Eat, pray, love; Chinese Translation: Traveling Alone

No, seriously, that is the direct Chinese Translation to the movie, Eat, Pray, Love.  
[Today I flew from Taipei back into Hong Kong and I am spending my first night alone.  I have some great stories about Taiwan but checking into my hotel in HK was an interesting event.] 

“So I got a deal in Hong Kong.”  Ok, that’s a lie.  Anyone who knows anything about Hong Kong knows that deals and Hong Kong DNE (Mom, that means Does Not Exist; it’s a math term), which is why I am only staying here for one day.  I was looking for free wi-fi and found a room at the Hotel Nikko, which is located next to the Intercontinental (the most famous hotel in all of Hong Kong).  The free wi-fi also came with a welcome basket of fruit or something…either way, it was expensive but half as expensive as sleeping on a couch or passing out at the bar at the Intercontinental and all of the budget hotels seemed to be way off the beaten path—not safe for little girls traveling alone and constantly looking at their maps.

Now, let me paint the picture of me checking in:

• One, I have no luggage (I left it at the airport with the left luggage folks) and I am holding a knock-off LeSPORT bag I bought at a night market in Taipei the night before so that I didn’t look like a target while site seeing with a 10 Kilo backpack on
• Two, I am wearing a GreenMountain sweatshirt (Men’s Medium), exercise pants, and tennis shoes
• Three, I have already walked about four miles and look and smell like a schlep

So when I went to check in, the women asks me for my passport and says, “You need to go to the 14^th floor.  Someone will meet you there.  They are waiting for you and have your room prepared.”  Now, I know what you are thinking...this sounds like a Nigerian Prince asking for money via email.  So I go up to the 14^th Floor, reeking like a camel, and end up with Executive Lounge privileges(which is basically a kick ass place on the 14th floor where they feed you and give you all the drinks you want for free until 9pm).  I also find out that my room is on the 14^th floor and has views of the entire harbor (awesome picture below will soon be posted; I left the USB cord in my backpack at the airport).  


Note to Chris:  The room comes with free wi-fi and breakfast so it made a lot of economic sense...plus, all you wanted from this trip was my safety..yes?