Hong Kong Adventure, Part II

Hey Friends!

HK here we come! :)

As promised, I'm here to tell you all about my recent adventure to Hong Kong. Several of you may remember that I have a small traveling buddy that accompanies me on my adventures here in china. Her name is I Love You Bear or ILY as I call her. In Early September, ILY and I set out on our most recent adventure to Hong Kong to renew my Chinese visa. If you know me, then you know that I tend not to have the best luck when it comes to traveling. Thankfully this trip was much better than trips in the past.
The one and only "hiccup" per say was on during my exit of mainland china. I flew from Beijing to Shanghai and had a short layover before catching a flight to Hong Kong. During this lay over I had to go through Chinese immigration to get my passport stamped to verify my leaving the country. I got in line with plenty of time before my flight, I stood in line for what felt like forever, but finally it was my turn. As always, I stepped up to the counter and handed my passport and travel documents to the immigration official. After several seconds of him glancing back and forth at me and my passport photo, he stopped and said, "um, excuse me miss, you have violated your visa..." Yes, those dreaded words. I kid you not, my heart stopped beating for like .8 seconds. He then proceeded to tell me how I had made a mistake in my calculation of days, and forgot that both July and August have 31 days in them and thus I had over stayed by 1 day. I can only image what my face must have looked like, white with pure shock. In the most respectful and innocent tone, I asked the officer what could be done to resolve this matter. He then picked up the phone and made a call, it felt like he was on the phone for hours when in reality it was only a few seconds. He hung up the phone and turned to me and said, "Ok, miss. Since this is your very first time to let this happen, there will be no fine and you can go. But never let this happen again. NEVER again!" I took my passport as fast as I could, thanked the officer over and over again and went on my way. Phew! I almost began to cry as I walked towards my gate and away from the immigration stop, my heart was still pounding, yet I was flooded with gratefulness. I can not thank God enough for His lovingkindness, favor, and mercy in letting me slide without paying a fine or being stopped for further questioning!! So entirely grateful! I know that it is only by the grace of God that this got overlooked - I'm still in awe of His kindness towards me, so blessed!

Boarding for HK

From there, ILY and I made our connecting flight to Hong Kong with no issues. We arrived in HK hopped on a bus that took us to our hotel, checked in and relaxed from the days travels. Later on that evening, I took a walk around the city and down to the harbor. I wanted to feast my eyes on the beauty of the Honk Kong skyline at night, and let me tell you it was simply stunning!
The following day was spent relaxing, waling around the city, sitting in the harbor reading, writing and spending much needed time with God. It was a good time :)

Headed Home :)

Before we knew it, the trip was over and we were headed home. ILY bear and I had a fist class escort to the airport in a coach bus with us and one other gentleman. I almost felt like a celebrity haha! We made it with hours to spare and checked-in, only to find out that my flight was delayed 2 hours. So we waited...thank you Jesus for FaceTime! Once we boarded the flight things went smoothly, no hiccups from there on out. We made it home safe and sound, later than expected, but safe and sound and ready for another 60 or 58(ish) days of work here at SFCV :)