Konbanwa!

("Good evening!" in Japanese). Just a quick post, I'm exhausted, been traveling basically the whole day. The train to get from the airport to the city was supposed to take 70 minutes (according to the guide books); took me an hour and 45 minutes. So just a quick post, no pictures, I have no energy left, and despite intentionally leaving some things behind in HK, my backpack is still incredibly heavy. Just saying hello from Japan, and saying I got here safe (the flight got bumpy at one point, there's a typhoon here in Tokyo)! 

UPDATE:

 

At HK Airport, awaiting my flight. If I look tired, I kind of was...I woke up too early, I had 2 hours to kill at the airport.

 

At the hostel. Of course I need a shot of the crazy toilets here haha!

A week in Hong Kong!

It's been a week of events which I really did not expect. While I knew I would be going to some dinners with relatives, I never expected to go to Ocean Park, and while I never intended to do that much sightseeing in HK, I certainly did not expect to do this little. I spent the first few days just relaxing at my grandma's home and going from restaurant to restaurant with relatives. Then I got sick, and I'm still slowly recovering from it (much slower than I expected) so I'm just staying at my grandma's home just resting up and trying to get better faster. So I basically haven't seen too much; I've been inside my grandma's place for most of my time here. I didn't get a chance to go out to do grab some night photos. I was planning to go up to Victoria's Peak to get a nice overview look of Hong Kong and the surrounding areas, but that was the day I got sick. I had plans to meet up for dinner with a friend, go to some clubs with another friend, visit my grandfather's grave, and meet my uncle for dinner (who is working in Macau). All those plans: canceled. I can't even comment that much on the food! I've been eating mostly oatmeal since I got sick.

But I knew I would get sick eventually...even though I take my vitamins everyday and try to watch what I eat, when you're traveling for a long (and I haven't even really been gone that long) you're bound to get sick. I'm just glad I got sick where I could properly rest up, instead of while I was in Japan or New Zealand when I'm hopping from town to town. I really hope I don't get sick in Japan (especially because I want to see as much as I can), but I know Japan is really clean for the most part, so it shouldn't happen. I've delayed my flight to Japan by a day just so I could get more rest here, so I'm leaving on the 31st now.

I only went out one night (without family), which was the night before I got sick. First, I met up with a friend from back home, Herbert, whom I've known since elementary school, at the main bar and club area in HK, Lan Kwai Fong. We chilled at Hong Kong Brew House, while I worked my way down a 1 L mug of Hong Kong Beer (local brew). I personally found it kind of odd, it seemed a bit sweet and a bit salty to me haha. Then we were later joined by another friend from back home, Nathan, whom I've known since I was a really really young. I almost didn't recognize him for a second when I first saw him because of the glasses. I sort of lost touch with both of them during university, so it was good to catch up. After a while, we headed over to The Keg, a Canadian themed bar. It was definitely nice to see the Canadian flag again. Then after a bit of wandering around the streets, Nathan had to leave early since he had work the next day, so me and Herbert just continued to chill on the streets, drinks in hand, just conversing (we couldn't get into any clubs because we were both wearing shorts). I'm not sure I'll ever get used to being allowed to carry drinks onto the street haha (it still felt so foreign!).

Me and Herbert! At the Hong Kong Brew House. I wanted to get a pic with the 1 L mug of Hong Kong Beer, but I finished it and the waitress took it away before we took the picture. You can tell I'm red already (as usual) hahaha.


Outside The Keg. You'll notice this trend in the next few pictures, but apparently I lose the ability to smile properly when I'm slightly buzzed hahaha. I totally did not expect to see that sign!


Inside The Keg. See, I told you, I couldn't smile properly hahaha. It was a bad angle, and the guy at the bar was blocking it a bit, but they had giant Canadian flag underneath the bar. It was enough to make me feel more at home! They even had a Jagermeister shooter dispenser!


Some shots of inside the bar.


Out on the street outside The Keg. That's Nathan in the front with beer in hand.


Me and Nathan holding up our Mill St. brews from The Keg. I'm obviously the one holding up the Coffee Porter haha. They had Mill St. beers! How awesome is that?! We actually grabbed their last 2 Coffee Porters in stock (Herbert had never tried it).


Me and Nathan on the streets. I'm still trying to get over why I couldn't smile properly haha! I only had the equivalent of 4 beers that night.


A shot of another street in the area. Lots of people, most of them expats.

So what do I think of Hong Kong? (I'm not even going to mention the subway system, it's just going to lead to more TTC bashing hahaha. It's similar to Shanghai's, but it's a little better IMO) Well it's only been a week, so it can't give the best review (especially since I haven't been around much), but I like it better than Shanghai for a few reasons. First, while it is almost as dirty here, at least the people here don't try to add more dirt to the existing problem (for instance there are trucks that drive by every day to spray the streets and sidewalks with water to try to clean it up). For the most part, people actually properly dispose of their garbage. Second, while it is still crowded, it's not as bad as Shanghai - only 7 million people here. Thirdly (and this obviously is a big factor), I can actually understand what they're saying and it's much easier to communicate here (despite my poor Cantonese)! And it's not only because I can understand Cantonese a lot better than Mandarin, it's also because English is the 2nd official language of Hong Kong! Most of the signs here have English as well as Chinese, and there are even some signs that are exclusively English! With the large number of expats still in Hong Kong, the city is definitely much more Westernized than Shanghai (which is good for me haha). And of course, the food is nowhere near as oily as in Shanghai!

But the best part? The majority of people here have manners and follow the rules! When the pedestrian sign shows red, people don't cross! When it's green, you still don't have to be afraid of possibly getting hit by a car! The driving is still pretty bad here, but definitely not as bad as Shanghai. At least the cars here don't run red lights (I was amazed how often it happened in Shanghai)! People don't spit everywhere! People line up for things! People don't push to get onto the subway to fight for seats! People are constantly arguing! And people actually cover up when they cough and sneeze! I can't believe this all has to be a surprise to me haha. China never liked it, but I'll say it, thank you for the British occupation. If it weren't for them, the people in HK would be as bad as in Shanghai. But I italicized "majority" for a reason. As I told my uncle about my trip to Shanghai, he mentioned that ever since China took back HK, there was an increasing number of immigrants from mainland China coming to HK - and the consequence of this? - a disturbingly increasing number of people were starting to behave the way they do in Shanghai. He told me it was quite noticeable. And I noticed it myself too, compared to when I visited HK 4 years ago. There are people who will cross at red pedestrian light, spit everywhere, and push to get on the subway (despite there always being time to get on). And obviously much more people around HK speaking Mandarin. The Chinese have a 50 year plan to re-integrate HK back into China...let's hope they don't destroy it in the process.

I'm going to spend almost all day tomorrow resting as well since I want to get better as fast as possible, so this will most likely be my last update from HK. Like I said, I'm not sure what to expect in Japan, but I'll to keep the updates coming.

Now that it's official, I should also mention I've made several changes to my travel plans. Due to a interview opportunity at Indiana University for their dentistry program at the beginning of November, I will actually be flying back to Canada for 2 weeks before flying down to the US for the interview. I would love to stay in Japan longer than 6 weeks instead of flying back to Canada, but Japan is really expensive, and it would be way over budget (it's already quite expensive to arrange all these new flights). So we can catch up briefly when I'm back in the GTA! So I will be back in HK for a couple days after Japan to rest up before flying back to Canada. After my interview is done, I'll rest up for a couple of days in Canada before flying back to HK, where I will spend a little less than a week. Then I'll be heading over to New Zealand, as planned. And before flying home to Canada, I will be stopping over in HK again for a few days to rest up (the flight between NZ and HK is long).

So I guess I'll a few more opportunities to see HK. I'll leave you with a shot of the Kowloon side at night when the famous daily "laser show" comes on (obviously viewed from my grandma's place...and I don't see what the big deal is about the "laser show", it really was that spectacular to me, and it was more like a "large beams of light" show, not really a laser show haha). Like I said before, my trip to Japan will be the true start of my backpacking adventures, so wish me luck in Japan!

It was only a matter of time...

...until I got really sick. I managed to dodge an illness while in Shanghai, which surprised me. I actually had a minor cold while I was in Shanghai, but that lasted about a day, and some rest easily took care of it. I didn't even have to take an Advil! A few of my Italian friends got sick for several days, all with a fever, due to upper respiratory infections.

Well the same happened to me yesterday! After grabbing a few beers with two friends from back home who are both now in Hong Kong, I woke up on Thursday morning to a massive headache and a slight fever. After taking an Advil, I started to feel a little better an hour later, so that's when I wrapped up my photo updates. But later on in the afternoon, the fever and headache came back (even the shakes!), so I decided to see a doctor. Turns out I also have an upper respiratory infection! Usually I prefer not to take antibiotics, but since I have a fever and I'm planning on flying to Japan in a few days, I obviously have to take them. It must be some bacteria that's common in China (and Hong Kong) that us foreigners aren't used to? Well, I better go get some rest again.

Photos are finally up!

That's right ladies and gents, I've finally uploaded the photos. It wasn't easy, and it definitely took a lot of work - over several days...you try it on a very old computer with near dial-up speeds!

I've uploaded close to 500 photos (almost half of the photos I took in Shanghai), so while there are a lot of photos, they're not all of them! I couldn't correct any exposure or white balancing issues, I don't have Photoshop here, so just live with them haha.

So why did I upload so many photos if it took so long? Well I know a lot of you were patiently waiting for over a month for them, so it's my thanks for your patience. Plus, when I go to Japan, I've realized my posts are going to be far and few between (since I have no laptop) and there will probably also be no photos again in my posts (sorry)! When I'm in Japan, it'll be different from Shanghai and Hong Kong - I'll be constantly moving around, without any a base location to return to everyday with internet nearby. But I'll try my hardest to keep the updates coming.

To my newest HK post, I've put the photos right in along with the blog post. For all the previous posts, it would've been too much work to do the same, so I simply added the photos at the end of every post. There's also brief commentary! I'm also missing some photos from the clubs and karaoke and dinner we had, I couldn't bring my big DSLR camera to those places so I'm waiting for my friends to send them to me first. So enjoy the photos, and please comment!

The spoiling continues!

I've decided not to fight it anymore, and just soak it in since Japan will be very different haha. I haven't been doing much sightseeing in HK, there's not really anything I really want to see, and I've mainly be just relaxing and getting my photos up.

On Tuesday I took a stroll to Victoria Park, which is near my grandma's home. A little different from the parks in Shanghai. It's more modernized, but there are just as many old people (as well as others) doing activities.

On my way to Victoria Park. I felt Sugar Street deserved it's own photo hahaha.


Victoria Park is huge.


Where am I? Miami? Nope, HK!


Queen Victoria, after which the park is named.


I was less than a metre away from them. The pigeons don't scare easy in HK.


The tree with the sign on it is called "camel toe tree"...how does it resemble a camel toe?


What exactly is a "laughing corner"?


On my way back from Victoria Park. HK really is a city of boats.

For my birthday (Aug. 25), my aunts took me to Ocean Park, sort of like a giant Marineland. It was also one of my aunt's birthday, so she got in free - my ticket was 50% off since I'm a foreigner. The place is definitely for kids. You can say I got bored pretty quickly...the highlight was the dolphin show, and we went to that first...so you can imagine the rest of the day. Plus it was very hot and sunny with no breeze.

Outside the entrance. From left to right, my Aunt Maggie (it was also her birthday), my 9 year old cousin Justina, me, and my Aunt Pocky.


The tram ride to the other side of the park where the dolphin show was...the park was huge.


Look at all those people...


Some scenes from the dolphin show, and yes, there were seals too.


The girl on the far right is an actual audience member. The guy acting like he's scared of the seal was one of the trainers in civilian clothes. He put on a show where he was afraid to go near the seal, and when he did, he fell into the water and started to drown. After being "rescued" by a dolphin, the seal gave him CPR...again, a place for kids haha.


More scenes from the dolphin show. The first photo is of the dolphin jumping over a stream of water that was shot into the air. The last photo is the dolphins waving goodbye at the end of the show.


The views from inside Ocean Park.


At the seal exhibit.


At the sea animals exhibit. I know the first photo is a blurry shot of a sea turtle, but I thought it looked cool how it remained semi-focused compared to the rest of the shot.


On (and off) the tram back to the first part of the park.


The nearly endangered red panda. I wanted to make a animated picture of the red panda in the log, but I don't have the proper software here, so for now I'm posting the photos of it moving haha.


The panda took a fresh dump. I didn't get my camera out on time to catch the poo actually coming out (it drew a large laugh from the crowd).


I think it wants to go back inside. People kept shooting with flash on, despite the many signs stating "no flash photography" since it scares the pandas.


It seemed like it was coming to get me!


"Screw off, I'm trying to eat!"


It knows I was watching it hahaha.


Eating its meal.


The hot air balloon ride...it wasn't a real hot air balloon (it was attached to the ground by a cord at all times).

After Ocean Park, my uncle took me to the JW Marriott for a birthday dinner at the Marriott Cafe. It was an expensive all-you-can-eat dinner in a very classy atmosphere. The best part was the seafood. I easy ate at least a pound of giant shrimp, lobster claws, giant prawn tails, snow crab legs, and smoked salmon. And at the end of the 3 hour dinner (when you pay that much, you stay for the entire time haha) my relatives surprised me with a piece of birthday cake!

The seafood and dessert areas, before people started to line-up.


My first plate of seafood.


The shrimps were massive! I was holding it right in front of my face in the 2nd photo (so it's not a size perception thing).


My second plate of seafood.


My self-made seafood salad (you have to eat your greens right?).


Some of the various things to eat! I chose the worst possible time to take the photos...after everyone had grabbed most of the food - the bowl of snails was almost empty!


My birthday cake. They spelled my name wrong...you can see I tried to fix that in the 2nd photo haha.


Me and my grandma!


The JW Marriott is definitely a high-roller's hotel.


On the way back home after dinner. The Bank of China Tower is on the left.

And that wraps up my first birthday in Hong Kong!