Hong Kong and Macau

On October 16th Chris and I headed to the airport around 2:00. We did not make it to the airport until 4:30 in terminal one. Our flight was leaving at 430 from terminal 2. Terminal 1 is about half a mile away from terminal two and you have to check your luggage in 45 minutes before your flight a.k.a 4:30. So Chris and I ran all the way to terminal two once we got to the check in counter they said we were to late. I complained and told him I had to get on that plane. He said you can try to pass security and just use your check in luggage as your 2nd carry on. In my head I was thinking there is no way my 35 pound check in would get through security and plus it was already 4:45. So we attempted to go through security. We cut the line since we had to check in 15 minutes before our flight left at the gate. We made it through security, I have no clue how this happened! I had tons of liquids in there, this is China though! In the end we made our flight after having to run from the security to Gate 52 which was 20 gates down from where

we were, that was a fun run as well.

We arrived in Hong Kong around 10:30, since we flew to Shenzhen (since it was cheaper) and then had to go cross the boarder into Hong Kong it took awhile to get there. We stayed in a hostel with Luke, Allie, Chris and me. We had a six bed room place which gave us extra room since we only had 4 people. Once we got to the hostel we headed out to Wan Chai for some food. This was my first experience of Hong Kong. There were a ton of international people and everyone speaks English in Hong Kong. There were very few chinese restaurants in Hong Kong compared to Shanghai. Hong Kong has mostly western restaurants. Everything is also really expensive compared to Shanghai. We then headed home for the night.

A Circle K in Hong Kong its official this is America

One of the bunk beds in our room which Luke attempting to sleep

The next morning we headed to Monkey Mountain. This Mountain has thousands of monkeys roaming freely! It was exciting to see monkeys out in the wild. The hike around the mountain was very enjoyable as well. Hong Kong is a very tropical place and this hike really allowed us to see the natural beauty that Hong Kong offers.

Part of the view from our hike

One of the Monkeys sitting on a Mercedes

They clean each other, its a social thing.

Then in the afternoon we went to the Avenue of the Stars which is similar to the walk of stars in LA. From the avenue you can see the whole skyline of Hong Kong, it was amazing. We then went and ate at Sticky Fingers where we meet Delta Gammas from Syracuse University. We then went and met the rest of the group at the W hotel were we stayed and hung out for awhile. Then Luke and I went out to Wan Chai once again. We were sitting at a table enjoying the nightlife there, when the Delta Gamma girls spotted us and we hung out for a while. It was a great night.

Bruce Lee on the Avenue of Stars

Part of the skyline

On Sunday we head out to Stanley's Market. This was a very beautiful place. It was on the water and it was a very upscale plaza. The market did not offer knock offs so everything was pretty expensive. But we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Top of Stanley's Market

Bottom of Stanley's market

Later that night we went to the peak which overlooks the whole city. You pay about $3 USD to take a tram up to the top. Once we reached the top, we headed to Bubba Gumps which sits at the very top of the peak. We were able to get a window seat which made seeing the city even more enjoyable. There is a light show every night in Hong Kong at 8pm. It is in the Genesis Book of World Records for the largest light show. We got to see it from our dinner table which was pretty cool. The light show itself was kind of a disappointment, but it is was still cool how almost every building lights up in sync with each other.

Me and the Skyline

The skyline (Tommy worked in the tall building that has the blue lines)

Chris and me at dinner. Look at our view in the background.

Tram to the Peak

We then headed back down to go have drinks with Adrienne Lau, a famous Hong Kong popstar who is one of my good friends cousin from Foothill. We had drinks on a famous street named Lan Kwai Fong. It was a great night as well, she was really nice.

Adrienne and me

Lan Kwai Fong

On Monday we headed to Macau for my roommates birthday. We went to a whole different country for his birthday, thats how much we care about him. Macau is known for being the Las Vegas of China. It even has the Wynn hotel and the Venetian Hotel, they look exactly like the ones in Las Vegas but just smaller. I was disappointed in Macau overall but it was still a good experience. I gambled for the first time, I was up by 12 yuan but then dropped to negative 45 which is only 5 USD. We then headed back to Hong Kong from there and then back to Shanghai.

The Venetian in Macau

Chris's Birthday in Macau

MJ's Gear at the Hard Rock

Inside of the Venetian

The boat from Hong Kong to Macau

Overall Hong Kong was a great experience. I would not want to study there since it is exactly like the US, just with a lot more Chinese people. Shanghai offers a lot of the Chinese culture and no one speaks English so it really pushes me to learn the language. I could see myself living Hong Kong, once I start making a lot of money of course.

Here is a video from money mountain