Planting the Seed of Travel Karma in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Skyline- Who couldn't stare at this for days? :)

Dining And Adventuring in Hong Kong


     Day five of my travels to Hong Kong was relatively low-key compared to the previous four days.  I packed as much adventure as possible into the first four days in Hong Kong as I could possibly handle. Some of the highlights included a trip to Lantau Peak (Hong Kong's highest peak) , chowing down on some of the famous Hong Kong dish, Dim Sum,  chucking back some cheap beers from 7-11,  performing in a comedy open mic night at Hong Kong's longest running comedy club, Take-Out Comedy, and not to mention a lot of awe-struck wonder; while checking out the randomness of Honk Kong . The final adventure of this fairly un-eventful day was nothing more than a seat on a park bench with a can of Heineken next to Aberdeen Harbor. (Aberdeen Harbor is next to a rather interesting floating village) Aberdeen Harbor offers a perfect place for some nighttime people-watching while taking in the scenic Hong Kong City Skyline. Aberdeen Harbor's beautifully-lit yachts and Cruise Boats would look just as stunning tomorrow. The last suds of my can of Heineken hitting the back of my throat helped solidify my decision to call it a night.

Everything is exciting when you are not at home

The Hairs of Wisdom Will Lead You Home in Hong Kong

 Travel tends to make smiling much easier; even the simple things like a five minute walk seem delightfully exciting.  A crew of old Grandpa's were still out and about chatting the night away on park benches.  One of those chatty Grandpa's with a straggly set of hairs sprouting out his chin even pointed me in the right direction of my hostel; which was only a few minutes away. At the arrival of my hostel, the computer-chipped key card got me through the giant security door, and into the elevator.  From inside this actual mansion, I headed to the 17th floor of Mojo Nomad .
However, a small problem became uncovered at this point. The pillow and the blanket were gone from  my bed.

No problem.  There was a pillow and blanket in the empty bed right next to mine. Let's save everyone a hassle. I will just go ahead and grab that pillow and blanket. Tomorrow’s trip to Macau looked more promising with a fully-stocked bed and the effects of the cans of Heineken.

 
 










 



Round One in the Case of Mojo Nomad vs. Josh

  The beginning of my scuffle with Hostel Management must not have started that long after I can only assume that I started snoring away.  Three ferocious knocks on the door came from what sounded like a set of steel fists  I swear to you that any innocent bystander in the room could have easily mistaken those raps on the door with what it must sound like to have the FBI serve you  with a search warrant, for murder.  The woman with these steel fists was also quick; as she barged right into the door faster than the jaws of a hungry Hong Kong Street dog can open up on a bowl of beef noodle soup left unprotected.  Little Miss Angry Door Knocker  commenced with her questioning, "Mr. Dent, Mr. Dent.  Mr. Dent, You didn't pay!"

 







 

  A midnight greeting of,"You Didn't Pay" still didn't bring me to my senses. I am not even sure if  the world's largest set of testicles being beaten across my chin with the same velocity of Filipino Champion boxer Manny Pacquiao beats on the boxing speed bag could have brought me to a state of full consciousness.  That is because I was in the middle of many of American men's favorite dream;  winning the NFL Super Bowl.  I still believe I managed to mumble something back to the lead investigator." Can't you see I am in the middle of winning the Super Bowl here? I will pay in the morning. "

 












    









No Time To Dream If Little Miss Angry Door Knockers Is on Duty


   Little Miss Angry Door Knocker didn't have any intentions of letting me finish my dream of scoring the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. The fire in her red eyes could be felt strong enough to fully wake me up. She launched into her next new round of accusations, " And now...  You have taken the covers, and.... The pillow... off bed...  number FOUR!"

   She continued,  " Do you realize that bed is going to have to be made again...."

     Oh, the personal assault that I have inflicted on this hostel manager!  Someone is going to have to put a clean blanket and a clean pillow on an empty bed, for the second time sometime tomorrow before noon. You still would have thought she was practically ready to call the police on me with how angry she sounded about this.

  Not even the police in Hong Kong, a country with less than 30 murders in 2017,  would have time to respond to that.

 





 Between her barrage of angry stares and ever-increasing accusations, a second or two of silence allowed me the time to make some sense out of our little disagreement.  I politely said, "Yeah, but I paid the Filipino girl working the counter this morning when I requested to extend my stay for one more night. "The manager hissed at me now, " Well, the only Filipino girl, we have, that works here, is at the counter right NOW. So, we will just see about that."

I thought, " Oh great. Now, the one time, I actually venture a guess on an Asian person's nationality, and I am clearly dead wrong And, now Drill Sergeant Sarah thinks I am a thief and a racist."

   This Irish gal was now taking on an even harsher persona. She barked out her next order, "Get dressed and head downstairs to the counter to straighten this out." That was when she transformed herself into Drill Sergeant Sarah in my head.

    Even though I knew I had paid for the room, Drill Sergeant Sarah seemed to be on a mission now; which made me a bit nervous. I thought for a minute,  " No . no, Josh. Just stay calm and keep smiling at her. It will all work out. Besides, at least she speaks English."

A Midnight Rendevous at the Front Desk

    Drill Sergeant Sarah seemed a bit calmer, but still a bit rough when I got to the front desk.  Maybe, my shirt being on and me being awake, put her more at ease. She quickly allowed me to explain,  "Now,  tell me how did you even get into the room. We cut off access to your key card in our computer systems at noon today"

    My response hit Drill Sergeant Sarah with the first of two surprises coming her way, " Actually, the key works fine still." Her facial expression stayed speculative.

    Drill Sergeant Sarah spouted of her next mandate, " Well, let me see that key. " I thought, " Why can't she still believe me? How could I have gotten in the building, and the room, without a key"?

   After her obnoxious barrage of skepticism, she said, " Ok, Well, you say you paid, which I find hard to believe. But, go ahead and tell me what happened... I guess. "

  I wanted to ask her if her eyes hurt from rolling so hard into the back of her dead.

Instead, I politely offered up her second surprise:
   
 " Sure, I will tell you exactly what happened today. I headed to the common room on the second floor about 10:30 this morning. I read a few pages from the John Grisham book you have on the book shelf. The book is great by the way.  At 11:15, I came to the front desk to request to extend my stay one more night. The girl working the desk, was the one I had earlier mistaken for being Filipina.  I now realize she was a local Hong Konger. I am very sorry for that incorrect assumption on my part. I still found two things odd as I paid. The first thing was that she took quite a bit of time to process my payment. I wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere. So, it wasn't that big of a deal, but just a general observation.  I also found it odd that she didn't ask me if I wanted a receipt."

  Her eyes still flamed. But, you could tell that those eyes were burning at another person now.


 I continued:

"I still trusted there wouldn't be a problem; especially with this many security cameras in the place. I also signed a receipt on the computer stating I had paid for one more night. Then, I went back to the common room for a nap. "

She responded, " 11:15 seems like a rather specific time."  Her tone was rather clever. I couldn't tell if she was thinking, "What a bullshitter, " or, " We're really screwed here, because he definitely paid. "

So, she returned my retaliation with, "Let's go ahead and review the security tapes, But, I can assure you that our front desk rarely makes any mistakes, And, they would NEVER make a mistake like this,"

I thought, "Karma , Josh. Karma. Stay calm. Plant the seed. You're going to need help on many occasions over the next several months of traveling. You know some stupid shit is going to happen eventually..  Yeah, knowing you, you're definitely gonna need a lot of help. Karma, Josh, Karma. "

I just smiled back at her, " Ok sure.  Have a look."

Time To Review The Tapes

    Then, Drill Sergeant Sarah and the actual Filipino girl looked at the tapes like they were guarding the contents of the Hong Kong Office of Treasury.   You could have heard a mouse on the 17th floor sneezing. Drill Sergeant Sarah broke the silence in a manner that actually could be described as, a tiny bit smitten; at least for a Drill Sergeant, " I see you here."

 Drill Sergeant Sarah, " Oh here she is giving you change. "

I just said, " Yep, 20 Hong Kong dollars.  I paid with two one hundreds, and she gave me back two tens. "

She handed me several coupons, " Well, the least I can do is buy you a couple of beers, and some breakfast tomorrow. "

"Alright fair enough."

Then, she goes, " Well, don't you worry, I am going to get her for sure in the morning. This is unacceptable after six months. "

I thought really, don't you think that is a bit over-dramatic? I suppose if I wrote that story on TripAdvisor it could absolutely bury a business.

Time out ...

  "I'm gonna get her," is more like something a rebel would say while fighting an underground warlord  when stalking the killer of her baby. But, really what actually happened here? A  forty year old man, that only has a few dollars in his pocket to travel because he speaks English as a first language and sang and danced for kindergarten kids for a year, was woken up at midnight. In the grand scheme of things, how bad really is it? I mean not to sound cheesy. But, you could probably walk into any village in Syria at this very moment and see at least a dozen children with missing parents. I also thought about Trump,for some reason, and how the parents who were in America as immigrants with their children who have lost their children don't have a legal leg to stand on, just like this girl, didn't have a leg to stand on as mistakes were made. I actually even thought about Elaine Croake, my city manager at Hertz Rent a Car from almost twenty years ago who used to make me write-up any bus driver who forgot to wear his name tag, even if it was their first offense. I get that side of  things. You take care of business, No nonsense. Regardless if people hate you for enforcing the rules.

 Then, those people that hate the manager operate out of fear more than respect for a while, which means when the manager isn't looking, they're going to be completely useless employees. But, I realized I am 40 years old. and I don't have a drop of love in my heart. I can go completely numb for a year, and not even blink my eye. It's probably time to start making a few changes. So, I still felt determined to continue this situation, in basically the exact opposite way that I normally would. So, I just kept smiling when she told me was going to get her and said,  " Really, it's ok, She made a mistake. You owned it. And, now we're done. "  But, I knew that wasn't going to be good enough.

Breakfast Beers on The House

I came down for breakfast.  Eva, the girl that originally started this mess at the front desk looked at me a little bit apprehensively. No direct apology. But, it's ok.

As, I got my first beer,  I noticed that Drill Sergeant Sarah was in full force again. She was talking about six inches from Eva's face as I sipped my beer.

I thought, " Oh man. This can't be good. "

But, I hoped for the best that she would just point out the mistake and leave it at that .


After Sarah left, I noticed that the other manager was consoling her quite heavily as Eva was crying. The woman had a look in her eye of trouble. I have no doubt that she probably wasn't performing up to par with company standards. You could just tell.

So, I wanted to do something to make her day better.  I didn't know what though, and I don't understand women. That is no secret. If I tell her I still think she is awesome, or I am not mad, maybe she will just say you're just saying that. I thought maybe leave a note, " You're awesome."

Hmm..

So, finally, I put that MBA degree to use. The one that thing that a new hostel needs more than anything right now is good five star reviews.

So, I thought I could give her something really easy to do, , something she has probably handled hundreds of times, and then I can leave a glowing review on Tripadvisor and AirB&B how much she helped me. Well, let's just say her

Well, let's just say her effort was less than helpful. But, she needs help, and not to be condemned again

I settled for a glowing review of Eva's spectacular customer service that I wrote on Tripadvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com.tw/Hotel_Review-g294217-d13303269-Reviews-Mojo_Nomad_Aberdeen_Harbour-Hong_Kong.html


Yeah, Trump, and a lot of people would say, she isn't going to learn anything by doing this.

And, let's just face it , if everyone is doing things one way, what more of a sign do you need to do it the other way.

Less than 24 hours later, I found myself in Macau with a phone battery that just died, and struggling in the dark to find the building of my Airb&B host. Any guesses what happened when I asked one of the neighbors to help me find the place?