shenzhenuinely awesome

Shenzhen is so underrated. For those of you who aren't sure, Shenzhen is a big city in Mainland China that is roughly an hour away from Hong Kong. In order to go, I had to get my Visa rush serviced, trek a little to get to the embassy and pay a hefty fee. But it was definitely worth it because this weekend was amazing!

Most people go to Shenzhen for cheap prices on clothes and electronics. What they don't know is that they can stay at awesome, relaxing spas for a cheap price too! I, along with Jake, Jeff, Dave, Seb, Rahul and Arne went to Shenzhen by train on Saturday morning/afternoon and when we arrived we immediately started shopping. We were measured for suits and shirts from a tailor in this crazy, demanding, insane mall where all of the shopkeepers chase you to buy their products which are "copy" everything. Copy watch, copy ipod, copy Gucci...you name it. After I was measured I still had to wait for Jake and Jeff to get their measurements down so I ran off to a shoe store and in the span of about 15 minutes managed to buy 6 pairs of shoes after trying on about 20. (They weren't all for me and totalled about 40 USD so that's what, less than 8 a pair?!)

Then we had a late lunch at a restaurant in the mall that turned out to be surprisingly one of my favorite meals since I have been here. After that we checked into the Queen Spa and Dining complex and the beginning was a little upsetting for me because since some of the areas are split up between men and women, I thought I would be doing everything alone (including sleeping with strangers) since I was travelling with 6 guys. Anyway, we got it worked out so that instead of sleeping in a common area, we got a private massage room for the seven of us. I also cried a little because I thought Jake was pissed at me when he said "It's either this or some shit hole hostel." So yeah. But Jeff was super caring toward me and that made me appreciate him a little more and pretty much everyone softened up once they saw that I was upset. :) I have good friends.

Well we finally checked in, headed to the massage pools that consist of many pools with different forms of water massage like jets shooting from shower heads, overhead jets that pour onto your back as you lay down, jet beds, whirpools, everything. So after being amazed at that, we showered and got dolled up for a night on the town! We went across the street to eat some Chinese food which wasn't all that great and then headed to a club called Chocolate. The bar was so fun and crazy and I got to practice my Chinese with some people there. There were definitely some creeps and I met the asian version of my guy roommate from last summer and that was sort of awkward.

After the club we went back to our massage room and while Jake and Jeff had massages, we all stayed up joking around. After falling asleep at the wee hours of the morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the "rest area" which consisted of two gynormous fruit bars with all the things you wanted to drink. The rest area was also comprised of a gazillion chairs with people getting massages, watching tv on their personal screens, eating, reading, whatever. Not to mention to pool tables, Wiis, and all that other entertainment stuff we didn't end up using.

After hitting the massage pools one more time, I finally had my full-body aromatherapeutic massage that lasted 100 minutes and included a facial. It was a lot different from the massages the boys had because I was alone in a dim, lush room with suede walls, a beaded curtain, soft music, yummy scents and plush bedding. After that, some of us had foot massages while we lounged in the most comfy chairs in front of a big screen playing American Gangster, drinking tea and resting.

Finally, I am back in my dorm room ready to return to "normal life" for about four days. It's so weird to me that Hong Kong feels like home and has this welcoming aura to it once I step back into the city after being away. Funny how that could happen so fast! I'm going to Cambodia on Thursday-Monday and it should be a very intense and interesting trip.

Can't wait to tell you about it!