This holiday season was completely different for Zac and I, to say the least. It was so great to travel, though it felt pretty strange being at the airport Christmas Day and not with our friends and family!
I had been planning to go to Hong Kong during our May holiday, but I'm glad we went there for Christmas. For one, I was happy with just four days there, for two it was way more Christmas-y than Wuhan, for three, it distracted us from being away from our friends and family this time of year, and for four, it opens up somewhere else to travel in May!
What we both loved the most about Hong Kong:
- more English and thus better communication
- the variety of people. We spoke to people from the UK, Malaysia, Laos, Russia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, etc - most of them there for a short jaunt just like we were. I had been debating doing a trip over just 5 days, but found the majority of tourists we ran into were doing the exact same thing. This is one of the really cool parts about being in Asia. You can hop on a flight that's not expensive and check out a totally different cultures after being in the air for 1-3 hours. Amazing. This would never happen back home, because it's just way too expensive.
- The Peak. It's a large mountain that you take a cable car up to on the island, and the views of Hong Kong are spectacular. We found a delicious restaurant there and some little presents for people back home, too!
- familiarity - way more food items and stores that we recognized (we were both way too excited to see a Seven Eleven and Shell gas stations!)
- the waterfront at night. This is where we were on Christmas Eve and with all the lights and the light show, it was perfect. There were lots of people strolling along, and many groups of carollers singing Christmas carols.
- DISNEY, of course!! Disney is definitely smaller here but the benefit to that is that we did it all in one day and left feeling satisfied. I'm really glad we went for Christmas, because the Christmas atmosphere and parades were super fun.
What we didn't like:
- HK is EXPENSIVE, and in my opinion, unnecessarily so.
- HK is largely about shopping. While that can be fun if I headed over there with my girlfriends, for a trip with Zac the consumerism wasn't so great. We were, however, very excited to discover a Body Shop and Toys R Us!
- taxi drivers who try to scam you for money. This happens in Wuhan too and I know that it will happen during our 5 week vacation but this part of travelling in Asia really bothers me. I know that many people just do not make a good living, but for me it's the principal of the situation and the fact that tourists are taken advantage of because they may not know any better or because they can't speak the language to enquire. I have learned as I've been here and insist that the taxi driver uses a meter but even then it can get tricky. Having exact change helps. If I lose a few qui I try not to lose any sleep over it, but it does annoy me! There are, of course, exceptions to the rule and when you get a really honest driver, you really appreciate them.
- I found some people in HK quite impatient and abrupt with my (reasonable - I swear!) questions. I thought it may be just coincidental but a friend who was born in HK agrees that this is common. It was kindof funny though.
- the lady at Disney who continuously "played" with her little girl in line, with that play always leading her somehow to the front of the line until people told them off. I know that China has a lot of people and this is common and yes I've seen it many times before, but every once in awhile it just drives me crazy, as it did with the family I was talking to from Malaysia. Just wait your turn people! Gaah!!
Christmas morning we woke up and opened our stockings, then headed down to the hotel's buffet breakfast where we skyped with family. The breakfast was good, and so was the company! We then headed back to our room, skyped with more family and friends, and watched a Christmas movie with snacks before heading back to the airport. That night we got home and Zac was relieved to see that Santa had made it! We opened up our presents with some hot chocolate before crashing into bed :)
Okay, on to New Years!
We headed over to Shanghai for 3 days and really enjoyed ourselves. We met up with a friend of my Grandad's which was really cool! He took us out for dinner on our first day and brought me maps and subway information, showing me how to get to everything with ease, so that was really helpful. Our visit included a lot of walking and getting lost, which was fun in it's own way.
This was our third trip since being here and I think we finally found a balance we like. When going to Beijing, after returning from the Wall we spent a lot of time checking out temples and other recommended areas - and a lot of that was enjoyable, but it was also really busy and by the third temple, both Zac and I were wondering why we were there! When we went to Hong Kong, we decided NOT to try to do so much, and for the most part, that worked out well. We enjoyed waking up and wandering the streets to find breakfast, discovering little stores and cute English book stores, and we enjoyed walking the streets of downtown, making new discoveries and walking along the water at night. But I think that Zac and I both also like to keep moving. For some, vacation is about relaxing, and while that can be true for me, we are both really enticed by the adventurous aspects of travelling. So when we went to Shanghai, we seemed to find the right balance - taking some time to stop and wander, but also having other times to go check things out - not things necessarily recommended in a travel book (though some of that too), but things we wanted to see nonetheless.
We had heard from some co-workers that the French Concession was a great place to go, and after lots of walking ad taking pictures of the "fake" French Concession (which was also cool!) we finally found the real thing. Here we ate delicious food, saw amazing buildings, and checked out plenty of cute stores full of teapot sets I only just restrained myself from buying (how many teapots do I need??). We also found the Bund (again, after taking pictures of a "fake" Bund!) which is a beautiful area along the waterfront. I was in love with the architecture here and the skyline of Shanghai is AMAZING! We ran into some friends while stopping to grab some hot chocolate, and found some explorers from America to swap stories with. One of my absolute favourite things to do when travelling is TALK to people!
While we were checking out the cool skyline and the buildings on the other side of the water (they look like something from the future!) Zac picked out one especially cool looking building that he said he wanted to check out the next day. That night at the hotel I did some searching and figured out how to get there, and we went the next day (which was NYE). It was similar to the CN Tower, and even had a "Hall of Towers" that included the CN Tower. Zac enjoyed the glass floor and I enjoyed the views and the sunset :)
The next day was our last there, and we only had a few hours before we would need to be at the airport. I really wanted to check out the art district, and Zac knew that and happily obliged. It was the only time we would take a taxi rather than the subway, and typical of our time in Shanghai we got lost, taking the subway in the wrong direction before getting a taxi to take us back, closer to where we had been in the first place, and right next to another subway stop. Oh well, what can ya do.
We loved the district. It was similar to the 798 in Beijing - many little museums and art shops in the same area with paintings, pottery, crafts, cafes (in one of which we rang in the NY for the second time - on Ontario time), etc. It was a great way to end off the trip! We both loved Shanghai - it's very modern and has some delicious food :)
Zac and I are counting down. 5 more school days and then we are OUTTA here! We can't wait to start exploring SE Asia!
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