back to life, back to reality

so a week back and already i'm not liking this "real world" everyone speaks of. it's not just the mental readjustment that i'm having trouble with, but my body isn't happy either - fever, chills, nausea, dizziness, cough, cold - looks like i got a good souvenier from my trip....bird flu?!? let's hope not! pretty sure it's more than just jet lag though.
off to the doctors today to figure this all out and though we were in contact with live chickens and roosters on our trip, i'm pretty sure that if there was any risk at all, they wouldn't have tourists trapsing through these villages infested with live poultry. at least that's what i tell myself so i can sleep at night. hmmm....
it has indeed been difficult getting used to being home - the food, the weather, the pace - it's all so sub par!!! i'm convinced us westerners have got it all wrong.
the last part of our trip was great. hong kong is an intense but amazing city, definitely worth a visit, but not for the faint of heart or those of the passive persuasion! it's absolutley every man, woman and child for themselves and you'd better hope your elbows are braced before you take on the busy streets. it's insane, but we managed to get used to it towards the end, merging in and out of the crowds with ease...well, somewhat! the mong kok/temple street market waspretty cool and the prices were a welcome relief from the rest of the not-for-a-budget-backpacker-city. we picked up our last few souveniers and worked our haggling skills. fun fun. dinner was once again at a thai restaurant and yet again, the food wasn't even comparable to the real stuff, but we could resist a comfort meal! funny how thai food became comfort food....delicious. our last night we ate dinner at a japanese restaurant (i know, i know..."when in hong kong...") and ate sushi from a conveyor belt of rotating sashimi, edamame (finally!) AND, get this....california rolls! i was just happy to have a taste of avocado...it had been way too long and they definitley skimped on the good stuff in my california roll, but hey, i got a taste. in fact, later on, we found a supermarket with all the food faves from home (including ice cream!!) and i couldnt' resist purchasing an avocado and slicing it open at the food court, eating it on its' own. well boy, did i ever get a few weird stares from nearby diner's...."is she actually eating that?!? plain!?!? yuck!" of course a few of the same things could have been said about their cuisine choices, but we were used to the plates of snails and bowls of still-moving meals...i'm not even kidding.
thanks to our lonely planet book (aka, the bible) we took a couple of walking tours of different districts on the island and got very opposing perspectives of this vast city. there is so much to see and yet again, we only saw a fraction in the short time we were there.
our last day was spent packing and heading out to lantau island - toward the airport - and though it was only about half an hour away, it felt like we were in another world. the island itself seems fairly uninhabited (this is relative to the rest of hong kong keep in mind) with the exception of a penetentiary overlooking the ocean to one side and lush green hills to the other (tough life, eh?!?) and, the purpose of our visit, the po lin monestary with the tian tan buddha statue. its' supposedly the largest outdoor buddha statue and well, it was definitely huge! very cool and a nice way to spend our last day. the drive to and from the temple was a sketchy one. by this point though, the winding one lane roads and extreme inclines and descents barely phased us - we have definitley become passive passengers when it comes to those situations...and i thought highway 26 was bad! it's a walk in the park compared to these crazy roads.
the flight home was more or less uneventful with the exception of a 1 hour 40 minute delay (long story, not worth re-telling) and a pushy old lady beside me who thought she should be entitled to half my seat as well as her own. ugh....made the long flight even longer and we were happy to be on home soil once we finally landed.
this trip was one of a lifetime and the travel bug has definitley bitten in a bad way. i'm already itching to go back and spend more time in the places we loved. we did so much in such little time and i will remember and cherish every single moment.
next big trip is one down the aisle!