Hong Kong - Day 3

My third day in Hong Kong was like my day in Hong Kong as a local. I spent the whole day hanging out with Deborah and Ivan and it was awesome!!! 

All packed up and ready to go!

We met up with Ivan to head over to Cheung Chau Island. It's the most chill island in the world and it's also super cheap to go there because it's more of a place where locals go hang out.

Chillin' in a temple

Peace bun!

So first they ask me "Ray, do you like mochi?" 

"I love mochi!!!"

"Do you like mango?"

"I love mangoes!!"

Then we went and ate mochi with fresh mango in the middle!! It was so good. 

This is seriously the most chill island in the world. It's super small so you can walk across it in no time, it has great food, and there's some guy on the island who makes all kinds of ukuleles! This one is made out of bamboo. The shop owner was excited that I was able to play a few songs while we were hanging out.  

Chicken! This is one of the best chicken places in Hong Kong! It's delicious!

You can't come to Hong Kong without riding an old double-decker tram, so we went for a ride as part of ending the night. They're a little slow, but super cheap. 

That's it! Hong Kong was awesome. I'm super lucky to have made such cool new friends there and have a good time checking the place out. Most of the people I met in Hong Kong definitely don't realize how cool there city is, but I guess that's how locals are just about everywhere. I think that's why everyone should move to somewhere they can enjoy more than their home!

I slept that night in the Hong Kong airport, then flew to Chicago, over to Las Vegas, and then took a midnight shuttle up to St. George. Then I showered, made a fire, cooked up a frozen pizza, watched some T.V., and by 7 A.M. I was on another shuttle to get me up to my grandparents' house. What a great Christmas! :D

Hong Kong - Day 2

Deborah teaches kindergarteners near Ladies Market, so she took me there and then we split up for the day so I could go exploring on my own. 

It's a pretty cool market, but I wasn't in the mood for shopping and my favorite souvenirs are usually photos, so let's continue: 

A big part of Hong Kong is food. I tried to get as much street food as I could, but it really just wasn't filling enough, so I ended up going to McDonald's. I just couldn't resist. $3 USD for a Big Mac meal is a deal that I can just never pass up!

Hong Kong is a pretty easy city to navigate, so I did most of my exploring without a map (or actually Google Maps). By hiking up a hill I came across King's Park. I think if I lived in Hong Kong I would come up here and play soccer with my friends. It's a pretty nice little park just in the middle of the city. Well, in the middle of the Kowloon part of Hong Kong. 

The hike down was pretty crazy. I decided to take another route which ended up getting me to the point where I couldn't descend with a trail anymore. So I started descending down the gutters, and eventually ended up in a little alley. It was pretty fun because I really had no clue where I was going. 

Clock tower by Victoria Harbor

Taking the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island. 

It's not the best photo, but that's a Chinese Junk in the distance and I think they're awesome-looking sailboats. Here's a photo of one I pulled off the internet: 

Took the trolley to Victoria Peak. 

One of the cool things about the peak was a trail that I went on. Apparently tourists usually don't go there, and I pretty much only met locals along the trail. I decided to hang out with these two guys for a few minutes because they were waiting for the sun to go down and get some night photos of the Hong Kong skyline. They're both college students from Hong Kong. They kept asking me why I was coming to visit Hong Kong, haha, they couldn't figure it out. 

These girls stopped to me to make a Christmas wish!

"For christmas I would like to have a boat" - That's what I already got! 

A 22' MacGregor Sailboat!

I took the Star Ferry back across the harbor to get a good view of the Hong Kong Symphony of Lights

I enjoyed the show, but the music definitely seemed dated. I would say that the light show is cool, but it has waaay more potential. Maybe they could put it to a song by Lady Gaga or something. Or Calvin Harris! That would be awesome. 

Before going over to Japan, Mike went to Hong Kong. While he was at an Adidas store here he heard this song that he got hooked on that I got pretty hooked on too. "Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat" remix by Calvin Harris. 

Check it out: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIcW36J-h7Q

Up until this point, I liked Hong Kong, but I wasn't completely convinced that I loved it. This is what sold me on Hong Kong: Street Performers. I love street performers and Hong Kong is super cool because it seems like anyone can just find a spot and start playing no problem. 

So there I was, enjoying a few songs, and then this guy starts talking (in Cantonese) while telling a love story. Then he PROPOSED to his girlfriend in front of everyone!! It was awesome. 

Meeting back up with Deborah and her friend Ricky. 

We went to a dance club for a little while which was a lot of fun, but we couldn't stay too long because Ricky had work the next morning. 

Overall, a great day in Hong Kong! 

Hong Kong - Day 1

Hong Kong baby!! I was stoked to make it to Hong Kong because: 1. I hadn't been to Hong Kong in years, and 2. I was still in the mood for traveling and I love the excitement of spontaneous trips!

At first I thought I had a friend that I could stay with while over there, but that didn't end up working out, so I was really really lucky that Deborah (seated on the far right) was willing to host me for a couple nights.

We met up at a metro stop and then went to meet a couple of her friends to grab drinks. Next to me is Wayne (like Bruce Wayne) and Ivan (aka Iron Man). 

They were all pretty surprised that I wanted to drink Orange Juice. Hahaha.

Gotta keep up on Vitamin C to stay healthy! 

View from the balcony of Sugar (the bar/lounge).

Ivan (next to me) thought that our waitress was really cute (the girl next to him) so Wayne did him the favor of embarrassing him by asking if we could get a photo with her. Haha. It turns out she's also a mixed blood like me, but she grew up in Hong Kong. 

We're trying to get Ivan to go back and ask her out on a date, but we'll see. 

He says he's forever alone. 

Anyway, then we just went home and went to sleep. Deborah lives with her dad and brother in a nice little apartment. She let me sleep in her room and I think she slept in the same room as her brother (they have bunk beds). It was pretty late and I was exhausted so I had a great night's sleep and slept in for awhile the next day.