cares.

I find wifi, I message my company, they book me a flight to Chendgu and I can FINALLY relax!

*Luke's visa pain didnt end in Hong Kong, actually it got worse. Please see CHINA BLOG for further details*