http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Hong Kong en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 11:30:17 +0000 Sat, 25 May 2013 11:30:17 +0000 Friday night we had a little work party to say good bye to our co worker Adeline who is heading back to Singapore next week and for my team to be able to see my apartment.Originally it was going to be a BBQ in the nice pool side BBQ area but with the weather decided not to chance it and I rented out the Function room in my complex.... They provide glasses plates full kitchen etc and they cle http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-787703.html In late April I decided that my favorite pair of shoes were getting really broken down and needed to be replaced. There are several Adidas stores in Zhuhai so I didnt think Id have a problem.Needless to say I had a problem.I didnt have any trouble getting to the Adidas store or finding shoes that I liked. Unfortunately the largest size the store carries is a ten. I need an eleven.I we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-787453.html Not much new really in Hong Kong but so much has been going on around the world I still can39t wrap my head around the bombing which happened in my beloved city Boston... Start to move on from that and my dear friend Heather loses her husband to a tragic motorcycle accident. Her husband Tony was dead on impact by the grace of God her son Tony who was on the motorcycle too was thrown on http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-787409.html New photos onhttps251.photobucket.comalbumsgg311draftwrite..Xiang Gang or Hong Kong as you I know it is now a part of China yet still apart. It is pretty autonomous in many ways having spent such a long time under the influence of the British it39s quite different from the mainland. An excolleague has been living there for a couple of years suggested we visit. Lisa is a rea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/The-Peak/blog-786954.html May 19 2013 Hong Kong All checked in and ready to board at the HKG Airport. Built on the island of Chek Lap Kok an island largely reclaimed specifically for the construction of the airport itself. We have a 3 hour flight to Chengdu and are all looking forward to meeting up with the SPPH ophthalmology team there. The airport is an impressive layout one of the largest and busiest passenger and c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-786552.html May 18 2013 Victoria39s Peak Hong Kong Island As Dr. Farris likes to say its tradition. Around 5 PM local time we all met up at the Star Ferry landing on the Kowloon side to take the ferry over to Hong Kong island. Dominated by the world39s 8th tallest office building the 88 story International Finance Center the Hong Kong skyline is an impressive endless line of high rise buildin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/The-Peak/blog-786536.html Cheung Chau Bun Festival is one of the most famous traditional festival in Hong Kong.But as a hongkongese it was my first time to experience this special day.We had camping on the beach one day before Bunit was just for escape the peak time of going there with the crowd.Of courseyou can go to Cheung Chau in 17th Maybut you have to queue with thousands of people in order to take the ferry.So it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Cheung-Chau/blog-786463.html May 18 2013 Kowloon After a great breakfast buffet in the hotel we split into groups and did our own exploring of the Hong Kong area. It is quite warm muggy and overcast hot and humid 30 C 94 humidity. The CCEW team went up north of the city to see a Buddhist Temple of some repute. Dr. Farris took a group to wander through his Hong Kong 39hood39...those who39ve been here bef http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-786419.html An aerial satellite view of Hong Kong Bay. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-786381.html This story has a nice ending. Insomnia at 3 am...so I turn to problem solvingWhen we travel I usually carry an extra stash of electronics to help connectivity issues plug adapters cords flash drives etc. I tried something new to make them more accessible during the airport stays and flights and put them in a small nylon pouch about the size of a shaving kit. I forgot it on the Airport E http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-786379.html May 17 2013 Kowloon We made it CX885 touched down after 14 hours and 33 minutes of flight to a warm and humid Hong Kong. We all caught up on movies and reruns of TV shows during the flight. We passed through immigration with ease and then gathered up our luggage and 3 taxis to the Harbor Plaza Metropolitan Hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Kowloon and in our rooms before 9 PM local time. We http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-786338.html Today I arrived in Hong Kong from Toronto following a 15 hour flight which wasn39t so bad. Have been hanging out in the airport for nearly 12 hours on a nasty layover the silver lining being that in less than 12 hours I will be at the Evans compound in Dhaka Bangladesh. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-785334.html So after a restless night of sleep we got up strategized our last full day in HK so we can make sure we don39t wander around too much. Started out close to our hostel and checked out this little place call Dim Dim Sum that was plastered with enlarged photos of articles about how they39re real chef39s top 100 places to eat. The articles had pictures the likes of Anthony Bourdain and David http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-785118.html I39m fully frustrated we arrived back to HK today and changed our last 100 to pay for our lodging since no one here takes anything but cash if you39re not staying at a higher end hotel. That went off fine but when I went to find an ATM to withdraw money from my capitalone360 account formerly known as INGdirect the machine says my pin is incorrect. So now we39re pretty much cashless an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-785117.html Well Hello EveryoneIt has been a while since I have been out here. It has been crazy since returning from the States and my visiting my family.My boxes finally arrived from the USA so I have been going through them and figuring out where to put everything it is so great having my pictures of my family around the different rooms like having a little piece of home with me. Forgot I had so many m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-785084.html I had endured an uneventful day waiting in the extremely crowded business lounge in Amsterdam punctuated by periodic grazing of beef broth basically a beef stock cube in warm water cheese that looked like Scottish fudge and a meat based product which if I was pushed would guess was pork. However given the Dutch propensity for our equine friends I fear I may have been wrapping my gherkin in Sh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/Wan-Chai/blog-785079.html ltspangtltspangtltspangtKim Hong Kong...amazing So full of life smells sounds and everything in between from a real mix of different cultures. We spent our four days here being shown around by our very own local private tour guide Louise Greg cousin somewhat removed who gave us an insider view of how to spend 96 hours in China39s most well known city. It really showed how much http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-783716.html Day two want to do Temple street to eat snailsWonton noodles at mak noodlesHarbour mallClaypot rice four season pot riceGet yogurtPeople watchDin dai fungHot pot fong wing keeSpring deer restaurantIf have time wet market Day 2 I had an agenda of things I wanted to do whereas day 1 was just getting used to being in HK. I even had a list I woke up at 6am yes you read that right Dianne withou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-783079.html Traveling from Zhuhai to Hong Kong involves several modes of transportation. I leave my apartment at around 6.15 AM which isnt a problem because Im always up early anyway. I ride the public bus to the Zhuhai ferry terminal which takes around 45 minutes. The distance is probably about eight miles or so but public buses make a lot of stops. At 7.30 passengers are allowed to enter passpor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-783025.html Updated link to photos https9.photobucket.comuserTanyahh1slideshowThe20Eating20tripDay2012020HK20Island20and20Temple20Street20MarketI gave up on the photobucket stories features so here is just the link to the album password turtlebutt. The wireless connection for all the spots we39ve been to have been too slow to upload the quantities of photos I want to upload so I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-782984.html