Korea to Hong Kong to Australia and back again!

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July 25th marked our final day of classes/work before our much needed week of summer vacation. All day I was itching to get out, to get home and pack and then catch a bus to In Cheon International and get on with my trip!
After school Mickey and I went home and got our selves and our stuff ready and around 10pm we headed downtown to the bus station to get tickets and leave. Unfortunately the first bus to In Cheon leaves at 1240am which meant that we had some waiting time! We sat in the terminal and watched some random Korean television and Mickey gave me a lesson on how to not only beat the levels on my DS game but how to find secrets...apparently I missed all of that stuff growing up! When the Airport bus terminal opened at 1230 we got into line and waited and waited and waited for the guy in front of us to finish. Eventually we got our tickets and we grabbed our seats on the bus for the 4 hour ride ahead of us. Mickey fell right to sleep as I sat there and wished I could fall asleep! We arrived at In Cheon before the gates were even open so we bummed around for a little while until 610. After we got our boarding passes we went in search of breakfast and were able to find a restaurant with a fairly Western style buffet so eggs and bacon and fruit were readily available. It wasn't perfect but it was the closest thing either of us had had for a long time! Going through customs to leave was slightly frustrating as I was supposed to have a re-entry permit which I was completely unaware of. So I paid $30 to get a single re-entry and sat in the security office filling out paperwork while Mickey waited unaware on the other side!
We finally boarded the plane and took off for Hong Kong where we would meet up with Mickey's friend and explore the city in the 8 hours of free time I would have between my flights.
Immigration was easy to get through they didn't even ask me any questions! Carla (Mickey's friend) was waiting for us in the arrivals area and welcomed each of us with a big hug. We jumped on the airport express train and headed towards Carla's aunts place. While in a cab I got to see the city a bit more and let me tell you that Hong Kong is beautiful! I got a European feeling from it but there were palm tree's and exotic plants springing up everywhere! The buildings were tall and shiney and architecturally stunning without imposing on the older buildings that dotted the area. Carla's aunt lives in a place called Happy Valley and her apartment is absolutely gorgeous! We were greated by two housekeepers who spoke perfect English and apparently did everything for you.
Mickey and I headed out on our own to explore and after realizing that we'd have to be a little more careful crossing the street (they drive on the opposite side!) we travelled down the winding street to one of the main roads. Other than the beautiful character of the city I noticed the amount of luxury cars that zoomed down the streets. I have never seen so many high end vehicles in my life, not even in Toronto where I spent so much of my last days in Canada! I started wondering if they had a rule for them. All Mercedes must travel together in packs of no fewer than 5!
We walked and walked and walked and walked and oh my was it warm! Daegu is disgustingly humid and as I have said many times you feel as if you are going to melt. Hong Kong reminded me more of home. But I sure wished I wasn't wearing jeans because I wasn't going to be able to change my clothes for my 8.5 hour flight to Australia! We went down side streets and walked through the local markets seeing things that were a little disturbing and smelling things that no person should ever have to smell but all the negative was followed by something positive and it all amounted to a great experience!
I will DEFINITELY be going back to Hong Kong in the near future and you all should go as well!
I was flying out just after 11pm on a Qantas flight and I had plans to take one of the sleeping pills that I had bought back in Daegu. The plane was great. As is the case in many planes these days each seat had it's own t.v and a remote control and quite a few selections of movies, shows, music, documentaries and games. The flight crew were friendly and accommodating and the food, ooooh the food! I have never been on a flight where the food was actually something you wanted to have again! My first meal was beef in a rosemary mustard sauce with pototoes and veggies, a bun, kit kat, salad and rice pudding (had to get the rice n there somewhwere!) and of course anything you wanted to drink. My breakfast was an onion mushroom fratatta with bacon, juice, a bun and fruit. As far as sleeping I did manage to get about 4 hours of sleep in total which was a nice change from my usual flight habit of twiddling my thumbs envying everyone who was sleeping around me!
When we arrived in Brisbane I was greeted by a couple dogs while I was waiting for my luggage and 2 different people wanted to look at my customs declaration card both asked me the same question and than after getting my suitcase I had to go through another screening process and finally I was able to get out into the arrivals lobby where I waited for 2 hours for the van to arrive to take me to Kate's place.
After an hour in the vane we arrived at the Alex Beach Resort and I saw someone from home for the first time in 5 months!
That night a bunch of Kate's friends came over for a Roast dinner and they were all from Ontario and one was even a fellow Laurier Alum and had worked with my roommate at the school pool! Such a small world we live in! After finished a delicious dinner and spending time with everyone I headed for bed as I hadn't really slept that much since I had woke up at 7am the Friday before.
On Monday we headed to the outlets in Brisbane to do some shopping. On our way we stopped at a place in Mooloolaba for breakfast and I ordered eggs benedict which were so good! Shopping was pretty good but it was like shopping at an outlet in Canada! Nothing was that much cheaper than in a regular store! When we got home Crystal and I went for a swim in the heated saltwater pool! You have to remember that it was "winter" in Australia so the heated pool was nice! Now when I say winter I should point out that at night it did get pretty chilly but during the day in the sun it was pretty warm still.
Tuesday we went to the markets in Emmundi. The set up and atmosphere reminded me of the Vineland Artfest which was great. I bought a couple things for people at home and myself before we were on a bus and headed back home.
Wednesday we went to the mall which was beautiful! They had it built over a river and the halls had big windows looking out onto the water where they had paddle boats and balcony's from various restaurants. I bought a book that I have been wanting for a while but it wasn't out in Canada when I left so I was excited to find it. I asked the girl for the authors newest book and she was like "oooh she hasn't had a new one for a while". Perhaps not in Australia! Then I bought some groceries that I can't find in Korea! Later that day we went for a walk down the beach which was nice. it's amazing how the water changes colour from a deep blue to a light blue to this vibrant aqua colour. I have never been anywhere where that happens in my life and it was amazing!
Thursday Crystal and I went to the Australia Zoo which was quite an experience! I have a whole new respect for Steve Irwin because what that place is doing is awesome. They really want you to spend your time there interacting with different animals and every one of them looked very healthy and loved. The zoo itself is rather small with only animals indigenous to Australia, excluding the Tigers and Asian elephants. We walked through the kangaroo enclosure and pet a few curious ones which was awesome and than we went and had our pictures taken with a koala. Holding a koala is something you can only do in Australia so it was something I wasn't going to pass up! They are the cutest things on earth!
Friday was our whale watching day and we went down to the wharf and boarded Steve's Whale One which is the Australia Zoo boat. The boat itself was beautiful, very luxurious! I spent about 10 minutes in the cabin before heading out to the bow where I stayed for the rest of the trip except for a quick trip inside for lunch. We didn't see a whale for a long time and i began thinking that we weren't going to! A dolphin joined us for a short time but it was neat to see! After about 3 hours we finally spotted a humpback whale and we followed him as he swam west. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! It's not like other animals that you can see in captivity, you can only see one in the wild and they are apparently the most elusive whales on earth!
By the end of our day at sea we were all intensily burnt! But I must admit that it was worth it!
I spent one last night with Kate and her sister before heading to bed so I could wake up at 6 and catch the van back to Brisbane for my flight.
Leaving Brisbane was insaneley frustrating. The airport is under construction so everything is in chaos. The customs area was packed and the security people seemed a bit on edge which is never nice! The girl who finally gave me my boarding pass wasn't even going to let me go because she couldn't find what she needed in my passport. I found it in seconds and she said she was going to take it to someone because she'd never seen that kind of re-entry thing. I was just like LET ME GO! I want to go home! Here's the funny thing 1 week away from Daegu and I was "homesick" for it! I haven't felt that yet for home home!
My flight home was good as well the meals were once again delicious and I arrived home with about half an hour until the bus went to Daegu. Finally getting home was awesome!
I didn't even realize how much I missed my kids until I was sitting in class with them! They were all concerned about my face which was sweet!
The vacation was nice and Australia is just gorgeous but I'm happy to be back in Korea!
October 3rd marks the beginning of weekend in Tokyo with Mike, Tash and the baby!

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