Auckland: Day 1

My trip to New Zealand started off on an expensive note. Since I Was planning on meeting up with other people to travel around, I figured a cell phone would come in handy, so literally a few hours before my flight out of Hong Kong, I bought a brand new $350 CDN cell phone - totally unplanned and completely out of budget. Then after a relatively pleasant 11 hour flight (of course on Cathay, but man New Zealand is far...) and after clearing the needlessly long wait through NZ's "biological screening" (they really care about their natural environment), the first thing I did was buy a prepaid SIM card that cost a total of $55 NZD ($35 for the card + $20 credit; about $44 CDN)! An expensive start...and now that I think about it, it really foreshadowed what the rest of the trip in NZ would be like.

The hostel I stayed at was a mixed bag, but I later learned the negatives weren't hostel specific but country wide. Freeman's Lodge was a privately owned hostel (which I find are the better hostels if they're well operated since they offer more character and uniqueness) - an old (very old) house that was converted into a hostel. So it was in a residential area (an area known as Freeman's Bay), meaning a good quiet sleep at night, and about 10-15 minute walk to the downtown core of Auckland (though a portion of the walk went through a slightly sketchy part of town). The dorm room was definitely the best I ever stayed at in a hostel - single twin bed, no bunks, 5 beds in the room, equipped with lockers, a fridge(!), a computer with internet, and a wifi router (since the dorm room was in a separate building in the backyard). The free wifi I unknowingly took for granted (you'll find out more about what I mean later on), but the best part was the beds - 3-4 star hotel quality mattresses, pillows, and comforter! I'm not kidding...falling asleep was no problem in this hostel (it was the closest feeling I had during my trip to sleeping in my own bed). The bathrooms were another story though - like I said before, backpacking in Japan ruined hostels everywhere else for me hahaha. I quickly learned the majority of buildings in NZ don't have any form of central air, meaning they open the window almost all the time in the summer (it was early summer in NZ during this time), meaning plenty of bugs everywhere. It's not that big of a deal really, I'm just not used to sharing a shower with flies and spiders when I'm indoors.

The dorm room.

After getting settled in a bit, I walked over to the nearest convenience store (which they refer to as a "dairy" store there), and was surprised that I had to pay $3 NZD (about $2.40 CDN) for a 1.5L bottle of water and $2 NZD (about $1.60 CDN) for a small bag of chips (the same size you find in those "snack packs")! Despite the Canadian dollar being stronger, I was really surprised to find NZ to be this expensive (I was under the impression NZ was supposed to be cheaper). I spent a bit more time chilling out in the nice dorm room, looking up what I could do in Auckland the next few days (I booked 4 nights at the hostel just to settle in) and how I could get around NZ. I actually lost track of time until I realized it was about 7:30 and I needed to grab some dinner. So I walked 10 minutes uphill to the nearby Ponsonby area to the street known for its quirky restaurants and cafes...I didn't see that many to be quite honest (I don't know what all the buzz is about). I ended up having some Malaysian fast food in one of Auckland's many Asian fast food courts (great for people on budgets and Auckland's many university students).

My first actual photo in New Zealand (the 2 above were taken days after). The International Food Court is where I ate my first meal in NZ.


Along Ponsonby. There was a very small "park" with some seemingly random, strange structures.


Along the walk back to the hostel (wasn't feeling up to exploring in the night when I needed some sleep). Like I said, Freeman's Bay was a residential area. The typical houses were old English architecture styles. The last photo is of Auckland CBD (central business district, how they refer to the downtown area of any city). The tower is Auckland's tallest structure, the Sky Tower.


Outside Freeman's Lodge.

Hong Kong: Part III

It was still hot and humid in Hong Kong after I returned from my interview in Indianapolis, but it surprisingly wasn't too muggy or foggy. I didn't go exploring much this time - shopping is so central to Hong Kong that if you don't have anything to buy, your options of things to do become limited. Plus, I spent most of my time trying to plan ahead for New Zealand and do some research of what do to since I had no idea what to see or where to go when I got there. And unfortunately, I didn't get much done - there was just too much information to sort through and I didn't feel like committing to any plans yet since there was so much to do. Plus, I was planning on travelling around with some other travellers from Couch Surfing, but nothing was confirmed. I spent most of my time with family this time - my uncle working in Macau finally found some time in his busy schedule to come visit for lunch (he's a very busy man), and my aunt and uncle living in San Francisco had come to visit my grandma (my grandma's apartment actually got a little crowded with 5 of us in there hahaha). It was nice to spend time with family I hadn't seen in a very long time.

Kowloon from my grandma's apartment - surprisingly quite a clear view.


The view from a pedestrian overpass outside my grandma's apartment.


My uncle took me to a Wednesday race night at the Happy Valley race course, and as you can tell, packed with people - local and expats alike. My uncle was telling me the majority of expats treat it like a night out and don't really go to gamble (on the level similar to going to a club), and it was quite true, the majority were dressed in clubbing clothes. The many beer tents say it all about the atmosphere of the public area (compared to the members section I was in; 1st photo).

Hong Kong: Part II

My 2nd time in Hong Kong went a lot better than the first, and I didn't get sick hahaha! If you ever travel to Japan for an extended period of time and go through "Japan withdrawal" after leaving, Hong Kong is probably one of the best, if not the best, place to go to ease the transition. For those that don't know, the Chinese (mainly Hong Kong Chinese) love almost all things Japanese, and the shops and their inventory, and even the restaurants, in Hong Kong reflect this culture infatuation. There's even a SOGO (a Japanese shopping mall chain) in the centre of Causeway Bay (one of the districts of Hong Kong), with half of the basement exactly like the malls in Japan (filled with shops selling Japanese foods, desserts, and alcohol!). It definitely brought back some good memories when I was walking around there.

I also visited some other sights of Hong Kong during the week, but for the most part, I spent a large portion of my time exploring the Mong Kok area (in Kowloon) and the well-known electronic shopping centres across Hong Kong and Kowloon. I was trying to find a netbook (I figured it would be useful since hostels seemed to offer free wifi) and a walking shoes (since I was getting tired of wearing my big boots everywhere). Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything worth buying in one of the most well-known shopping capitals of the world. I'm guessing Hong Kong's reputation as a place to get cheap electronics was from a long time ago, because everything was more expensive (or at best, the same price) than the electronics here -well, it took me surprise! Even after 30 minutes of negotiating at one shop, the guy couldn't offer me a netbook at even the price I could get it here (and that's with taxes included too)! And of course, I couldn't find any pair of shoes in my size! I read somewhere later on that "you can find anything in Hong Kong except for shoes bigger than size 10 US" (doesn't really make sense to me that after all these years of Western tourists coming to Hong Kong to buy things, the shoe dealers haven't made the change to stock bigger shoes?!?

My mom's friend who had met with my several times in Shanghai was now in Hong Kong, so she took me and Nathan (my friend from back home) to dinner at the Happy Valley race course. It was nice reminder that not too long ago, I was temporarily living in Shanghai! I also met up with Nathan later on in the week just to chill out, which turned out to be a good night of partying. We went to one of his friend's place where we chilled on the top balcony (really relaxing and surprisingly not too loud from the street level noise) and then hit up a club. Then while partying in the club, a group of Hong Kong police officers just walked into the club and started checking everyone's IDs! I thought it was some serious thing (as it usually would be if a whole team of police officers just walking into a club here), but I was later told it was apparently quite common - they're just checking to make sure everyone is legal and the club isn't hosting anything illegal or isn't over capacity limit. I got away with showing my driver's license, but according to the police I was supposed to be carrying my passport, which I understand, but who goes clubbing with their passport? The club was pretty nice though - it even had a Jagermeister dispenser (of course that means Jagerbombs!)! Then we headed off to another club around 2 or 3, but I was feeling so tired for some reason, I left as they got into the club. And yet, instead of catching a cab back to my grandma's (since the subway was now closed), I decided to walk all the way from the Lan Kwai Fong area back to the Causeway Bay area! Don't ask me why, maybe it was because I thought I wouldn't have enough for a taxi, but the walk was pretty interesting (though it was long, it took 40 minutes, mainly because I got confused in the Central area trying to find pedestrian overpasses to cross the many highway roads). I didn't run into any problems, but I got to see a totally different side of Hong Kong: homeless sleeping in the pedestrian overpasses and in the parks, rats the size of kittens running around the streets, Filipino hookers trying to get guys to buy what they were selling...obviously, I was later told I really shouldn't have walked that far alone in the dark, but I never felt I was in danger once.

Anyway, here's some of my photos from my second week there:

A crispy seaweed type snack I found at the local supermarket...I didn't even see this in Japan?! I quickly found out there were a lot of Japanese snacks available in Hong Kong I never saw in Japan - maybe they're for export only?


Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay - floor upon floor of brand name shopping.


I think this was one of the streets known for selling "fresh" produce and such (some hanging meat is visible - the entire one side of the alley was lined with shops selling all kinds of meat); and of course, full of people.


Around the Wan Chai Ferry Pier area.


Along the Expo Promenade at the Hong Kong Convention Centre. The tall monument commemorates Hong Kong's return to China from British control.


A bit of Causeway Bay at night. Notice the Hokkaido rice pizza place in the first photo? That really piqued my interest - what will those crazy Hong Kongers think of next?


Along the "Avenue of Stars" in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of the Kowloon side, watching the famous laser light show (obviously the view was a lot better than last time I was in Hong Kong where I tried to watch it from my grandma's apartment -it certainly looked more impressive this time) and then enjoying the Hong Kong skyline at night. The first photo is of the statue of Bruce Lee (in case you couldn't tell it was him hahaha).


Walking up from the Tsim Sha Tsui area towards the Mong Kok area along the famous Nathan Road (I got bored of walking by the time I got to the Jordan area - there wasn't much to see anymore and there was still plenty of walking - so I actually caught the subway up to Mong Kok from there). The hotel in the second photo is The Peninsula - super high class.


The Mong Kok area at night - this place was always crowded! Known for its abundance of electronics and shoe shops (As you may be able to tell from the photos). The 3rd and 4th photos are of the famous "Ladies Market" - a street lined entirely with street booth vendors selling various fakes.


Pocky! - yes, I went a little cray for Pocky haha, but I didn't even get any in Japan.


Guinness Foreign Extra - brewed for export only (I think the name gives it away hahaha) and over 6% alcohol content. Stronger, but not as thick, as the Guinness here. I was told by a traveller I had met that Guinness is brewed differently for each region where it is sold.


More unique Chinese market snacks - Kyushu seaweed flavour. Yes, it tasted like seaweed (pretty evident since they use tiny seaweed flakes), but I'm not sure what made it Kyushu specific hahaha.


My uncle took me to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Happy Valley race track - the first of what would be several visits. Easily puts Woodbine race track to shame hahaha.


What? Product of Canada? And look closely where it was manufactured: Markham! I've never seen this once in the GTA or Toronto!


1L can of Asahi! Yes, huge, and of course, way cheaper than buying it in Ontario (if you could find a 1L can). And of course, enjoying it brought back some good memories.


On the way to the airport. Let's not forget that Hong Kong is a huge global port. The line of the many many (many) huge crate cranes reminded me of the brontosaurus - the famous long neck dinosaur.


Back at the Hong Kong International Airport. Another view of the plenty of shopping options still available.