I seem to have completely forgotten to blog about my spring trip to Hong Kong, so now it is time for some backwards blogging! For the last holiday of the year, we get a week off for labour day. I chose to take off to Hong Kong with Sara and Will (and along the way we met up with Sarah, Thomas, Asia and Charlie!) It was a great crew to spend a week with and Hong Kong is an amazing place to travel. The downside was that I got the flu right at the start of the week - and never really got my energy (or my voice) back all week. I am sure my disgusting croaky voice was annoying to my travel mates, but my lack of energy really was discouraging for me. Although I have had so many opportunities to travel this year, I really want to make sure I make the most of every chance I get. It was a bit hard to do that when all I felt like doing was curling up for a nap! At any rate, despite the slower pace, I still loved Hong Kong and would go back in a second.
* Note on photos *
* There are not very many, as I was not feeling well. Moreover, Hong Kong is hot and sweaty and humid - therefore pictures are not exceptionally flattering to our all Canadian travelling crew, unused to dealing with our hair in such a climate. *
Shaped trees at Disneyland
From Dalian it takes an entire day to fly to Hong Kong, so we did not arrive until fairly late on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, when we arrived our hostel had given away our reservation. This was INCREDIBLY frustrating, as they would not help us find another place, we had paid a deposit, and Hong Kong is notoriously bad for accommodation availability. It had been hard enough to book this hostel (well in advance) and so we were frustrated, exhausted, and discouraged. (As a side note, reservations and advanced payments mean very little in China and this situation has occurred multiple times in my travels this year. All that matters is being at their door). At around 12:30 we finally found a disgusting hotel to stay in and went to bed right away.
* Note on Hostel*
* The employee who "lost" our reservation was later let go. In part to Will's persistance, and in part to his calling us "losers" as we left the building. Apparently we were not the first with such an issue. *
A touch of Canada in "It's a Small World"
The next day we found a new hostel, and then headed up to Victoria Peak. It is the largest mountain in Hong Kong and it has a tram that goes all the way to the top. Unfortunately it was a bit foggy when we were up there, but it was still a pretty impressive look-out point. This is where my sickness hit me, so I spent most of the time on the mountain top sitting on the ground in front of the gift shop fighting off sickness. It was lovely. After returning to our hostel, I slept for the rest of the day.
Church ruins in Macau
On Tuesday we took the ferry to Macau. Macau used to be a Portuguese colony, so the architecture is very different from mainland China. It really did look a lot like Europe. We spent the day meandering through some ruins, and exploring the expansive casino buildings. Each casino had an enormous mall attached (Each with its own Louis Vuitton and Prada store. How can one tiny island support so many Louis Vuitton stores??). Macau's main tourist draw is gambling, but that wasn't really our scene. Instead we tried to go to every free show and use any free offered convenience at each. Macau is a lovely island, so it was enjoyable to just walk around. We saw a fountain show, a laser show, and a light show and ate some pretty delicious food. My favourite building in Macau was the Venetian. The inside was made up like Venice, and even had a river with boats.
View from the fortress
Sarah, Thomas, Will and I at the fortress
On Wednesday we headed back to Hong Kong, but mostly spent the day just wandering. We found a lovely park and a free museum. In the evening we went to a delicious dumpling restaurant and went to the famous Hong Kong races. It was quite the affair to see. The area is a huge and there was about 10 races. We enjoyed race food and checking out the horses.
One of the strange shows in Macau, "The Tree of Life"
The Venetian
On Thursday we all went to Disneyland! I know, I know, it isn't the most cultural experience. I simply do not care. It was awesome. I even packed my Tinkerbell shirt for the occasion. It is definitely a smaller version than the Disney of California, but it was still very well run and a ton of fun. It was a great taste of my childhood and our family trips to Disneyland. Since the park is so small we managed to go on every single ride and see every show in just one day. We stayed right until the park closed with fireworks! I thoroughly enjoyed it, though it certainly did not have enough roller coasters!
The horses just move too fast for my camera...
Proof for how hot and sweaty we were the entire time in Hong Kong
Recognize this? Mini Disney!
For my last day in Hong Kong, we loaded up on Dim Sum for breakfast and then went to Lamai Island. Lamai is a short ferry ride away, and is known for nice beaches, hiking, and vegetarian cuisine. We did a hike around the island, and then ended with a scrumptious meal. It was ridiculously hot, but had beautiful scenery. I wish I had brought my bathing suit along that day - because I was definitely ready to jump in by the end of the hike!
Toy Story land was the newest addition
To infinity, and beyond! (totally worth waiting in line for)
The next morning we had to head back to Dalian. It was a really enjoyable vacation, though I did not get to see everything that I wanted. If I was to go back I would make another trip to one of the surrounding islands to check out the beaches or the dolphins, I would have gone to the Hong Kong history museum, and probably just would have done some more general exploring. Unfortunately, I was really not up to it this trip. However, it was still a great break from work and a fun time with some pretty cool people!
Mickey and Minnie ice cream!
Lamai Island
Taking a break from the heat on Lamai!
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