A stone, Hong Kong, and the Great Escape.

     I know I have been remiss in not blogging for the past 2 weeks, but I can explain.  First of all, I was feeling under the weather.  It had cooled off for a few days and then it got hotter than it was before the cool off.  When I say the weather is oppressive, I am not merely whining, but speaking in literal terms.  So, when I was informed last week that I would be given a few days off from school because they were doing school activities, I welcomed the long weekend with open arms and made plans to visit Hong Kong.  I was told that it was cooler in HK because of the ocean breezes.
     I had been feeling bad before this, and realized that it was likely a UTI.  Being in an almost constant state of dehydration can do this, so I went to the pharmacy and was given an OTC antibiotic and some herbs.  I KNOW, but hey, it was better than visiting the hospital...right??  So, 2 days into my 4 day regime, and feeling better, I took the subway on Wed. evening to Hong Kong.  Once you cross the border, you actually get on the Hong Kong subway to continue.  I had gone to booking.com and booked myself what appeared to be a very nice hotel room in HK.  The room came with breakfast buffet and free wi-fi.  Apparently, my Chinese phone will not work at all in HK.
     I had reserved my room and and written down the directions to the hotel.  I knew what line to take and what stop to get off at (it was the end of the Blue line), and to take the 101 bus.  What I failed to write down was the name of the hotel.  So, at the border, I was FORCED to purchase a Starbucks in order to get the wi-fi code so I could log in to find out where I was staying...yes, I did that...LOL
     I knew to take the 101 bus so I headed that way.  It turns out there is a South loop route and a North loop route for the 101 and guess who took the wrong loop?  I just kept chuckling to myself and reminding myself that when you half-ass it, you have a half-ass time!  Grand adventure, right??  I finally arrived at the hotel at about 10:30 only to be told the credit card was rejected.  I said of course it is, and showed him the card account, indicating they had already put the room charge on my card as a hold.  Ok, keys turned over and I was off to my room.  I wanted a comfy bed and a quiet room.  It was ON!

My hotel.

Right across the street,  Abject poverty toes the line with luxury all over the place in China and HK.

This room is HUGE by HK standards and I admit, I paid about $130 US per night.  I could get a hostel and share a room for about $50, but hey, my dime, my time, my room :-)

No tub, as shown in picture, but it turned out to be a good thing!

Top floor of a 21 story hotel.

The reason they gave me 2 cards was because the power to the room only works if there is a keycard in the slot by the door.  This way, tourists do not go off all day and leave the air con blasting!

This was actually my favorite part of the room.  This is a sign in the hotel equating the presence and consumption of durian with smoking :-)

     So, I checked in, took a shower and had one of the BEST NIGHTS SLEEP I have had since arriving.  Did I mention the fact that the Chinese are inclined to sleep on stone slabs they refer to as beds?  By this time, you must be wondering what "the stone" in the title refers to, considering I placed it before Hong Kong.

     It turns out, the UTI had not gone away or actually gotten any better.  My trip to HK must be read like a fortune cookie.  I had a great time in HK...in bed.  When I woke up Thursday morning, I was feeling iffy, but decided to take the shuttle downtown to hit the shopping I had heard so much about.  By 1:00pm, I was poke me with a fork done for the day.  I took the shuttle back to the hotel and collapsed into bed.  I bought a gallon jug of water and later ordered pizza and soup from room service.  The soup was mehhhh, and the pizza was tasty, but one slice later, the leftovers were put into the fridge and I was in bed for the long haul.  I had a large TV, a remote, and movies to watch.

     Thursday night was horrible and I spent the entire night peeing, drinking water, and in a great deal of pain.  The fact that I was in a reallllllly comfortable bed, in a realllllly nice and quiet hotel, with a bathroom that did not require special navigation tools, it was the best of a bad situation.  I had come to HK to relax and get away, and that is how I looked at it.  The breakfast buffet was AMAZING so I was at least eating one really good meal per day.

     Friday morning, I awoke to feel much better.  I made it to breakfast just in time and set out to see the sights.  I was taking it slow, I was taking it easy, and I was taking 2 bottles of water with me.  This is what I saw.

     I was back home and in bed, again, by 2:00pm Friday, but I have to say I had a wonderful morning.  I will definitely go back, I will go with a friend to split room cost, and I will plan to see a great deal more.  I did manage to get my HK Starbucks mug.  You only get one if you go there....LOL

     So, Saturday morning I awoke just in time for breakfast and took my time packing as well.  It took me 3 hours door-to-door to get home, and for the first time in ages, I did not feel like I needed a vacation from my vacation.  I spent a little bit of time saying hello to the hammies, and then I was in bed.  I streamed some Netflix and just relaxed.

     When I awoke on Sunday, I knew I was not better by a long shot.  My most painful time had been Thursday night, but I was not getting better, it seemed to be getting worse, and there was no more putting it off.  Sherrie was kind enough to take me to the hospital.  I could get there myself, but someone had to be able to translate my symptoms and the doctors' instructions.  After blood and urine tests, it was official.  I had a reallllly bad kidney infection and had likely passed a stone on Thursday night.  I was given a prescription for an IV drip antibiotic, herbs, and a 4 day bedrest note.

     The drip.  OMFG I spent some serious first world time in a third world medical facility.  Apparently, almost all drugs/antibiotics are IV drip in China.  Who knew?  So, Sherrie took me to the local clinic down the street, showed them the prescription and explained to them that I would require a clean and sterile needle with each drip and that I was to watch them mix the potion.  I paid more money for the drip service, but well worth not having to travel to Nanshan each time, AND I would likely have had to pay to get it done there as well.  Oh yeah, almost forgot, when they sent me home from the hospital it was with 6 bottles of saline solution and 36 vials of antibiotics.  So, all the local place had to do was mix and stick.  Dr. Murdock would kill me if he read this.

     So, we have the stone, HK, and now the "great escape".  I had fed the hammies Saturday afternoon when I got home and noted that I needed to clean their cages.  They are living separate because I don't want to hear Ernie scream every time Bert comes near.  I should know in a few if there was an actual close encounter of the hammie kind.  When I finally got home from the hospital, after the doctor ordered me to take a cab and told Sherrie, in no uncertain terms, I was NOT allowed to walk home, I went back to bed.

     When I finally woke up about 6:30 to figure out what to do about the drip, I noticed that Bert's cage door was ajar and that he was MIA.  I put a note on the door, the neighbor had a key to feed them when I was in HK, and went off in search of a place to infuse me.  Having had an issue like this before back home, I knew Bert would show up eventually...right?

          I spent 3 days, twice a day, at the clinic for the roughly one hour drip time to receive my antibiotics.  I did NOT take pictures out of a sense of a) denial that it happened, b) shock value, c) just couldn't do it.  It is NOT something I would recommend if you want to visit China.  The clinic folks were extremely nice and showed me that they carried extra sterile supplies for foreign visitors.  Apparently the locals will save money by allowing them to use the same needle for all their shots and just "clean it" after every use.  Not even a nano-thought in my mind that this was a viable option for me.

     Sunday night, I was finally able to get into the shower and I felt much better.  One drip down, 5 to go, and I was off from school for at least the next 2 days.  I am off on Wednesdays anyway and I had my follow-up with the doctor.  As I was standing at the sink to brush my teeth, I felt a tiny nip at my toe.  Looking down, I saw Bert staring up at me.  I screamed Bert! and we both jumped.  He took off under the kitchen cabinet so, after digging around awhile, I decided I was too tired for the hunt and crawled into bed.  I thought I had heard tiny scratching sounds while I was in the bathroom, and now I knew Bert was alive, well, and being just Bert.  As I lay in bed, it now being close to midnight, I thought I heard scratching near my bed.  I turned on the light and sure enough, Bert!  So, I took Ernie's house and stuffed it full of food, figuring that sure enough, he would beeline for it and SCOOP went the hammie back into the cage.

     I did my follow-up and was given a much better bill of health.  He continued the antibiotics for another week, but they were pill form.  My hands (they could never find a vein in my arm) were very grateful, and it was far easier.  I must admit, they can find a vein quickly in China.  There was little pain and little bruising.  I do not recommend you try this at home....or in China...LOL