Third Day in HK

Dear jumjum...

  This is my student visa story, prelude to what I had to do today. It is long and sorta complicated so skip if you have no interest.

***

 We had to apply for it before our A-Levels exam, through the university. They told us that they would only courier it to us once our offer is confirmed- when our results meet the conditions. So the A-Levels students had a pretty tight timeline from the confirmation on the 13th to moving in on the 21st.

  Awhile before our results were announced, the uni sent us an email saying those who have not received their student visa, please enter HK with a tourist visa, then get the student visa from the uni, and go to Macau before re-entering HK to activate the student visa. Then I got my results, and my dad said I should come earlier to accustom myself to HK first before moving into the dorm, so I booked a flight 4 days after the results were released.

  Two days after booking, I received an email saying that they have sent out my student visa and I should receive it by Monday. I was like =O!!! I knew that it would take at least three days to reach Kuching but there was nothing I could do save tracking my documents day and night online. By Saturday I left Kuching without my student visa- and when we landed in KL, V called and told us my visa had just arrived. TMD!!!

 Anyway V couriered it back to HK for me and it arrived this morning! YAY! Thank God! I was sick with worry that it wouldn't arrive before my program registration this week- no activated student visa, means no program registration, means no student ID, which means cannot start up bank account, cannot apply for HKID, cannot apply for Student Octopus Card...

***

  Instead of going to Macau to activate my visa, my aunt suggested that I go to Shenzhen by train. According to her, it's nearer and cheaper (although you have to pay for visa-on-arrival and that ain't cheap) I think it took about half an hour to go to the end of the line, Lo Wu from Kowloon Dong. Thank goodness for my aunt accompanying me! Wouldn't have a clue what to do or where to go otherwise.

  My first time in China! We went there, took a spin around the shopping mall (big on selling counterfeits), then headed back to HK. 

  There are two different levels for HK residents and foreign passport holders at the immigration. My aunt took the resident one and I went to the foreign one, arranging to meet at the 7-11 before boarding the train. After lining up all the way to the front, the officer told me that with my visa, I should've went to the other level! And I tell you, the queues were crazy long okay! I wasn't even sure which queue to join...

  When I finally got through I was thinking that my aunt would surely be worried about me, cause I had no phone number for her to contact me. There was so many people and I walked up and down around 7-11 and I couldn't find her. I asked for directions to the phone booth and the stupid thing ate up all my coins! I had to buy some water just to get more coins, but the operator recording told me (with what little Canto I could understand) that no such number exists. At this point I was scaring myself that some bad guy would surely target the lost girl walking up and down...(don't laugh okay it was terrifying)

  I spotted a pair of policemen and I approached them to ask for help. And one of them was really, really handsome, like TVB drama material handsome. I kid you not. And he told me in English, that I shouldn't dial the whole number, and told me where to start. And as I hung up the phone after contacting my aunt, he came up to me and asked me where I was from. Then he asked me if I came across the border from China. LOL. 

  Went to my uncle's place for dindin. And that was pretty much my day. =)

*atm*