Hey Everyone! Hong Kong, London and Amsterdam!

So I wanted to let you know that I'm not dead... Very well, in fact. Actually, I'm a bit irritated since I am posting this from the hostel computer rather than my own laptop... For some reason my wireless connection isn't working. I have a feeling its because I've been neglecting the window's updates, but since I can't connect to wireless I can't update... And the stupid assholes here won't let me directly connect to the internet. Tomorrow I will probably be able to do it, though, actually...

So here's a little recap of the last couple of days:

I arrived in Hong Kong on August 1 really freaking late at night... I barely missed the last airport shuttle to my hotel so I had to take a taxi. But since everything is bloody cheap in Hong Kong, my cab fare was no exception. Besides... I was very impressed with the view from the window of the taxi cab. Everything was so tall and lit up... And there was a lot of it. I knew Hong Kong had a lot of buildings, but I wasn't prepared for just how many there were exactly. I really wish I could post some pictures, but I think I will be able to post them tomorrow... So please be patient! For those of you who are facebook friends with me, I already have the pictures from Hong Kong posted.

Hong Kong in the day time was pretty interesting as well, I have to say... Everything was so incredibly cheap. For a meal I paid 32 Hong Kong Dollars, which is about 4 US dollars. For a plate of fried rice and two cups of tea. It was very delicious. I think my one regret is that I did not eat more of the food... But I chickened out for a good part of the day and didn't leave my hotel room. I was a bit overwhelmed with the sheer size of Hong Kong, and I was mesmerized by the view from my hotel room. Thanks to my good friend James from the Helpdesk for getting me a discounted rate at the Marriott! My room was on the 31 floor... I have some pretty fantastic night shots of Hong Kong that I can't wait to show everyone.

Since my flight to London was really early in the morning I decided to just stay up all night... I would have had to get up at 4 AM to be ready to leave at 5 and get to the airport at 6 for my 8 AM flight... Woo! And I knew it would be easier for me to sleep on the plane if I did that anyways. Sure enough, I was out before the plane even took off. And lucky for me I had an entire row to myself so I could sprawl out.

I arrived in London approximately 12 hours later, at about 2:30 PM London Time. I was a bit unsure of what to do once I got there, since Kana would already be there waiting for me... So I got my luggage and looked around for some sort of phone. I ended up buying a SIM card, which I later learned would not work in my phone anyways since it was locked, but I was able to use it for a prepaid I bought the next day. Anyways, Kana eventually found me and I met her friend Alex, who is going to be studying at her University this next year. He drove us around and took us back to his house, which is in FREAKING WIMBLEDON! We drove past the famous tennis courts and I was gawking the whole time... Then we drove for about 5 more minutes, on the same street, and pulled into this secluded driveway behind an automatic gate... There were two houses that were inside the gate. Both were part of his property. We went outside while he and his gorgeous greek girlfriend prepared dinner for us, along with something called Pips, or Pimps... its a traditional english summer drink. Its similar to sangria because you put fruits in it. And our first meal in London was sushi and this english drink. And wine. The house was really beautiful... Me and Kana totally scored, being able to stay in such a freaking awesome place like that...

The next day Alex took us to the station and we made our way to our hostel, dropped off our stuff, and then went to King's Cross to book our Eurostar tickets. We still had to pay for those, but we ended up getting a discount because of our Eurail passes. After that we ate some Italiano and explored London... Saw the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, London Eye, etc... I will post pictures soon! This morning we got up at about 6 so we could get to Kingsbury on time to catch our 8:30 train for Brussels and then head on over to Amsterdam. We are now in Amsterdam, and I have to say... This is a very beautiful town! I wasn't expecting this at all... I don't really know what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it. We are staying on the third floor of our hostel and the stairs are so freaking steep. It makes me glad that we are backpacking and not carrying around giant suitcases.

Anyhow, I just wanted to give you guys a brief summary of my last couple of days... Tomorrow we will head to Germany to stay with Kana's friend Jannett for a few days. I think we will make a brief stop in Switzerland, too, but its still up in the air. After that, we'll go to Prague and then to Vienna.

If any of you want to know my phone number for my prepaid cell, just send me an e-mail and I will respond to you as soon as I can with that.

By the way, I am going to change my flight from the 24 to the 28... I just need a couple of more days, I'm thinking. Plus Kana ended up booking her flight to leave the 28 anyways and I really wanted to leave at the same time as her. And since my ticket is flexible, it shouldn't be a problem. I will let you guys know more of the details when that time comes closer.

Toodles, everyone!