Hong Kong | China
14 Days and too many flights later.... It was fast and furious but seriously wow! What a kick ass vacation!! That being said, I learned a lot about planning vacays and the best most efficient ways to do so! My next blog post will be all about that, so stay tuned.
Phx > LA > San Fran > Manila > Hong Kong > DaNang > PhuQuoc > Ho Chi Minh > Singapore >Hong Kong > Manila > San Fran > HOME!
Bitter sweet is the only way I can put it. You always look forward to coming home but the moment I set foot in my home state I'm already thinking up the next vacation spot and how soon I can make it happen. As I grow as a person and learn more and more from my travels I've come to a new sense of appreciation for money and how I spend it. Don't get me wrong, I love my shopping just as much as the next girl, but when I look at price tags I always seem to consider what that could get me in another country or how much closer I could be to my next trip if I didn't buy that one item. Ohhh how my closet is suffering!!! But this has been a HUGE help in making my travel dreams a reality! Zero regrets! Seriously though, I know you guys are like "yeah right!" but REALLY!! Lol
In this blog post I will start with location numero uno! Hong Kong!
Hong Kong
My travel buddy Louie warned me that we were staying in a pretty unique place that night. I don't ask questions. The only thing I ask for is a true unique experience. With all the travel he has done in life, I can say I trust him completely with the places he takes me to or where we stay. We arrive, take the subway for about 20 minutes and I'm already in awe of what I'm seeing. We get to our stop and for a moment I feel like I just got off the subway in NY (minus all the signs being in Chinese of course). He hustles through the crowds of people (You've obviously done this before) and he tells me "we're here!". We are in the middle of a market of some sort, people trying to haggle with us at every turn and I'm just completely confused because I see no sign of a hotel or possibility of an airbnb in sight. This is where the adventures begins!!! Elevators with hostel type rooms on each floor are spread out through this whole market and large scattered letter signs are your only indication of where you are supposed to head. Ours was lucky letter D... Below is a picture of what you should expect once you reach your floor. Your reception area with at least 8 different hostels/homes. One elevator up and down for both which you could imagine was a wait but never boring... people watching is one of my favorite things to do and seeing people from literally all over the world trying to figure things out just as I was, was a little refreshing. It was sooo funny because I was bursting at the seams with excitement to stay in a completely random (and somewhat sketchy) new place and he was apologizing for the accommodations! I loved it!! Plus, when traveling like this, you're only using the room to sleep, shower and you're out and about just as quickly! It was a great experience. Would I take my mom there? No! lol. Would I stay here again? Sure! with the right group or person, it was plenty. I'm also to report that I walked out of that place with no bedbugs! honestly a concern walking in. lol So high maintenance! ;)
Coincidently Louie had friends in town that day! We quickly changed our clothes from that super long 13+ hour flight and met up with them for drinks. A super small bar on the street and it was exactly what I needed. A cold beer, in an amazing city, with great people, and again - lots of people watching. I am in a happy place. One thing that always happens to me when traveling is having that sense of calmness once you sit down after going from airport to airport, after all the hustle and bustle and I'm like holy shit!!! 13 hours ago I was at work and now I'm in freaking Hong Kong!!! That is the best feeling and one of a million reasons why traveling is so amazing to me. Thank you to the Wright brothers for making this possible :D WIN!
Soooo being in Hong Kong for Christmas allowed us to see the symphony of lights - totally worth checking out! It is a really beautiful light show on the water and across the way every single buildings light have been set up to coordinate with the music and beautiful traditional junk boats float around. We checked out Winterfest which were grand displays of Christmas decorations around the city. We had some amazing meals. I must point out dinner at a Michelin star restaurants - Tim Ho Wan for some AMAZING Dim sum. Very casual spot, but by far one of the best meals during my whole trip! Speaking of food we also checked out Hawker Street for more legit street food and actually the best shopping I got in Hong Kong! Talk about wheeling and dealing, this was a fun process. We hung out around China Town and headed up to Victoria Peak for some incredible views. Bopping around town was what we did and it was awesome! I feel like I had my fill of Hong Kong and have absolutely nothing negative to say about this place but, I feel that after seeing it once, I don't necessarily need to go back anytime soon. I still need to explore the rest of the world!
