And then, plop, we landed smack dab back in Asia a few weeks later and it was an all together different experience then when we had first arrived the summer before. Where last year was dedicated to establishing a life in Hong Kong, this year, or should I say, these months, are all about making it count. Doing it all before we pack it all up and go back. The goal is to leave here with no regrets. Not a one. Thus, the bucket list.
You know what a bucket list is, right? Those things that you want to experience, want to accomplish before you kick it. I sat down in early August and literally jotted down my Hong Kong bucket list. At the top of my list, rent a junk.
So, what's a junk? This is a junk
It's not the exact junk we rented, but it's pretty darn close. I had never been on a junk before, but people that have told me you just rent the boat, sail around, eat, drink, swim, whatever. The company we used had an awesome package: 7 hours on the boat, heaps of food, open bar for practically pocket change. Some companies have add-ons like speed boats for wake boarding, Thai masseuses, and mahjong tables. But we chose the basic package, rounded up some friends and some friends of friends and even some friends of friends of friends, 25 in all, and on an overcast but warm Saturday morning, jumped aboard a junk.
As I sit and write about it now, it's like big deal, you went on a boat. And no matter what words I conjure up to try and make you understand, you won't. But there was something magical and special about being out on the water for the whole afternoon with your friends.
Sitting on comfy cushions as the boat powers out to sea, you really do feel like Kate Winslet, arms outstretched on the bow of the Titanic. You can't help but lay back on your elbows, tilt your head back and let the wind tangle through your hair. It's an amazingly carefree feeling.
And when you see just how vast the sea is, you realize just how small you really are in this great big world. How all that crap you are stressing over and worried about just really doesn't matter in the big scheme of things.
We dropped anchor just off a small island and were told to have at it, but beware of the many sea urchins populating these waters. And in the blink of an eye, people were in the water, climbing down the ladder, floating on foam noodles. The junk crew went to work filling empty water bottles with their own special cruise blend called Sea Breeze and throwing out bottles to swimmers below. Some of us swam to the beach, hunted down a few shells and some beach glass and then headed back to the boat.
I'm not sure who took the first jump off the top deck of the junk, but it was a blast watching people jump. Some went straight down like the straightest pencil, some flailed wildly, others splashed down in cannonball form. After watching everyone else, I decided to give my fears a smirk of a smile, and then closed my eyes and jumped. But just once....
I don't know how those hours on the water passed so quickly. One minute we were drinking beer
And dancing on the top deck
And the next we were back on the pier again
And once again I was wishing that I could freeze that feeling, capture it in a photo frame and tuck it into my pocket so I could pull it out and relive it every now and then. Especially when I'm back in the US missing Hong Kong.
Renting a junk. Just a drop in the bucket list.
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