Category Archives: Travels

Hong Kong

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We are now leaving Hong Kong for Harbin. The last few days have been extremely busy with the festive season. With the little time we had in Hong Kong we managed to visit the following places:

thydzikGoogleMap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/hongkong2007.xml)

Hong Kong skyline and the Peak

Unfortunately we arrived a time with a lot of fog (or maybe that was all the smog), and the skyline was a dull grey. We still took many photos though. From the skyline we walked to the Peak, which is Hong Kong’s highest mountain. A tram ride takes you to the top and gives you access to the Sky Terrace all for $48HK.

Sonya and I and the skylineInteresting construction workThe busy streets of Hong Kong
The Peak Tram stationView from the PeakSonya on the Sky Terrace

JW Marriott Cafe and Lan Kwai Fong

A few of our friends decided on having a Christmas eve dinner at the JW Marriott Cafe. It was extremely expensive (around $850HK, double the normal price due to Christmas) and not worth it, it was fun trying the seafood and deserts, but we would definitely not do it again. After dinner we ventured to Lan Kwai Fong, which was supposed to be the best bar and club strip. It was really just a whole lot of people crammed into a small street with everybody having no idea of what was happening.

Our table and quite a nice viewJW Marriott Cafe dessert barJW Marriott Cafe desserts
JW Marriott Cafe portion of the seafood barSanta Claus even came to visitBusy streets of Lan Kwai Fong on Christmas eve

Disneyland

We decided to visit Disneyland on Christmas. Disneyland was the highlight of Hong Kong, was better than expected and very fun. I even got a photo with Mickey Mouse.

Sonya and I on the Mickey Mouse trainHonk Kong Disneyland entrance Christmas dayHonk Kong Disneyland street and shops
Sonya and I and the Sleeping Beauty CastleFestival of the Lion King, SimbaSonya and the Tarzan treehouse
Enjoying myself on the Mad Tea PartySonya on King Arthur's CarrouselSonya with fairy floss
Us and Mickey MouseUs at the Let it Snow Christmas ParadeThe Hong Kong Disneyland map
Pumpkin carriage at nightSleeping Beauty Castle at nightThe group of us at Hong Kong train station heading to the airport the next day

My’ experiences:

  • Mong Kok at night with the hundreds of thousands of people crowding the streets, whilst billboards illuminated the streets as if it was day time.
  • The Hong Kong coins are quite interesting. The $5 coin looks like 3 coins stuck together and the $10 coin is silver with a brass inner core.
  • Disneyland, definitely ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ and made even nicer spending it with Sonya on Christmas day.

Sonya’s favourite memorable moments:

  • Eating fairy floss whilst lining up to take photos with Mickey Mouse.
  • The Disney safari boat ride provided much entertainment for the ten of us, particularly the funny accented tour guide ‘Rick’. “Welcome to Disneyland, the land of magic, the land of wonder…the land of work.”
  • Other memorable moments include running around the Disneyland complex after our friends who were trying to find that perfect spot to watch the fireworks and discovering the hallucinosis-like effects of the snowman glasses.

Related posts:

  1. China itinerary
  2. China, here we come!
  3. Orlando, home of Disney World and NASA
  4. New York, New York – Part I

China itinerary

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The following is our intended China itinerary of the planned three week trip to China. All the main tourist attraction cities are planned in the visit.

  1. Perth: depart 22nd December
  2. Macau: arrive 23rd December- originally colonised by Portugal, the Portuguese influence in architecture and cuisines is still very visible.
  3. Hong Kong: 23rd December – this small country is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and busiest ports. A great place to spent Christmas on Lan Kwai Fong.
  4. Harbin: 26th December
  5. Beijing: 29th December
  6. Shanghai: 3rd January
  7. Hangzhou: 7th January
  8. Xi’an: 9th January
  9. Hong Kong: 11th January
  10. Macau: 12th January
  11. Perth: 13th January

thydzikGoogleMap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/china2007.xml)

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  1. China, here we come!
  2. China trip wrap-up
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  5. Beijing, China

China, here we come!

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In twelve days time, Travis and I will embark on an adventure to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, China. With us, will be eight of our friends who are also counting down the days until we pile on the woolly jumpers and face below zero temperatures.

We started planning our trip in August, and after countless, heated discussions, we decided on an itinerary and booked our flights in mid October. A few minor hiccups (such as how to travel domestically within China) and plentiful debates (Ocean Park or Disneyland?) later, the trip seems to be rolling around faster than expected.

In my excitement, I started creating an array of lists of things to bring a few weeks ago, which I am hoping will assist in my packing. Travis and I are planning to bring along our backpacks (which are 75L and 60L respectively), as our intent is to travel lightly. Hopefully this will deter us from any rash purchases (highly unlikely as we are travelling to the land of the mass produced cheap, instantly gratifying goods).

I’m particularly looking forward to:

  • Visiting the ice sculptures in the north eastern city of Harbin;
  • Eating dumplings in Shanghai;
  • Climbing the Huangshan Mountains;
  • Exploring the historical sites in Beijing; and
  • Wandering the walls of Xian.

Bring it on!

Till then, Zai Jian.

Related posts:

  1. China trip wrap-up
  2. Urumqi, China
  3. Kashgar food and Uyghur cuisine, China
  4. Hangzhou, China
  5. Kashgar Livestock Market, Kashgar, China