Hong Kong: East Meets West

Now I have reached the 2nd part of my trip: ASIA and SUMMER WEATHER. I purposely planned to go to Asia from Nov to Jan just so that I can avoid the winter as much as possible. I will still get a good dose of winter when I get back in Jan BUT I STILL LOVE CHICAGO!

My first stop in Asia was Hong Kong. I spent 5 days in the former British colony. My hostel was on the Hong Kong Island where I met two other travelers in my room: Tessa from England and Amanda from Ireland. Tessa, Amanda, and I explored the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and Lantau Island. Here is a list of our activities:

Lantau Island - We took cable cars up to Lantau Island. It was about a 25 min ride up to the island and there was an incredible view overlooking Hong Kong from our cable car. Lantau is famous for the Tian Tan Buddha aka Big Buddha. Tian Tan Buddha is the tallest outdoor Buddha in the world, hence the name Big Buddha. The statue symbolizes harmony between people, religion, and nature. It is also the major center of Buddhism of Hong Kong. After the Big Buddha, the girls and I took a trek up the Path of Wisdom where we found messages at the end of the path written in Chinese. I took a few pics so hopefully someone can translate the messages for us.

Kowloon - Located across from the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon has so many different markets
that draw a wide audience from all over the world. These markets sell everything from electronics, sunglasses, clothes, souvenirs, food, etc. pretty much everything. Hong Kong is a BIG shopping mecca. I have never seen so many shopping malls in my life. They have everything from the high end retail and couture shops to the low priced markets where you can always haggle and get everything really cheap. As for the retails stores --- I was blown away by how big all the major stores are...Louis Vuitton is seriously the size of a D.C. block. There are 6 of these big sized Louis Vuitton stores in Hong Kong. SIX! Hong Kong is not that big so I'm not sure why they need to have so many. Anyways, the LV pricing is still the same as the U.S. but if you want to buy anything outside of the typical brand name stuff, you can find it for almost nothing.

Hong Kong Island - We checked out Hollywood Blvd which hosts the nightlife for all the out of towners: Europeans, Australians, Candians, and Americans. We had dinner at the Hong Kong Brew House. Amanda tried a Hong Kong beer and I went for the Stella (it was good bec I haven't had it since I left the US, I usually try the native beers but I craved Stella this time). We noticed that there were so many guys everywhere. The ratio was seriously 50:1. We weren't complaining. We also went to Stanley Beach which is on the southern part of Hong Kong Island. The beach was beautiful so we enjoyed the scenery and the market alongside the water.

A big attraction in Hong Kong is the evening Light Show. Hong Kong has an incredible skyline that could rival NYC or Chicago's skyline. Every night at 8pm they have this light show where different colors light up from each building. The show is about 15 mins and they have loud music that coincides with the lights. It's a little cheezy but it's really cool at the same time. In fact, this show was recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records for the Longest Light Show. It's definitely a MUST DO in Hong Kong.

Here's a little info about my traveling mates:

Amanda (Ireland) - I'm guessing she is the same age as me based on what she told me about her life. You know you can always do the math in your head. Anyways, she is a pro traveler. She has been everywhere and most places more than once (Thailand 5x). She works as a counselor for prior offendors so she told us a few interesting stories. Anyways, she basically works to pay for her travels. She travels for big chunks of time each year. She was just home in Ireland for 6 months before she came to Hong Kong. After Hong Kong she was heading to New Zealand for a year.

Tessa (England) - She is our little youngster, such a sweetheart and has a great head on her shoulders. She just graduated from h.s. and just turned 19 last week. After graduating, she took all the money she saved and went to Australia for 2 months. She made a quick stop to Hong Kong before heading back to England. She will be in England for 10 days and then head to southern France to work at a resort for 6 months. She will attend college next Fall. She is taking a "gap" which is what a lot of the Europeans call a sabbatical. SO, I guess I'm taking a gap. Tessa told me that it is common to take a gap after h.s.,college, career, etc. She also said that no one ever questions it. It's totally acceptable to take a break and enjoy life and travel. She said, "why would any question that?". I LOVE IT.

I have mentioned many times that I have really learned so much on this trip. The best part of everyday is that there is something new that sparks my interest. I always keep a notebook with me in my purse, even back at home. It's a mini Hello Kitty notebook but I always jot random things in it so that I can research further when I get on the Internet. It can be as simple as, What started the Chicago Fire or how old is Hugh Jackman and who is this wife of his? Ever since I started this trip, I've been writing notes about historical facts so that I can read more about it. Hong Kong is interesting because it was a British colony from 1898 - 1997. The British took over in 1898 after the Opium War and basically signed a 99 year lease. This is why they say that Hong Kong is the city where East meets West. I'm now very curious about how the British treated the Chinese and how different it was back then compared to today. Definitely something I need to read up on later!

ALSO, another topic I need to research is Ireland history. I knew that English was the official language of Ireland but then I realized something new when Amanda said an Irish sentence out of the blue. I asked her, "What did you say?" She replied, "Hello, how are you?" OKAY, at that moment I felt so dumbfounded because I didn't even know the Irish had a separate language. She told me that the language has really died out now so everyone speaks English in Ireland but some regions of Ireland speak the traditional Irish langauge. Then she went on talking about the rift between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. UMMM..HELLO? AREN'T THEY THE SAME THING? NOPE. I had no idea they were completely separate. I just know of IRELAND and how the Irish like to drink A LOT (Ex. Sully and Jamie). I quickly jotted, NORTHERN IRELAND and REPUBLIC OF IRELAND in my notebook. Once again, another thing to research.....