Here We Go! Golden Week 2009 ~ Hong Kong: April 29 - May 2nd =D

Bare with me as this will take me some time to fully explain the entire trip. I will update then update again and then probably update again. I have been extremely busy these past two weeks since being back in Japan. We have now started the beginning of the Ayame (Iris) festival and I am very busy with that along with school, Japanese class, and Ikebana.

Okay now that that is finished I can begin =D

Annelyse and I met at the airport around 4:30 on Wednesday April 29th. We had been excitedly awaiting this trip for so long and the day was finally here and ours! We killed a bit of time at the airport by exchanging Japanese Yen to Hong Kong Dollars. We also went to the book store and indulged in some Starbucks! Starbucks is a delicacy for us as it is a treat because we don't have it at our finger tips like we do back in the states. I like that because it saves me money and calories! After doing a few things at Narita it was time to sit at the gate and get ready to board! We were disappointed as we were not sitting next to each other on the plane :( Because of the swine flu they had to put the flight to a halt for an hour - ugh. After an hour we finally took off around 7:30. The flight was four hours long and we were able to enjoy our special meals as we had checked the box on the Internet check-out page for our reservation that we wanted low salt meals :). I watched the movie "Doubt". My dad had told me what a great flick it was. So, I decided to check it out - it was fantastic! Having gone to an all girls Catholic school it brought back memories but also brought about the issue of priests and the speculations of little boys. It was very well done and Meryl Strep was good as always.

*Four hours later* Annelyse and I found ourselves in Hong Kong! Becky, a good friend from Lake Forest, met us at the airport. However, she was not there when we immediately got off the plane. Luckily, the couple that was sitting next to me on the plane saw us and asked if we needed to borrow their cell phone. Fortunately, we were able to get a hold of Becky and she was about 5 minutes away! We bought tickets to go into the Wanchai area of Hong Kong. It took about half an hour I'd say to get to her area of town. We then took a really cheap taxi cab to her apartment. It is unbelievable to see how cheap taxis are and all transportation for that matter!

After arriving at Becky's apartment, we waited a few minutes before going upstairs because we needed to give them our passport to copy so they knew we were with Becky. Becky's flat, I should say, is incredible. It is paid for by her law firm :) Since Hong Kong was once a territory of England her apartment has very much the feel of a flat in London. It is a fully furnished apartment with the works! I was expecting a so so apartment but was sure wrong! :) After setting our bags down, Becky gave us a tour of the complex and took us upstairs to the outdoor terrace to give us a great view of Hong Kong at night. She pointed out some good restaurants, the train station, Victoria Peak, and gave us good directions and advice to get around the city.
We went back downstairs and chatted until about 3:30 in the morning. Keep in mind that we did not even land until about 11:00 -11:30.

On Thursday, Becky had work and Annelyse and I slept in until about 9:00, I think (this is now about a month ago and I am recalling what I can!). We took showers and made ourselves cute as we were venturing into a new city! We left around 11 and went to The Flying Pan, a restaurant that Becky recommended for good western style food. Annelyse and I walked over, about 5 minutes from Becky's apartment, and enjoyed this delicious restaurant. We split an eggs Benedict, juices, fruit, and coffee. It was a fantastic way to jump start our day and our trip. I must say that Annelyse really is the ultimate travel buddy. She is so even tempered and just goes with the flow of things. We work really well together. I am going to miss her because it is so hard to find people that you FULLY click with.

After an hour or so we were on the road again, walking :) We headed towards the harbor so we could cross over into Kowloon via the ferry. We, of course, had our Starbucks fix. We each tried an steamed almond soy milk latte. It was interesting :). We arrived at the ferry after walking for a bit and bought tickets. So cheap! It was only 2.30 Hong Kong Dollars which is not even 50 cents to travel across the way.

Once we arrived we asked for directions to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery. On our way, we were distracted...We walked into this little mall and found all sorts of ivory! It was really interesting to see the intricate detail of the ivory from the carving to the detail of ivory painting. We stayed in there for a while because it was like a mini museum of ivory. After that lovely distraction we were off to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery via the train. Once again so cheap! :) After about 30 minutes we were at the Monastery. It is to be found on top of one of the beautiful hills surrounding Hong Kong. Annelyse took a cab to the Monastery because the station master said it was a 15 minute walk, we did not know where we were going, taxis are cheap, and we were some what short on time!

...30 seconds later we were at the Monastery. Okay like a minute, literally! It was so funny. The cab driver gave us the funniest look like you stupid foreigners its right there! But we didn't know and the cab only cost us $2! We took pictures all the way up to the top of the hill. Buddha was certainly happy! It was really neat to see all the different faces of Buddha :) We definitely had some fun with them. We were naming them all the way up and down. We even took our picture with a few of them! We stayed about an hour before we needed to head back down and take a train back to the Kowloon stop to go back over to Wanchai to meet Becky!

We took a cab from the harbor over to Becky's work. Hong Kong by taxi is fun! It is a great way to see the city for a great price! Hong Kong is chalk full of designer duds, lush accommodations, and gorgeous high rises! Traffic was pretty bad over to Becky's office. Here is when I want to tell you about Becky and her job. Becky and I had mutual friend at LFC and became friends when I was a freshman and she was a junior :) We were both really good friends with the Delta Chi boys at LFC. After she graduated from LFC she began working with Meyer Brown Law Firm in Chicago. Last year she was offered the same position in HK for 6 months and so she took it! She has been in Hong Kong since January and has really loved the change! She has the opportunity to extend her contract but I am not sure whether she will do that or not. SOOO....

We finally reached her building and met her co-workers! We went out for a fantastic 8 course + extra meal at the Peking Garden restaurant. It was by far our most expensive meal the entire trip and rightly so! We enjoyed all sorts of traditional Chinese food and even Peking Duck and Beggar's chicken! Beggar's chicken is a old tradition dating way back to...who knows when :) ANYWAY, it is wrapped in lotus leaves, dipped in mud and then baked! It is the most delicious chicken I think I have ever eaten. It was so tender and savory! :) It was fantastic!

After our very long, delicious dinner it was time to take the trolley up to an adorable lounge called Sparks! :) Hong Kong is very hilly :) The are we went to was built up on a hill. It was like stairs. There would be an opening then a road then go up further then an opening with another road. It was so quaint! We enjoyed delicious champagne cocktails, talked for a few hours, and enjoyed great company! It was another really late night but fortunately we slept in just a bit and Friday was a holiday for Hong Kong so Becky was luckily able to hang out with us all day long!! :)

Friday was quite the adventure again! We started the morning with showers and egg tarts! Egg tarts are officially my new savory/sweet treat! It is a pastry shell with a custard egg filling - amazing! Thank goodness we were walking all over the place! After the little savory treat it was on to The Flying Pan once more! :) I enjoyed eggs rancheros :) Something I definitely can not get in Japan! or well not as easily as I was able to get in Hong Kong!

It was time for our adventure up Victoria Peak! We stood in line and bought tickets to take the train up to the top of Victoria Peak. WOW! What a fantastic time we had! We started the day at Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum. Becky had never been and Annelyse went last summer in D.C. I had made my way to a the wax museum in New York when I was a senior in high school! We had an absolutely blast taking pictures with the stars and playing dress up! We came to this one dancer and there was a room to put on tutus. I decided to wear the bright pink tutu through the entire exhibit! We took pictures with people like Brad and Angelina, Sumo Wrestlers, Tiger Woods, Obama, The Royal Family, Hitler, Picasso, Rembrandt, and my personal favorite, me punching George Bush in the face :) It was a nice feeling! We spent so much time in there just joking around and having fun! We even went through the SCREAM haunted house. It was really scary! We had to hold on to each other's shoulders because people and objects would jump out at us and they didn't want us grabbing at the people that jumped out at us! We were laughing and screaming the entire time! When we exited, David Beckham was standing there (in his sexy wax self) and I went in for a hug! hee hee. We finished the museum and bought a few pictures for fun!

It was then up to the observation deck! The day could not have been more beautiful! The wind was fantastic and the sun was out and bright! We had such a fun time with Becky! THANK YOU BECKY for showing us such a great time on Friday (this was only the afternoon and I am not even done!) After the museum and the peak we enjoyed ice cream in waffle cones, bought drinks, and were headed back down the mountain! I am really glad we were able to see the mountain! Once we were down off the mountain Becky took us to this really beautiful part of Hong Kong. It was probably my favorite part of Hong Kong because the views reminded me of Greece.

We took a bus over to Stanley Market area. The bus winded in and out and around the hills. There were mansions and gorgeous views of the water below. The sun was kissing the waves as the sun was beginning to set over the island of Hong Kong. Stanley has a really fantastic market and great restaurants! Once we arrived we started walking through the market place :) I made my first attempts at bargaining at this cute little silk shop where Annelyse decided to try on a traditional, silk dress :) which she ended up buying and I am so glad she did! I had been seeing silk robes around the day before and earlier in the day on Friday. I decided I wanted one and therefore looked in this little shop! I saw it and it was mine! It is a royal blue silk with gorgeous flowers and a peacock - pictures to come! I bargained down just a little bit. I felt a little strange doing it but it worked! :) Since I asked they just gave the price to Annelyse. So I ended up buying a gorgeous silk robe for $25!!! I am sure I still got ripped off but in America that robe would cost a ton! along with Annelye's dress!!

We continued to walk around the market and then walked along the water front. The sun had almost fully set when we walked out of the market place. We decided we needed to figure out dinner because it was almost 7:00 and we needed to back up time, etc. in terms of going back and going out with Becky to Felix Bar at the Peninsula Hotel. We found an adorable Western/Asian Fusion restaurant on the water front. I along with Becky enjoyed an incredible curry meal. Annelyse ordered the set menu with all sorts of goodies! The windows were open, a cool air creeped its way in, we had fantastic conversation, and a great time all together. Stanley market is a must go if you ever go to Hong Kong! I am glad that we had Becky because we would have definitely not gone to this keep sake because we would have not know about it!

After dinner we worked our way back up to the bus. After our very windy trip back to Wanchai it was time to get ready to go out and wake Annelyse up! It took a tiny bit of convincing but not much because I am really over getting people to go out. If you want to go you will go, if not you won't! It's that simple and not worth my energy of getting you to come or not! We'd love to have you but its your choice in the end of it all! In the end, after hardly any convincing we went out to the Felix Bar. Now, John had told me this bar was a must go! The bar was nice but not the best. He said the bathrooms were incredible. However, they are different from the girls. He didn't know that but based on his description and what I experienced they are most definitely different! It was still fun to go to the #1 bar in Hong Kong! After we enjoyed our cocktails we went back to Wanchai and walked around in "college" central. It seemed like a row of bars you'd find in a college town. We each had one more drink and then called it a day! Back to Becky's place we went to then sleep and wake up to a new experience!

On Saturday morning, we packed and took our stuff to this really neat check in service. It is a service in the center of town that takes your luggage for you to the airport. It is a real check-in counter just doesn't have the plane there. It is so you do not have to lug your baggage everywhere. Once we had our luggage squared away it was off to a breakfast/brunch/lunch of dim sum. Dim sum is a traditional Chinese way of eating. Dim sum consists of different entrees that are served on carts that come around the restaurant. The ladies offer different things from rice, to soup, to chicken, to pork, and little dough stuffed pastries filled with meat! It was a really fun experience and so China! It was my first time with anything like this. Annelyse had experineced this before back in the states. It was an fantastic way to finish our time in Hong Kong with Becky.

I'd definitely go back to Hong Kong especially since you do not need a visa! :) It was then off to the airport via the train and on our way to our next CRAZY adventure in Shanghai! Shanghai we were on our own :) I have another university friend in Shanghai but things did not work out to see him.

Stay tuned, Shanghai is up next!!