HONG KONG
DAY 1
Coming into the Ocean Terminal of Hong Kong was completely different than every other port we’ve been to, and I know I say that in every blog/email that I write, but it’s true. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas of the world, and after seeing all the skyscrapers situated right on top of each other and exploring the city surrounded by 7 million residents plus other tourists it’s easy to understand why. So in case any of you don’t know Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the New Territories (linked with mainland China), and other small islands in the South China Sea. A huge part of Hong Kong native’s lives is shopping. I’m not kidding. Just to prove it, when we walk off the ship we have to go through a short terminal and when we exit the terminal we enter a shopping mall! It’s very strange, very dangerous, and very smart of the Hong Kong people. However, it’s a pretty expensive kind of mall, so I think I’ll be doing my shopping out in the city.
Today I took the city orientation just to get, I don’t know, oriented I guess. We visited a number of places. First, we went to Victoria’s Peak which is the highest point on Hong Kong Island. It was pretty commercialized. There were lookout points, but there also was a shopping mall (surprise, surprise) and several restaurants located at the Peak as well. We took the tram down the mountain which is like a cable car. It is one of Hong Kong’s oldest forms of transportation. Afterwards we walked by Hong Kong Park. Right near the park is a marriage registry, so we saw probably 3 brides. We visited St. John’s Cathedral, but because of a wedding ceremony we couldn’t enter. Hong Kong weddings seem to be a pretty big deal. They usually have a traditional Western style wedding and then afterwards change into the traditional red dress of Chinese style weddings. Today Stella was getting married. Congrats Stella. Sorry, I can’t remember the name of the groom. From there we proceeded onto a Taoist temple. In this temple there was more incense than on Haight St. and San Francisco. It was a little overwhelming. Many Taoist followers were offering fruits and meats along with the incense. Right next door you could get your fortune told for $80 (US dollars, not HK). So, needless to say I chose to be surprised and decided to pass on the fortune telling. Our last stop was at Aberdeen Harbor where we took a sampan ride around, sailing between the fishing boats and million dollar yachts before heading back to the ship.
For dinner we decided it would be interesting to go to the California Pizza Kitchen that was located in the terminal mall. Yeah, I know we are branching out a lot. ;o) Then we walked around and took about 40 minutes trying to find the movie theater. The mall is so confusing. You try to use the map and you still end up where you don’t want to be. Hopefully we will get the hang of it soon. We ended up being too late for a movie, so we decided to spend some time at the Pacific Coffee Company, drinking coffee and checking email.
We headed back to the ship because Nicole had to wake up sort of early to leave for her Beijing trip. Out of about 700 of us students, about 590 are going to Beijing for four days. So, the ship is going to be pretty quiet until Wednesday. It’ll be nice though. Sometimes quiet is a good thing.
DAY 2
This morning Nicole and I woke up early to go sit at one of the three Starbucks in the mall and send some emails and what not. However, after reaching the Starbucks we quickly learned that it wasn’t the $5/3hrs wireless deal that we thought. It was in fact much more expensive and they didn’t start serving coffee until 9:00am. So, we turned around and headed back to the ship. Nicole finished packing and headed off to Beijing, while myself and a couple of others (Ashley and Bailey) headed to Stanley Market. Stanley Market is about a 20 min. bus ride to another island. We heard that they had cheap knock offs and some stores actually had the real thing (sort of like a TJ Max type deal). I got some J Crew pants and them hemmed for only about $10. We walked around the market for a while, and then headed back to the bus stop to come back to Harbor City (the city the ship is docked at). We grabbed a bite to eat at the food court in the mall, and then went back to the ship to rest up before going back out around 8:00pm. It was a weekend and the market crowds took a lot out of us.
Around 8:00 we took about a 15 min. walk to the Temple Street Night Market. Once again, lots of cheap stuff. I think I’ve had enough markets for a while though. Now, it’s almost midnight and I’m beat. I have to get some sleep if I’m going to be good for anything tomorrow.
DAY 3
This morning I got to sleep in and it was glorious. Around noon Bailey and I headed to Starbucks for internet and coffee. There, I got to talk to some of you wonderful people on AIM. It truly was a highlight of my day. :o) After Starbucks we did some shopping. I purchased some long sleeve shirts because I doubt it’ll be short sleeve weather at home, some inexpensive DVDs, and some body cream from The Body Shop. We then grabbed a bite to eat at the Hard Rock Café where we listened to some American music (haha). It was great.
Tonight Ashley, Bailey, and I went to dinner at The Spaghetti House. We tried to go see a movie again, but they were only showing scary Asian films. No thank you very much. So, we continued on to the Pacific Coffee Co. for coffee (duh) and more internet. Now we about to watch a movie and get ready for…dun dun dun…DISNEYLAND Hong Kong tomorrow!!!!!!! YAY!!! I bet you can’t wait to read about that!
DAY 4 (aka DISNEY DAY!)
Wow, today was quite a day. I’ll try to stay awake long enough to write to you all what happened. The day began Ashley, Bailey and I taking the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and then another ferry to Lantau Island. Once we arrived at Lantau Island we took a bus to go see the Big Buddha. This Buddha is the largest outside sitting Buddha in the world. The weather wasn’t the greatest at the Big Buddha. It was pretty misty and foggy, but we were fortunate not to get completely rain down upon. We hiked up the 200 plus steps to the base of Big Buddha, saw the relic of Buddha’s tooth (or sort of did, I don’t know there was so much decoration in the glass box I couldn’t really see the actual tooth), and then walked back down to have a vegetarian meal at the monastery located at the bottom.
Once we finished eating we took at taxi to the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH: DISNEYLAND! Disneyland was great! Since it is located at a lower elevation it wasn’t misty or raining at all, but nicely overcast for the whole day. It was a completely different experience than what I had earlier last summer in the hot Florida heat. We never stood in a line that lasted for more than 15 minutes. We rode Buzz Lightyear, The Tomorrowland spaceships, Space Mountain, Cinderella’s Carousel, Dumbo, Jungle River Cruise, and watched part of the parade and Mickey’s Philhar Magic 3D show. It was a great Disney Day!! Before the fireworks we went on Space Mountain again 3 times in a row without having to wait. The fireworks were amazing as expected. Disney always has good fireworks. We danced and sang and treasured a day where we could be kids again. It was a wonderful cultural experience that was different than anything we have encountered in any other country on this voyage. I took video and pictures, so you will get to see them in a few weeks!
Once the park closed we took the Disney Subway (yep, equipped with Mickey hand rings to hold on to and Mickey shaped windows) to the main Hong Kong subway station. Two subway transfers later we were back at Harbour City and completely exhausted.
Tomorrow is our last day in Hong Kong. I have a field trip that should be interesting, but you’ll have to read on to find out about that. Then, our next and last country is Japan in 3 days. This semester has flown by. I can’t believe I’ll be home in 3 weeks. Crazy! Ridiculous, even!
DAY 5
So, today was the pink dolphins day. I went on a dolphin watching cruise. We saw several pink dolphins that are unique to the Hong Kong and South Africa area. It was quite a relaxing time. I tried to get pictures, but it was difficult to time it right. The dolphins are pink because of blushing, their blood rushes to the surface of their skin. They are born dark gray, but as they age they start to lose more and more of the gray and become white and light pink. It’s pretty interesting to see.
After the cruise was over I went to Starbucks to finish using my internet minutes, then I headed back to the ship for a nap before Nicole got back from Beijing. She was suppose to get back at 5:45, but her flight was delayed 2 hours. So, Bailey and I decided to go out and get ice cream without her before they closed the gangway. Now, they don’t allow you to bring any food onto the ship. I really don’t like this rule, as most people on the ship don’t for good reason. Bailey and I decided to rebel against this rule and managed to sneak our ice cream onto the ship without getting caught. We used my sweatshirt pocket and hood. We were quite proud of our accomplishment, I must say. Don’t worry, we aren’t so confident now that we will try to push our luck too often. ;o)
Alright, so we leave for Japan tonight. I have two days of classes and a no class day which I plan on using as a stay in bed as long as I can day. It’ll be glorious!
Exactly 3 weeks until I am home. I can’t wait to see everyone, and to those who I will not see in 3 weeks hopefully it won’t be too long until we meet up again. Love and miss you all!
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