Coming home to Hong Kong

Early yesterday morning, our little family arrived safely in Hong Kong. Here’s a recap of how it all went down. The journey really began early Thursday (Oct. 6) morning with the moving team that came to ship all of our items overseas. The majority of our belongings shipped by sea, which will take 2-3 months for arrival. The rest of it shipped by air, which will take 2-3 weeks. The remaining items either came with us on our flight, or were donated.

On Friday (Oct. 7) our apartment was officially empty, minus a few suitcases and a dog. Because of Roxy, (the dog), we had to arrive at the airport even earlier to make sure she was settled and had all of the appropriate paperwork. Our flight was set to depart from Newark at 1:45 a.m., on Saturday (Oct. 8) but Roxy had to be there no later than 8 p.m. for check in. We said our final goodbyes to Philadelphia and made our way to Newark around 5 p.m. (Oct. 7). Traffic was fairly light and despite a few wrong turns trying to find the cargo area, we made it on time.

Once we were in the cargo area, the airline had to check the travel crate over a few times as well as her to make sure everything was “secure” … after that, we were able to sit and wait with her until 11 p.m. Once that time came, things started to get really hard. I told you guys I’ve been an emotional mess these past few weeks, but nothing could have prepared me for leaving my dog in a crate at the cargo hold, and not being able to see her for 20 or so hours. Everything after that moment just became one big blur.

After leaving cargo, we made our way to the terminal and said goodbye to our parents (insert more tears). After checking our bags, we eventually boarded the plane taking us to our new home.

The flight was fine. I’m not a great flyer in general, but I was able to sleep the majority of the 15-hour trip. Once we landed, the airport was (again) a million degrees. We made it through customs faster than ever before, now that we have visas. Next it was on to grab our luggage and then a sprint to get the dog. We had transportation waiting for us at the airport, our driver helped with all of our bags and drove us over to cargo so that we could pick up our girl.

The cargo warehouse was HUGE.

It took about 40 minutes until we could see her and when we did, I could finally take a deep breath. She was fine! Extremely thirsty, as she didn’t drink any of the water attached to her crate, but in much better spirits than I thought she would be. After about two hours of more paperwork and a few shots (in addition to her United States microchip, she had to get a Hong Kong microchip as well, so she’s pretty much half robot/half dog, now) we were free to take her home with us.

It still blows my mind that as I sit here typing this, I can look over and see my dog resting comfortably next to me. Not only am I in Hong Kong, but my dog is here too. Crazy.

Once we arrived at our temporary apartment, we took some time to get settled and made sure Roxy had plenty of food and water. Then we unpacked a little and went on a walk to explore the neighborhood. Where we’re staying now is on the Western side of Hong Kong island, called Sai Ying Pun. We’ll be here for a month or so until we find more permanent housing.

I’d like to say that the rest of the day was spent exploring and eating, but that would be a total lie. We got showers and slept for the next 10 or so hours. Now it’s after 3 a.m. and I’m wide awake. Rookie mistake. The last time I visited Hong Kong, the jet lag wasn’t too bad because we were busy every day, now that our plans are a little lighter, it’s more difficult to stay awake and fall asleep on a normal schedule.

Today is a holiday in Hong Kong, called the Chung Yeung Festival, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The history of it is pretty interesting. But, more on that later!

For now, I sleep. The sun will be up soon.