Divine intervention at Choi Hung (彩虹) MRT station in Hong Kong (香港)

This evening I went downtown to the Temple Street area to take pictures. After I was done, I took the MTR back to Choi Hung station, where I intended to transfer to a bus to my apartment. The station is very large, with many exits. Several of the exits were indicated as having bus stops, but there was nothing to indicate which buses going in which direction stopped where. I went to the exit indicated as having a "Bus Terminus". I got out and indeed there were lots of buses there. I approached one that I thought would go by my apartment, but the driver said he was going in the other direction, and I needed to catch the same bus but in the opposite direction, somewhere else. He couldn't really speak English or Mandarin so couldn't give me much more detail.

I wandered around a bit more and ended up at a minibus station a couple levels above. I looked at the signs for the buses there and none of them were the one I was looking for. I stood there looking confused. The place was complete empty, except for one other person, a young and fashionably dressed young lady who was talking on her cell phone. She ended her conversation and walked over and asked in English if I needed help. I told her that I was looking for a bus back to the place where I was staying. She told me that to get that bus I would have to get across the street. She walked me over to the balcony overlooking the street and pointed across the street and said I would have to get across and then walk a bit. There was a pedestrian bridge across the street but she said it might be closed so she suggested that I take the elevator all the way back down into the MTR station, walk through the station, and come out the entrance across the street. I followed her instructions and when I came up the stairs across the street and looked up and over to where I had been, I saw her waving and pointing down the street. I waved back and walked in the direction she indicated.

I didn't see a bus stop right away, so when I passed by the entrance of a government office where there were a couple of older women in security uniforms, I stopped and asked them in English and Mandarin where the bus for my neighborhood was. They didn't speak much English or Mandarin, and talked to each other in Cantonese, then I remembered the name in Cantonese of another nearby neighborhood, and gave that to them and they were really excited and pointed down the street and said "前面", which I guess sounds the same in Cantonese as in Mandarin. I repeated "前面" back to them and smiled and we all laughed and I headed off. Eventually I found my bus stop and boarded the minibus back to my apartment.

I am always thankful that no matter where I go, whether in North America, Europe, or Asia, there are always people willing to take the time to help.