Out of the Island for the First time

Before April 2001, I have never set foot in any other country except for the one I’m standing in right now. For my 18th birthday my parents made me choose between Hong Kong and a “party”. I am not the type of person who enjoys her own parties (giving out invitations and figuring out who to invite, just don’t appeal to me.), so I chose the trip to Hong Kong. As luck would have it, my parents had to attend a Trade fair at the HK Convention Center, so we got to save two plane tickets and hotel accommodations (thanks to their company). Because this was really supposed to be a “business” trip, we had other people with us who were also joining the Trade Fair.

Alien territory
As we got off the plane, I couldn’t help notice the “new” smell of the place. My mother called it “amoy ng intsik” which was kind of like a mixture of soy sauce and fish (fresh fish, of course). I quickly knew I was in a different place because everything was in order. From the imm...