Travel Documents pt.2

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On the Road Again!



Well they certainly like to keep you on your toes here!
I woke up this morning in Shenzhen to a message that said to be packed and ready to leave (in TWO HOURS!) back to Hong Kong haha. Now that the whole band is together, we need to leave mainland China and have our tourist visas converted to working visas. 

I suppose now would be a good time to introduce you to the band members!

VisionBandWeb copy by tubbums32

From left to right, we have: Nuno (Bass) from Portugal, Me!, Madelin (Vocals) from Cuba, Evans (Vocals) from Canada, Paris (Vocals) from the US, Claudio (Guitar) from Italy, and Keith (Drums) from South Africa!

So you can tell by now that we're a bit diverse! haha This is part of the reason why the visa process took so long! China recently changed its policy regarding giving visas to citizens of "developing countries." For that reason, Madelin and Keith were both turned away at the airport and sent back to Cuba and South Africa and told to apply for their visas in their respective countries…Crazy!

So to catch you up...
The last time you heard from me, I was still in Hong Kong! So the following morning, after our adventure at the Avenue of Stars (fav.me/d6wsczh), Iwona (keenaz) and I went to Sai Kung Beach to see some of the less well-known areas of Hong Kong, and I've gotta say it was pretty awesome! I never expected to see something like that in a place that I'd always associated with nothing but an urban cityscape. If I hadn't been crammed in a minibus, I would have snapped some shots of the immense mountainous landscape on the way to SK – eventually, I shall! :)

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See also: fav.me/d6wsdks

More logistical nightm-- adventures!
Let's back up a little. Before being able to meet with Iwona, I was told that a guy was going to come at noon to pick my passport up from me at the hotel. While I was waiting for him, I was informed that he was a woman, but no biggie, I told my liason with whom I was texting to inform her that the impossible-to-find hotel was on the 4th floor. So I waited there at noon. Nothing. I figured it might be hard to find the place, so I took it upon myself to go up and down the elevator several times to wait at the curb and flag down anyone that looked like they were looking for me. 

At 2:30 (TWO THIRTYYYY!!!), a woman comes up to the 4th floor with some paperwork, one of which was a scan of my passport. Finally. At this point, I am also waiting for Iwona, who is on her way to the hotel to meet me for the first time. Well this woman speaks no English, so when she unexpectedly whisked me off to some unknown location for some unknown purpose, it was very difficult for me to convey to her that I had a friend that was already on the train to come to the hotel we were leaving! 

To make things more interesting, my phone has no international 3G data plan, so I was relying on random wifi connections to communicate with Iwona what the hell was going on! lol and I dunno if you've ever tried to connect (and stay connected) to wifi while sprinting after someone, but it isn't the easiest thing to do! lol All the while, I'm filling out paperwork standing on one foot, hopping from subway train to subway train – my first experience with the Hong Kong MTR was a bit of a chaotic one! haha 

We arrive at the Consulate, and wait for our number to be called to go give them the rather messily-completed paperwork and my passport. Once this is done, I am "told" that this woman (who I have nicknamed Crazy Visa Lady) will meet me back at the hotel the following day at 4pm. I don't know if this is to whisk me off again to the consulate or to just drop off my passport and await further instructions.

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The following day!
After returning from Sai Kung Beach, Iwona and I arrive in my hotel to await Crazy Visa Lady, who is predictably an hour an a half late lol. What could not have been predicted is that she would point at me and say "Go Shenzhen." If you don't know, Shenzhen is not on the island of Hong Kong. Going to Shenzhen is effectively leaving one country and entering another. No one had prepared me for this, standing in front of my unpacked, unorganized, cluttered hotel room. So in five minutes or less, I crammed all of my worldly possesssions into my suitcase, and piled everything (including that massive keyboard) yet again, into that tiny elevator, this time with 3 additional passengers from the 4th floor! 

If I haven't articulated this enough, Crazy Visa Lady does not walk anywhere. Following her is like following a gazelle through a heard of cattle (these streets are BUSY), and all of this while now dragging around a 200 lb keyboard case and all of my luggage! The following picture was the only moderately usable documentation of this ordeal because we were moving at such immense speed – and making sure none of my precariously balanced luggage fell off of the keyboard case! 

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Fast forward to now!
We have been waiting for all the other members of the band to arrive from their respective countries, each with their own crazy stories of logistical adventures (;)). 
Once we were all together, we even got a chance to perform as a group at the Venice Hotel (which is where we will be playing in March, if that contract goes through!). 

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More stories to come!
I now get to pack everything I own yet again, and get ready to transport everything back to Hong Kong, where I will hopefully be able to meet up with Iwona again, and maybe ghen1505 too! 

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Read more of my Travel Documents below:
Part 1: tubbums32.deviantart.com/journ…
Part 2: tubbums32.deviantart.com/journ...
Part 3: tubbums32.deviantart.com/journ…
Part 4: tubbums32.deviantart.com/journ…


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veryfirstjeanieha's avatar
I really like these Travel Documents, they are super entertaining! :)