A Day Trip to Hong Kong with Classmates on the Day Gaokao Results Came Out

To Start With

Usually, Guangdong's gaokao results come out on June 25th, but this year they came a day early. We'd planned this day trip to Hong Kong a while back, and even though the trip went ahead as scheduled, we were one person short...

Morning Journey

We met at Exit A of Futian Port at 8:30 AM. wxy showed up half an hour late, we crossed the border at 9, and reached the Golden Bauhinia at 10. According to Gemini, weekend mornings might be packed by 9, and weekdays by 10. That's why I, as the group leader, didn't dare hang around Kowloon first and headed straight to the Golden Bauhinia—turns out it was basically empty (laughs). After taking photos (we originally wanted to photograph the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, but couldn't agree, so we settled for photos instead), we had plenty of time. They didn't want to take the ferry to Kowloon and come back either, so we walked over to the Ferris wheel... Along the way, I wanted to take the MTR but they wanted to walk, so we ended up going the wrong way and baked in the sun for forty minutes.

At the Convention and Exhibition Centre, about to head to the Ferris wheel

Just as we were about to reach the Ferris wheel, wxy noticed it didn't seem to be turning... Well, turns out the Ferris wheel didn't open until 12 today... So we rested under the bridge for a few minutes. dmy went to change clothes. (It really was too hot) Just as he left, we checked our phones. That's when the results came out... ~~A fleeting glimpse~~ 523... 30 points lower than expected. But it's okay—the special control line also dropped by 11 points... but... it should've been lower than that. English was 120, not 130 (did the essay get marked harshly? Because after checking the answers, I got all the reading questions right, only two wrong in cloze and two in grammar, which shouldn't have happened.) But it's not a big deal—I figure I lost ten points on English. As for geography, due to poor time management and a moment of panic, I left ten points' worth of questions blank at the end and misaligned one answer (about 15 points). Although I didn't care at first, it ended up costing me 20 points against the special control line. But it doesn't really matter. That's that—at least I'm well above the A line. Final result: ranked over 30,000 in the province. No big deal. Waiting for dmy to come back. We headed to Luckin...

Typing away... ... After 12:30, we set off again! Maybe because it's June and most students' summer break hasn't started, or because it's a weekday, there were very few people. We only queued about 3 minutes to get on the Ferris wheel. 18 HKD for 15 minutes—not too fast, not too slow. Just enough time to take in the HK scenery.

The Next Station……(Afternoon)

Next, we walked to the ferry pier and took the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui. We'd originally wanted to go to a cha chaan teng, but they were all starving, and the moment we got off we saw a McDonald's, so we had to eat there first.

After we finished, there happened to be a pharmacy next door. A classmate picked up some medicine, and we left. Photos on the way to the MTR station:

#Stage 3

At almost 2 PM, they finally decided to go to Sino Centre. We'd originally planned to save money and come back in July to buy some novels, manga, and figures. Spotted a Sakura figure for 110 HKD, and ended up buying it.

Just bought it, saw the shop next door selling it for 120 HKD—guess I earned back the MTR fare for the next station

But I regret it now—should've bought the bundled Lycoris instead

#Stage 4

At Mong Kok station. I went to a newsstand and bought a copy of Sing Tao Daily.

Sing Tao Daily—photo taken later at dinner

We left. They figured there was nowhere else worth going, and didn't want to head back to Hong Kong Island, so they thought about going home for dinner. I hadn't had my fill yet. Luckily, there were people who knew the way well. I felt pretty safe with them—after all, only one of them had never been to HK. As for me, I headed back to Hong Kong Island. Took the MTR to Causeway Bay, then rode the ding ding tram to Wan Chai (I could've actually gotten off directly at Wan Chai, but I was chatting with a friend and missed my stop. When I got off, I spotted a Su7 Ultra heading south). Since I was there anyway, I could also check in at Queen's Road East, then walked a few streets and visited United Centre.

I wanted to keep walking, but my body just couldn't keep up. The shoulder I hurt a few days ago still hasn't healed—even after taking Fenbid yesterday. Carrying a backpack for so long is really tiring, and my shoulder is starting to hurt again... So it's now 17:27. I've been sitting in McDonald's for ten or twenty-odd minutes, because it was right there when I came down from United Centre. It felt rude to just rest here without ordering something, so I got a cup of the Hong Kong-style milk tea I'd wanted at noon (I spilled it at lunch and never got to drink it...) Why do I keep having bad luck Been typing for a while... Shoulder still hurts. Now I kind of need to use the restroom, but the ones here seem really small, not suitable for that. Which has me wondering whether I should still go to the cha chaan teng tonight () I feel like I've spent so much money today. And I'm a bit uncomfortable. Yeah, should I go or not. Feels about time. Off to the next stop... Back at United Centre—well, just passing through. Google said the restrooms at Taikoo Shing are quite fancy, so I went there— Seven or eight stalls, each about three square meters—this is no restroom, it's a palace! ———No photos———

#Stage 5: Dinner Time

Walked a bit more and arrived at Lemon Lok Cha Chaan Teng on Hennessy Road. Ordered a curry beef rice—

It was alright, just a bit— too much food. Now waiting for dark—

It's 19:11 now. Let me think about where to go next. Thought about heading to the waterfront, but I didn't check the navigation and just wandered from memory. The sky was half dark, not quite night yet. This light is perfect for street photography—not too dim, and the highlights come through beautifully:

#Stage6: The Night

The passage to the waterfront~feels like time travel

Victoria Harbour at night, Kowloon across the water

It's 7:50. Time to head back. This afternoon I walked from Central to Admiralty, and now from Admiralty to the Convention Centre. Time to get on the MTR. Close call. I was sweating a lot and felt a bit tight in the chest. Checked online—turns out it was just dehydration. But it lasted all the way until I crossed the border (because I couldn't get a seat). After customs and back in Shenzhen, I got a seat both times. So blessed. Finished my water, heart's fine now. Gotta rehydrate when I get home. I'm wrapping up this post now, and I feel okay. My mom is still researching my scores and college applications...

That's it for today. The end.