Hong Kong, China 4.-8.6.2013

Yes, I'm extremely behind with my updates. Forgive me, please?

In the summer of 2013, I travelled A LOT. First I went to Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore with my friend Tia, then I spent a couple of days in London with my mum before flying to Hungary for the rest of the summer to be with J. So. First up, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, Day 1.

We were supposed to leave for our adventure already on June 3rd but our flight got delayed because of Marimekko-related plagiarism accusations. I was sort of really happy about this as J and I got one more day together before the excruciatingly long five weeks apart. In the morning of the 4th of June, however, Tia and I boarded the 8 am plane to Hong Kong, excited to be going to Asia for the first time ever. The flight felt really long (probably because it was) and we arrived in Hong Kong at 10:50 pm. We decided to be really adventurous and catch the bus to our hostel even if it was in the middle of the night. The air was hot and humid and it was somehow really cool to see Chinese signs everywhere. The bus to our hostel, YesInn @ Causeway Bay, was A11 and it was $40. We checked in and then found the building where our room was with the help of random Chinese men, who were standing on the street for God knows what reason at 1 am, heh. We had booked a Deluxe bed, which turned out to be a Chinese size :D :D :D - about 120 cm and one blanket for the two of us :D. It was seriously funny! We went to bed at 2:30 am, crazy exhausted.

The view from our room.

Our bed :D.

 Day 2

We woke up at 11 am, bought some breakfast from the nearby 7/11 and then caught the MTR to Tung Chung as the plan was to go and see the Big Buddha. Once we got off the metro, we noticed a huge shopping mall and decided to take a look at it as the weather was pretty miserable anyway. Tia immediately found about a million sports clothing outlets :D. Eventually we ventured out to find the Ngong Ping 360 cable car, which would take us to the Buddha and Po Ling Monastery. Both of us were freaked out by the upcoming cable car experience but regardless of that, we decided to go even if the weather forecast was promising thunderstorms :D.

Some Hong Kong trams close to our hostel.

Another picture from our hoods.

Panicking about the cable car!

It was raining at first.

The Buddha!

Once we got to the Buddha, we/I went a little bit crazy and bought all sorts of touristy things such as key rings and a Ngong Ping 360 T-shirt, heh...I guess we were relieved that we survived! Then we wandered around in the area - it was really nice! I mean sure, a bit touristy, but really tranquil and just plain beautiful. The monastery was being renovated but we tried to see as many things as possible anyway.

Cows wandering around :).

The monastery.

Some rituals involving incense sticks. It looked really cool!

 We then decided to have some noodles before going back down, this time with a bus.

Before heading back to the hostel, we still got some food from a supermarket, and the rest of the evening was spent messaging with J and Tiina.

Day 3

On our third day, we decided to go to  the Peak. We walked around for ages, trying to find the Peak Tram, with no luck. We ended up walking through the financial district and it was CRAZY HOT!

The Lippo towers.

Eventually we decided to catch bus number 15 to the Peak from in front of the Pier and it ended up being really cheap, too, just 10 Hong Kong dollars. It was $40 to get to the Peak itself and it was well worth it! The views were gorgeous, and we ended up having a really good day, too, as the skies were pretty much clear and you could see really far.

We both left love messages for our chosen ones <3 :).

We decided to eat at Bubba Gump and then go back down with the Peak Tram (the price for that was $28).

Our next adventure was to catch the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. The price for that was $2,50 and it was one of the scariest rides during this trip :D! The boat was rocking from side to side and just fighting against the waves, hehe...We ended up meeting the biggest rubber duck in the world before catching the metro back to our hostel and spending the rest of the evening there with Tsing Tao Beer, Spotify and chatting to J on Skype.

A museum we didn't go to.

In the metro.

Day 4

Our last full day in Hong Kong was spent in Stanley, which is a beach resort kind of place with a really relaxed atmosphere. We caught the bus there and had some really nice views on the way!

We ate, walked around, had some drinks out in the sun, then went back to Kowloon to check out a couple of shopping malls. I wasn't into the shopping malls in Hong Kong as they all sell really expensive brands and I'm not interested in stuff like that. Everyone in Hong Kong is really stylish, by the way, and has these brand handbags and expensive-looking clothes, so I guess they need those shops there...

Anyway, we went to Spaghetti House to wait for the light show, A Symphony of Lights, around Victoria Harbour. It wasn't really my thing, to be honest, but at least now we've seen it :). They play music, and the many skyscrapers and other buildings of the harbour area are lit up in changing neon lights.

The duck is back!

And a bonus picture from the hostel - WHEN there is a fire, do not use the lift :D!

And that would be our Hong Kong experience. Day 5 was spent at the airport waiting for our kangaroo ride to Australia...more about that later :).