This week I had one of the most challenging work days of my life....
Lets go back to week 4 where I designed a 24 hour promotion banner for Soundbrenner's metronome app. Thinking I had aced it, I soon found out I was wrong. It was Tuesday of week 5 when I got word from Apple that the format of the Android app version was not saved properly. Thinking this would be a quick fix I continued with other tasks as I waited for the Berlin office to be awake. Practically long story short, I found out that the size I had designed the promotion for was to big yet somehow no one knew the size it should be to start with. So with that, you can see this left me with a lot to work with... not. After literally hours of trying to figure out how to save this god damn thing whilst having no real direction at all, I settled for what I thought was right. I left the office at 8.30pm (solid 11 hour work day) to go home and realise my lock had jammed my door shut. Un-bloody-believable. This was possibly the worst time for this to happen. I was tired, brain dead, starving and now stuck in my hallway. Yet somehow there was still hope. With the help of Georgia and my anger fuelling my desire to get into my room, we made it happen. After rattling my keys vigorously in the lock for 30 minutes and hitting my door several times, the handle turned. Thank. You. Jesus.
Reflecting on this experience, even though it was incredibly challenging and frustrating, I still learnt from it. I had to use my initiative and solve a problem which had no real clues and somehow I got there in the end. From this I have decided I am going to make a step by step manual for future Soundbrenner app designers so they don't have to go through what I did. After that nightmare of a day, the rest of the week flew by and before I knew it was a LONG weekend!! With endless things to do, on Friday Georgia and I decided to go to Big Buddha and Tai Ho Fishing Village. We set out at 9.30am to start our hour commute to the Buddha. On arrival to Tung Chung we were greeted to hundreds of other people who had the same idea. Damn. We waited in line for 2 hours to get on the cable car up yet it was so worth it. As we dangled hundreds of metres above the ground the views were amazing and we soon were away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Once reaching the Buddha the sun was absolutely scorching. We somehow in the 26 degree heat tackled the 200+ stairs to the Buddha whilst fighting through the sea of umbrellas. In the end it was worth it. Somehow we chose a bluebird day which is extremely rare in Hong Kong due to smog. This meant the views at the top were amazing looking over the village and down to the ocean. It was hard to believe that we were still in Hong Kong.
After frying in the sun for hours and probably suffering mild heat stroke, we continued our day by heading to Tai Ho Fishing Village. We took a local bus which weaved around the skinny country roads and upon arrival we saw a MASSIVE line of people waiting to get the bus to leave. With that lingering in the back of our minds, Georgia and I explored the village enjoying what they had to offer. The streets were filled with dried, cooked and fresh fish waiting to be purchased. Local ladies yelled, "yummy BBQ, yum yum" to get our attention to their local cuisine. Although their efforts to try make me eat unrecognisable fish were convincing, I was not sold. We scoped out the entire village within 2 hours and we were soon ready to go home. This is where the day got a little grim. We soon discovered that since it was a holiday all public transport apart from the bus were not running, therefore explaining the humungous line. If the 2 hour wait was not bag enough, the air was suffocatingly hot and the sun was close to gone. Trying to make the best of this situation we took turns to go take pictures of the sunsetting on the village. Hoping this would pass the time, Georgia dropped her lens cap which is now floating somewhere in the South China Sea. You could say we had hit rock bottom. After probably the longest 2 hours of my life, we made it, we had made it to the bus. Hallelujah. Day done.
Feeling a little exhausted from Fridays adventure, Georgia, Lilian and myself decided to go to Tai Long Wan beach for the day. We were told it was Hong Kong's most beautiful beach and that you can either hike in or take a boat. Feeling rather adventurous/money conscious we decided to hike. We took a MTR and two buses to be dropped off on the side of the road into the Hong Kong bush. Hmmm what have we done. With not a lot of knowledge of where we were going, we found groups of people heading in the same direction. Surely they are going to the same place, we hoped. Fast forward through the hike we started off going down hill. From this I thought it would be a leisurely stroll before we were greeted by the incline. The walk itself wasn't extremely hard but with the high temperatures and humidity, it made it close to impossible. My face soon turned to a beetroot tinge and I swear one of my lungs gave way. I knew now I was paying the price for the numerous pork stem buns and noodles I had consumed. 1.5 hours in, we had made it. Before enjoying a much needed swim in the South Chinese Ocean, we needed to book our ferry back. When approaching the makeshift ticket desk I automatically saw the words 'FULL.' Shit. We have to hike back. In my fragile state I automatically went into shut down mode as I knew we would literally have to leave now to get back before midnight. But thank god for Georgia and Lilian. My brain must have stopped working due to lack of oxygen as I read the sign wrong. The 4pm ferry was full but not the 5pm or 6pm. Phew. Handing over the $160HKD was the easiest money I have spent whilst Hong Kong as now we could enjoy this breathtaking beach. With 3 hours of relaxation up our sleeves we spent our time nibbling on fruit, soaking up the afternoon rays and floating in the ocean. What an incredible end to our day. As 6pm rolled by we hooped aboard a speed boat which took us along the coast to Sai Kung. The sun had turned a warm red colour, tinting to the sky and ocean pink. Our boat skimmed across the ocean which licked the rugged rock faces we past by and soon we found ourself back to civilisation. Sai Kung is a sea port town so seafood is a massive thing. It was only fitting for us to enjoy the towns delicacy after such an incredible day. With the options endless being the Kiwi girls, we are we settled for classic Fish N Chips.
Reflecting on this day even though the hike was challenging, it was by far the best day I have had in Hong Kong. We all put ourselves out of our comfort zones and experienced something absolutely incredible. From the insane views, to getting to know Lilian and Georgia better, this day will stay with me for life. We have set the bar pretty high for future adventures whilst living in Hong Kong but I know we still have other incredible quests to come. You just have to stay tuned.