Huge change in plans!

Well, here I am in the Hong Kong airport. What am I doing in the Hong Kong airport, you ask? It's a bit of a story.

I was moping around in sunny CA, trying to figure out how to pass the time until tour starts again. We recently found out that we are delayed yet another week, because some cities got changed and canceled and everything got moved around some more. The good news is we have potentially added Indonesia or the Philippines back onto the schedule, and Thailand is on the schedule, for certain, as well! But it meant another week of hiatus. So ... on Sunday night I was chatting on Skype with lovely Christine (Maria), who stayed in China during the hiatus. She was going to fly to Malaysia this week to join several others from tour who are spending the break on an island there. We sort of toyed with the idea of my flying back early to join her and travel to the island with her, spending the rest of my break in Malaysia. I looked up some flights, found an amazing deal, and realized it could be done!

Get this: we talked Sunday night. I went to sleep and thought about the idea. Woke up Monday and asked my parents their opinions. Got their FULL support. Bought a plane ticket Monday morning for a departure Tuesday night! Yes, in 2 short days my life has changed completely! And my parents are absolutely awesome for supporting this idea so completely. (I think my mom is more excited than I am, if that's possible.)

Last night my mom drove me to the San Francisco airport, and we were so early that we parked near the water and walked around, watching flights take off and land for a while in the evening. It was nice! Then I waited around the airport for a while, checked in, and waited for my red-eye flight. When I was going through security, with my hair in french braids, my pink sparkly shoes, and my hot pink duffel bag, the nice gate agent said kindly, "Where is your family? Are you all alone?" and I said, "Yes ... I'm older than I look!" Then he looked at my passport, saw my birthday, started chuckling, and said, "I see what you mean. Well, you're lucky!" and we both laughed.

The flight was quite painless, and I have high recommendations for Cathay Pacific airlines. I have never flown in a plane with seats that reclined back so far! (And I fly a lot...so that's saying something!) I was able to scrunch my legs up on the seat, turn completely sideways, and sleep as if I was in a bed sleeping on my side. Quite nice! I slept on and off for an hour or two at a time (this is coming from a girl who does not sleep on planes), and the 14-hr flight to Hong Kong passed quite quickly! The meals were good, and they gave us hot steamed pork buns as a snack, which was one of the most delicious things ever. (I thank my best friend Reed for introducing me to them, long ago.)

Arrived in Hong Kong and transfered to my next flight to Kuala Lumpur. I'm in the airport now, and we'll be boarding in about 20 minutes. I'll meet Christine at the airport (her flight comes in a bit after mine), and we'll go to a hotel in the city for the night, then head out tomorrow on a bus and a ferry to Tioman Island, where many of my favorite cast members are currently staying!

I have never before taken a vacation and traveled entirely for fun. I even declined a family trip to Hawaii when I was in college, for some reason. (I stayed home and took care of our dog, by choice.) This is completely new to me, and I am thrilled! I'll even get to spend my birthday with my friends in Malaysia - it's next Tuesday. Then we'll hang out for the rest of the time until tour starts again, head back into China, and continue our travels. And I won't even have to deal with jet lag, because I'll already be here! What fun.

I'm also realizing how much I enjoy Asia, being here in Hong Kong. Of course, it's an international airport, and there are people from all over the world, but I just found that I felt so comfortable on my flight here, with mostly Chinese or other Asian passengers ... after being in China for that time, it just feels right somehow, even though I don't speak the language or anything!

I just had a Starbucks mocha (those of you who know me have heard me wax eloquent about the quality of Starbucks, especially their chocolate drinks, in China as compared to in the US), and it was indeed delicious! It's 8:25 a.m. here in Hong Kong, 5:25 p.m. back in California, and I needed the caffeine to try to be awake all day and adjust to the time difference quickly. That's my goal, although we have no obligations except resting and playing on the island, so it won't matter if I sleep all the time! What fun. I might not have internet too often while on the island, but I'll try to write when I can. The adventures begin again!

Photos from the show

Since I have unlimited internet at the moment, I thought I'd take the time to post a bunch of photos from the show. Some of these may have been posted before. Enjoy!