Day 60: Hong Kong: Exploring the City with an Old Friend

Today I got to meet up with an old friend from Ballarat who is living in Hong Kong now. He showed me pretty much the whole city.

We started the day with a Michelin Star restaurant meal, which was delicious and actually pretty cheap (only about $30 for two people) and then headed to the IFC for an insanely tall building and an awesome view.

There were a lot of Filipino helpers on their day off lining all the best walkways just hanging out and doing each other's nails.

We then headed to a few local hot spots to check out the best clubs (even though they were all closed by day) and a cool local diner.

After all the craziness of that, we headed to the other side of the river to a park which was home to some awesome exotic birds, including huge Macaws and Flamingos!

I then got shown a cool, practically empty pier that apparently no one else knows about that had one of the best, unobstructed views of Hong Kong Island available.

Nearby, there was also a heritage listed hotel from the 1800s. The building itself was cool, but the trees really amazed me, growing up on the 3rd story balcony!

We managed to get a small sneak peak of the parade thats going to be on tomorrow at the waterfront, then caught the ferry back to the island.

We timed it just right to see a dragon and lion dance on our way to Time Square.

It was a really really awesome day. It was so handy having a local who knew what was going on!!

Tomorrow, Lunar New Year Day 1 xx

Day 59: Hong Kong: Lantau Island, the Big Buddha

Today feels like it was a massive day. I got up early-ish and headed to Lantau Island - an island to the West of Hong Kong.

To get there, you have to take a series of subways and a cable car, but the views were spectacular. The area was very touristy, so I tried to find things that had more locals, or just less people, but all in all it was a good day.

The cable car drops you right in the centre of the island, Ngong Ping which has some shops, and a temple. It was all nice enough, but I think I might be templed out. Their 3 meter incense sticks were pretty great though.

The real highlight and draw-card though is their Big Buddha. Standing at 30-something meters, it was actually bigger than I expected. Even the smaller statues around it were intimidatingly huge!!

After the Buddha, I headed to "Wisdom Track" which was only about 10 minutes away. I was feeling sort of energetic though, so I decided I was going  to conquer the summit of the island.

It was literally stairs the whole way, and 2 hours later, I still hadn't reached the top and I was hot and sweaty, so I just turned back. Great views from up high though.

There is also a small fishing village on the island which has been taken over by tourist organisations. It was kind of sad seeing all of these poor people living in tiny little huts huddled around small open stoves on the water, with rubbish everywhere, and then a woman screaming "$20 for boat ride through village".

It didn't sit right with me, but I suppose it was kind of cool to see. Hong Kong is just so rich, but this little area was just so so poor. It felt more like China.

There's not many times I've feared for my life, but the breakneck bends the bus was taking down the mountainside was genuinely terrifying for the vast majority of the ride.

I took a ferry back to the main Island, and wasn't quite ready to call it for the night, so headed to the world's longest escalator. It isn't just one escalator, it's actually a series of dozens of them, but it goes for literally blocks and crosses roads. I was very impressed.

The walk home was less fun though, but I got to see some cool sights, like trees growing in the most improbable places.

Tomorrow, Kowloon xx

Day 58: Hong Kong: Victoria Peak and Man Mo Temple

Today I had another big day, and it was yet again great!

I started out by headed to the other side of the river to pick up my camera. All fixed, and got an extra 6 months warrantee. Thank you Hong Kong Nikon. Bloody legends.

Then I headed back to the Island, via the ferry.  It was cool to see the city from the water, and it was actually cheaper than the subway!! I walked all the way from the office tower to the river, which was about an hour, and there were so many awesome things to see!!

Man Mo Temple was a little bit boring, just very smokey from all of the incense from people hoping for a good New Year, but I guess maybe I've just been spoiled for temples over the last couple of months.

I then went to the Victoria Peak. Now THAT was awesome. There was a tram that went straight up the side of the mountain at an improbable angle with an incredible view, and from the top, there was a huge shopping centre. (of course, it's Hong Kong)

The view from the top was amazing. I timed it so that I got to see it in full sunlight, the sun setting over the beach, and all of the city lights lighting up the skyline. 

I also got to use their wifi to catch up with some friends from home which was beautiful. I've missed them.

The bus back was honestly better than the tram though, with amazing views from both sides, and it dropped me off just a few blocks from the hostel.

Tomorrow, an island adventure xx

Day 57: Hong Kong: 10,000 Buddhas

So, I love Hong Kong already. They are not very tourist-friendly, but damn it's a cool place.

I don't know whether it's just the thrill of being able to wake up and check Facebook, and using Google Maps to plan my way around the city, but I loved today. A lot.

I started off with a little stop at the Nikon repair store - they are going to fix my lens for free for some reason, and have it done by tomorrow, which is just amazing and incredible seeing as a guy quoted my about $200 for it yesterday.

I then headed to the 10,000 Buddhas. It has got to be one of the hardest places to find in the city. Four different subways to get to the stop I needed, then there was not one sign for the place anywhere.

It took my half an hour to get out of the subway station alone - it was a 14 story shopping centre with a Snoopy world for kids to play on (as in the cartoon dog). But eventually I made it out onto the street.

Google maps wasn't much help seeing as the phone is brand new and I forgot to download offline maps of HK. I ended up walking up about 500 stairs from a cute little pond with fish and turtles to what I thought was the temple, before finding out it was actually a cemetery. 

The view was still pretty incredible, but a sign would have saved me an hour.

After the small detour and another half hour of searching, I walked around the back of a shopping centre, and saw a small sign with Chinese writing and a gold Buddha on it pointing further away from the road, so I followed that.

All of the searching was completely worth it. The walk was harder than I planned, seeing as it was about 20 degrees hotter than I'm used to (it was almost 16 degrees today) so I was a big sweaty mess, but it was beautiful! 

All of the Buddhas along the walk up the hill were different. No two looked the same. Some were regal and elegant to look at, with detailed lines showing different emotions and age on their faces, while some were hilariously posed with silly expressions or elongated features, while others looked like they had been made in a hurry by someone who had never tried to sculpt a person before. They were awesome.

At the top, there was a huge hall with a giant Buddha inside it, with the walls lined with thousands and thousands of Buddhas. It was spectacular to see. There were other halls being used as temples, but more amazing was the top of the hill which had a small waterfall, with more gold Buddhas, turtles and a giant stone Buddha.

Tomorrow, Victoria Peak xx

Day 56: Hong Kong: Early Starts, Flight and a New Phone

Today was a fairly low key day. I had to get up at 4am in order to catch a taxi to catch my flight, and seeing as I had no phone to set an alarm, I just pulled an all-nighter.

The flight was fine, nothing special, except that I slept through most of it, and arrived in Hong Kong.

It's AWESOME having freedom of internet again. I almost wish I had taken a screenshot of all the notifications I missed in the last month, but I was too excited to reply to all my friends to think to do that.

Now that I'm in a country where Google is allowed on phones, I finally bought a replacement one. I'm not sure whether I'm happy with it, but it was cheap, dual sim, and gold, so what could go wrong?

Tomorrow, actually seeing Hong Kong xx

Day 55: Shanghai: Pudong and Fake Markets

Today was my last day in China. I had wanted to see the Bund from the other side, so I went over the river (or under it) and explored for a while.

We started off by searching for a fake handbag for one of the guy's mothers. We didn't find the right one, but we did get taken into a back room of a dodgy alleyway to a room full of designer handbags. I don't know much about bags, but they looked legit.

After the bag search, we headed to Pudong to see the other side of the Bund. It was fairly polluted, so the view wasn't great, but I'm glad I got to see the other side before I left.

There was also a Harry Potter convention in one of the shopping centres, so I got to see the Ford Anglia up close!

Tomorrow, Hong Kong xx

Day 54: Shanghai: Propaganda Museum and Drinking

Today was a pretty cool day. We started off getting completely lost, but eventually finding the Propaganda Museum. It was in a basement of an apartment building.

It was really interesting to see how the Chinese portrayed other countries and themselves over time. They had posters from before the 1st World War right through to the late 90s. They really don't like the USA!!!

After the propaganda museum, we headed back to the Bund and got some dinner and drinks. It was cool to just hang out with other travellers, but sadly there were no nightclubs open. We did find a few cool bars though!

Tomorrow, the other side of the Bund and some knockoff handbags xx

Day 53: Shanghai: French Concession, Shanghai History and People's Park

Today was meant to be yet another big day, but here I am at 3pm, already back at the hostel, blogging. So what went wrong, you ask? Nothing, just Shanghai is a little dull.

I hear the nightlife is wild, but I don't really care about clubbing with the affluent Chinese any more than I already have, and it's just the wrong time of year for gardens!

I started my day off with a stroll though the French Concession area. Online reviews said it was just like walking through the streets of a European town, but I thought it was just a slightly more westernised area. It's cultural/heritage listed, but I really didn't see the appeal. There was a super cute old couple that I followed for a while though, so it wasn't a total loss.

After the French Concession area, I headed to the People's Square and People's Park. They were both nice enough areas, but not much going on. Apparently on weekends parents get together to try and "sell" their grown up kids to other parents to marry their children, but there was no one there today, just a heap of doves.

I might head out again later, but honestly, I want to save something for the next couple of days, and I don't think I can go shopping any more!!! Tomorrow, Xintiandi xx

Day 52: Shanghai: Yu Garden and The Bund

Today was a big day. Unfortunately the lack of phone means no alarm, so I didn't get going until around 9am, but I still didn't get back to the hostel until 8pm, so I think I still made a decent effort.

I started my day with a huge trek to try and find Yu Garden. the second downside of not having a phone is having no GPS. It ended up being pretty awesome though, because I ended up in this awesome shopping area.

The whole town is getting ready for Chinese New Year too, so everywhere there are huge displays and banners. It makes it look really bright and wonderful, but at times a little bit tacky where you can see all the glitz and glam right next to a century-old statue or something. 

I took a slightly wrong turn and ended up at the City Temple of Shanghai which was a pretty standard temple.

I also ate some of the best dumplings I have ever had. They put the Aussie dim sim to absolute shame!! As much as it pains me to say it, Chinese food is possibly better in China.

I eventually found Yu Garden. It was totally worth the search too, I think because it was a garden unlike any of the others I've seen. It was mostly rocks, and it really felt like it fitted in with the concrete jungle just outside it's gates.

After the garden, I headed towards The Bund - one of the most famous river-side strips in the world.

During the day it was alright (slightly polluted and just a normal cityscape) but at night... wow! It was actually stunning. I ended up spending over an hour just wandering up and down the riverside.

Some of the building looked like giant TV screens, spelling out "I <3 SH" or showing an ad for the new Samsung phone. It was nuts, and like nothing I've ever seen before. There were a heap of boats going down the river too, so I think I might go on a river cruise one night.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to go back and see it from the other side. One side looks like it's straight from the 1800s, and the other looks like the future. Really, really cool.

I also spent some time (and money) today shopping on Nanjing Road. Such a contrast from the poverty of yesterday... there were 3 Rolex shops and a whole store dedicated to MnMs. I can't even.

A side note: being tall, white and blonde in Asia is kind of like being famous. At one point on The Bund, I had a line of people wanting a photo with me. I even got asked to hold one woman's baby for a photo. It's weird, but kind of hilarious.

Tomorrow, the People's Square xx  

Day 51: Shanghai: Still on a Train

So, 20 hours on a train is a LONG TIME and I really didn't enjoy the experience very much. The train itself was fine (other than a few screaming kids, but headphones fixed that and a terrible toilet (one squatty toilet for about 100 beds of people makes for a horrifying smell)). It was the scenery that really put me off.

Zhangjiajie may have been semi-rural, but the tourist money was certainly helping the town, with a brand new shopping centre and street cleaners, but from the train, all I could see was just how poor so so so many Chinese people are. 

My photos aren't great as most of them turned out a blurry mess. There were houses that looked like they were in the process of being demolished, with clothes from the people still living there drying out the front; parents carrying their small children while hoeing a field in the rain with half a dozen other mothers; people cleaning their clothes by beating them with a stick in a dirty river and people leading a mule with a trailer loaded up with boxes taller than any of them...

I knew that China was still developing, but maybe naiively, I thought that the huge overpopulated high-rises apartments that go on identically for kilometers was bad enough. What I saw wasn't even Western China, it was just a few hundred kilometers from Shanghai.

The first thing I saw when I got off the train at Shanghai was a Prada store, and thousands of people using iPhones. It's hard to believe it's the same country.

Tomorrow, Shanghai xx