My flight was horrific because all flights are horrific.  Or at least they are for me because I cannot sleep on flights.  Not only can I not sleep, I can’t even keep my eyes closed.  It drives me insane.  Then on trips like this one, where my door to door commute was 27 hours, my brain just gives out.  It is so physically and emotionally draining to be awake for that long.  To not even be able to focus or concentrate on anything because you cannot even keep your eyes shut.   I did a lot of writing about how “NEVER AGAIN” and to consider finally taking that cross country trip on a Greyhound bus, just to be able to say I did, instead of flying to Asia ever again.

Then of course, we land in Tokyo for my layover.  I was so excited walking up the ramp “I AM IN JAPAN!”  I had been off the plane for less than two minutes and I was already mentally planning to come back so I could see JAPAN!  So much for never again torturing myself with another flight of death.

During my layover in Japan, I was a complete zombie. I had a public conversation with my cute little stuffed dog, who was in my backpack.  Since he was in my backpack, no one could see who I was talking to.  I am not sure that matters since if they had been able to see, they would have seen me talking aloud to a cute little stuffed dog.  I assure him, still speaking in a voice loud enough so he can hear me through my backpack, that I don’t care if all these people are watching a crazy American talk to herself.  I am never going to see these people again.

Also, I got to see my first Japanese toilet!  That makes this the very first picture I took during my trip.

When I finally got to Hong Kong, I could not take anything anymore.  I was so exhausted and stupid.  No brain cells.  One plus one = whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

I got through customs, could not find my luggage.  Turns out Delta had taken it and put it somewhere because it took me so long to claim it.  Well of course it did.  The luggage conveyor was so far from my plane and with the slow pace I was walking?  I am surprised I made it there at all.

Then it is time to get cash.  My debit card won’t work.  I try three times, nothing.  I called my bank before I left.   I hate my bank so much.  I try and call them now but either I cannot get phone reception or there isn’t any in this area.  I am so tired and I need cash and fucking PHONE FUCKING FUCK YOU.

Now I am standing there with my useless debit card in my left hand and my useless phone in my right hand.  I am now SO MAD.  And frustrated.  Not to mention completely exhausted.  I am pretty much miming throwing both items and telling them ” I WILL KILL YOU.”  Some security guard tried to tell me I could not stand where I was standing and I growled at him.  Literally, growled in his face.

Great start to my trip.

I go to a stupid currency exchange place and give them $200 USD out of the “just in case” cash I brought with me.  They give me $1412 HKD.  Horrible exchange rate, but what can I do?

I now try and exit the airport.  There are signs everywhere for the airport bus.  I had always planned to take it since it stops right at my hotel.  I had actually booked my hotel specifically because the airport bus stops right by it.  But I just don’t want to take it any  longer.  I am so exhausted and tired and sleepy and dead and I AM SO FUCKING TIRED.  I decide to just take a cab to avoid doing that thing where I get lost one block from where I am supposed to be, because I am too stupid tired to realize I am only one block from where I am supposed to be.  Because I do that.  A lot.  The worst time was last year in Seattle.  I walked one way, saw it was not right.  Returned back to the map on the wall at the train station I had been looking at, and set back out walking the same wrong way, as if walking it a second time would make the street names change.

But back to Hong Kong.  As i am walking outside to the cabs, I see another ATM.  Fuck it, let me try it.  So of a bitch, it works.  I take out $1400 HKD which cost me $186 USD.  So basically, this works out to me paying $14 USD less for $12 less HKD = I lost $13 USD.  WHATEVER.

I take a cab to my hotel.  This was awesome.  It is like a 45 minute drive and the entire time we are driving, we are sandwiched in between airport buses that I did not want to take out of fear of being lost within one block from my hotel.  We finally get to my hotel, along with the buses that have been along for the entire ride with us.  They literally  stop RIGHT OUTSIDE MY HOTEL.  The bus costs $40 HKD, my cab was $285 HKD.   That $245 HKD difference = $31 USD.  Oh yeah.

I have now been in Hong Kong for an hour and I have lost $44 USD.

My Hong Kong hotel is the Ibis North Point.  I walk in the door and reception is located on the Floor 1.  I am on the ground floor.  I have to take the elevator up.  This proved to be very hard.  There were two columns of floor numbers in the elevator.  The left had 18 up top and 1 down bottom, the right had 31 up top and 19 down at the bottom.  I could not find the button for 2, which I was only looking for because my brain recognized that “first floor is actually the second floor” thing.  Then once I found the Floor 2 button, I realized what I had done.  But by now, we had passed floor 1 which is where I needed to go ARGH.  Tired.

I get to my room, again it takes me forever because I simply cannot make my brain understand that the numbers are top to bottom, highest to lowest.  So I just cannot find the button for 15.  FINALLY I get to my room.  I take a shower and then go outside to 7-Eleven to get some water and canned iced coffee for my room.   It is around 2:00 am now.  I get back to my room and it is finally time for bed!  Let me plug in my electronics, OH WAIT MY ADAPTER IS THE WRONG SIZE.  Yeargh.  I get dressed and go to the front desk and they have one I can borrow.  Thank you so much!

Finally I am in bed.  Look how awesome this looks.

What you cannot tell from this picture is how sad my face must have looked when I went to blissfully sink into this soft comfort, only to find out it was a rock slab in disguise.  This is how China does beds.  Still, I slept wonderfully and was up and out a mere six hours later.  My body doesn’t do jet lag.   All the years I have kept it in a strict schedule of sleep deprivation while I travel all over to see hardcore bands on work nights, have made sure it knows that anytime you get more than four hours of sleep.  Time simply does not exist.