Terminal YORO style

(Will)
Our flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok left at noon so we woke up early just to give us some extra time. It takes about 45 minutes to get to the airport from Chungking Mansions, where we stayed by train with one transfer. When we got to our transfer station which was below IFC mall (and no it wasn't frat life IFC), we thought we'd checkin and save time in line at one of the flight checkin stations. This is where things started going downhill. Our checkin assistant told us we could not checkin because we transferred flights in mainland China and we didn't have visas. This was news to us because we didn't know you needed a visa to simply transfer flights in a country even if you never left the international terminal. Also, our original flight never even flew into mainland China but went directly to Thailand.  We quickly tried to call Cheaptickets.com (the agency who we booked through)to tell them that they never told us we needed a visa after redirecting the original flight we booked (although we still should've known better) and that they needed to change our tickets to ones directly to Thailand but, we couldn't get through to them on a pay phone. So, we boosted up into the mall desperately looking for wifi. After asking around we finally found wifi and with an hour left James called them using google phone to try and change our tickets while I'm researching same day flights directly to Bangkok. James is on the phone with them for 30 minutes when our phone call randomly cuts out! Frustration Nation! The cheapest flight I found was for $225 each and we were like screw it lets book it, go to the airport and make moves. The problem with doing this was we booked through another travel agency (we hadn't learned our lesson yet) and were issued an eticket where we had to wait on another email after they confirmed my credit card. By, this time it's noon we'd missed our flight and already spent an extra $225 each on a direct flight that left at 9:30, thinking that the worst was behind us. When we arrived at the airport we asked information where our checkin was and they told us that the station didn't open till 6:30. Seriously, six hours in the airport just waiting to see if we can checkin! Through all this and the entirety of our entire trip, I must applaud James for being so willing to ask questions and for help, because I'm much more like we can figure this out on our own and that would've been a huge waste of time. So we mess around six hours in the airport the entire time refreshing my email. Nothing for six hours. We quickly adopted Murphy's law "if it can go wrong it will go wrong" and started looking up flights for the next day just in case. 6:30 rolls around and we try to checkin even though the eticket email has yet to come. The lady coldly denies us simply saying without a ticket number you cannot checkin. After talking to a manager he tells us that even though we can show him that I paid showing him my iPad, that it looks as though the ticket never went through. He told us that we need to find another flight or book directly through the airline which was a cool 700 bone crushers each. Filthy! There were no more flights out that night and the cheapest flights out the next day left at around 9pm so we leave the checkin counter thinking we are making Terminal 2 #yoro2012 edition starring Panda and Diesel.

We're starting to laugh at how bad everything is going so far until we sit down somewhere for a little bit and at about 7pm I get the best email ever. Our eticket numbers and confirmation. We boost up to the checkin counter and happily checkin but there's a hitch. We hadn't booked a flight out of Thailand and they wouldn't let us into the country without one (our original plan had been to bus out of Thailand into Laos. You're probably thinking these clown babies didn't do a single second of research. We looked up flights out of Bangkok into Hanoi, Vietnam, and after thirty minutes we find one for 70 bucks using skyscanner.com. (Thanks Max) We clearly hadn't learned a single lesson so far, because we used another agency instead of going direct and once again had to wait on an eticket confirmation. We went up to the checkin desk and we hoped that the third time was the charm and luckily it was because we hassled the same lady who told us we still didn't have an eticket confirmation into asking a coworker who said we'd be ok as long as we showed customs officer the receipt. From here on everything goes smoothly but it was the most distressing travel day of my life and we learned countless lessons. Yoro!

Hong Kong

Hong kong in a nutshell: (James)

Hong Kong has been a very interesting experience for both Will and I. We have experienced both it's highs and most definitely experienced its lows. First off you should know that Hong Kong is about as similar to Tokyo as melted chocolate is to the aftermath of Cindy's cooking.... The city and people may look the same to a sadly mistaken fellow but man is there a huge difference. For one, Tokyo was probably the cleanest place I have ever stayed. I mean we maybe saw a handful of garbage littering the streets the whole time we were there but when it came to Hong Kong that shit was everywhere. The streets, the alleys, the building hallways, the water, it makes me wonder if any of it actually makes it into the garbage cans at all. Anyways you get the picture it's basically a giant city wide frat house over here and it isn't only the garbage that correlates with the frat, this place never gets quiet. I mean that's what you would expected from a big city like Hong Kong right? but back in Tokyo you could take a walk out on the streets at about any time of the day and it would be dead silent minus a few people on bicycles and the occasional old person shuffling around aimlessly. 

Now don't get me wrong not everything in Hong Kong has been bad, in fact it's an amazing city and we have really enjoyed a lot of what Hong Kong has had to offer us over the last few days. Just like Tokyo there is a lot of history that surrounds this city and it's cool to see that they have so much pride in it all and how they strive to protect their ancient treasures and their meanings. Here are a couple of the cooler spots we visited (they happen to be the cleaner parts of the city) 

The Peak "We couldn't see shittttttt" so here is a picture of what we could have seen if weather hadn't been a little bitch to us the whole time.

The Lina Nin garden "I love goooooooolllllllllldddddd"

Giant Bronze Buddha 

Another really amazing part of this city is the food. It's cheap and if you visit the right places, amazing. One of the first restaurants we hunted down in Hong Kong was a dim sum restaurant that Anthony Bourdain raved about in his HK episode of the Layover. It's always a good sign when you show up to a restaurant and there are a bunch of locals willing to wait in line to have a chance to get in the door, this was one of those places. When we put our name down the lady told us to come back in two hours?! At the time we were thinking what the hell could be so good that people would wait two hours to squish into a restaurant about the size of a shipping container. Well the answer was everything and what made it even better was the fact that it cost us about $18 put together for an amount of food that could have fed a small army. Needless to say "we ate the whole plate" (besides the vegebals that is) and then proceeded to dip out to go take a short coma of a nap. 

The other huge thing that Hong Kong has going for it is their transportation system, it's absolutely amazing. Will and I think that they do a much better job than Tokyo or any other major city for that matter. Hong Kong has basically unified all forms of transportation and major shopping under one card system called the octopus card. There are no fees and you treat it just like a rechargeable debit card where you add cash to it at ATM like machines all around the city. (All this is done through an NFC (tap & go) which is cool) The only down side to this card system though is the fact that you can't use it in the flee markets that sell knock off items like the watch that Dornes bought and broke after 4 days or so… 

Ok now on to the part you all actually care about, our"interesting" experiences here. On one of the first days in Hong Kong, Dornes and I were wandering the streets at around 9pm and we came across this kid performing martial arts on the street for money. Things seemed normal at first, he was doing high arial kicks and all the acrobatic shit that my asian side obviously can't comprehend. After his little showoff session things proceeded to get a little weirder, the kid decided to break a chopstick by pushing it point in against his throat... Wtf? Who does that? But he wasn't done, nope not at all. He then held up a piece of rebar.... I instantly pulled my camera out because I wanted to document this crazy shit. So the karate kid then went into the crowd and grabbed a volunteer to help hold the rebar and keep it stable so he could bend it with his throat. 

The kid did some warm up breathes then ran at the guy holding the bar in place trying his best to bend the rebar. My first thought was that this kid was about to die but the guy holding the rebar wasn't able to hold it steady enough and fell backwards. This is where things truly get interesting, well at least for me. Now we all know im not of a small stature so I guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised but after that failed first attempt he immediately pointed at me to hold the bar..... The first thought to go through my head was " Oh great, I get to be the one to skewer this kid now..." But I went out there anyways and held the bar for his impending death. He did the whole three breathes thing again and then ran at me! Amazingly I was able to hold the rebar and even more amazingly the kid bent the damn bar with his throat! I couldn't believe it but here is the photo proof!

(Will) After showcasing his amazing feat of strength, James and I continued walking down the street when a local excitedly pointed at the Kobe jersey I was wearing and asked if I played basketball. He told us his name was Eric and he asked if I would play basketball with him on Saturday at 4 and I said I would so he gave us his number and told me where to meet him on Saturday. James and I both thought that we would be on our way but no. He was wearing fatigued jeans and a yellowed wife-beater to go along with his warm toothless smile. Eric was jubilant with a certain energy about him. The whole time James and I couldn't figure him out, was he friendly, curious, crazy, or a combination all these traits? Eric spoke decent English and we proceeded to have one of the most A.D.D. of conversations I have ever had let alone with a complete stranger. In the middle of the crowded square our topics ranged from Steven Hawking and string theory to heroin and cocaine to Las Vegas. After talking for about 30 minutes, Eric asked if we wanted to get something to eat. James and I were both famished from a long day of walking and sightseeing so we eagerly accepted. What we weren't sure of was did he want a free meal or just wanted to talk or what. He showed us into a restaurant and recommended something to eat while not eating himself. We continued to talk about anything you could think of for nearly an hour and a half before the restaurant closed and we were kicked out. After leaving the restaurant we bid farewell to Eric and I with the intent to play basketball with some locals later in the week. I don't think any individual could have painted a better picture of the essence of Hong Kong better than Eric. Unique, grimy, gregarious, random, crazy, warm, with somehow a little glamour thrown in all describe Eric and his hometown. It was a great experience to gain insight from a local on so many different topics. James who was taking pictures of a sideshow at the time got our very first interaction with this character on camera.



Every Wednesday and Saturday night there are horse races in the epic arena known as Happy Valley Racecourse. This racecourse is set just outside the heart of downtown Hong Kong and opposite the grandstands is the skyline of the city. We arrived 2 hours early to make sure we could get a good spot and figure how to bet on our favorite horses. We were able to find a teller who easily explained the whole process and without him James and I were lost. I had never been to a horse race so this was all new to me but it felt just like out of the movies. Massive grandstands where the elite of society sat behind air conditioned glass suites looking down upon the commoners and the lush green track. In the beer garden the only AC we had was a refreshing breeze where James and I posted up we looked across the brightly lit track to the neon city of Hong Kong. It was a little surreal. Once the races got started, we started betting low thinking we'd lose every race and wanted to make our money last. I was lucky enough to win my first race by guessing my horse would place in top 3 out of 12, unfortunately James wasn't so lucky. I won a meager $4.30, but it was still exciting. The next race we went in together and bet $4 on two horses in a Quinella Place bet (our 2 horses would get in top 3 outta 12). Our two fine stallions were Brilliant Chariot and Ray's Favourite. As the horses rounded the corner and came flying by us, the first two horses in neck and neck battle were ours. They ended crossing the finish line in a photo finish and had us jumping up and down in pure joy. On our $4 bet we made about $35. We calculated that if we bet $50 we would've made nearly $450 but that's what they all say right. This was our final race that we bet on and spent the rest of the night meeting people and enjoying our luck. It was a great night and my favorite I think.