Travelling Rae: January 2016

More Food and More Exploring

When you are new to a place, no matter where it is, it is always exciting to explore it. To look at the statues, lights and of course experience the different forms of cuisine on offer. In Hong Kong especially, there was no difficulty finding a new place to eat, whether it was a small Thai restaurant hidden away, a popular all-you-can-eat-and-drink Chinese shop or a restaurant in a massive plaza/mall. And you know the best way to experience all these new foods, is to have someone whom you share a common interest with - Desserts and leaving campus.

Lamma Island

Loooop - It's all edible!

Flower Market

To reach Lamma Island, you need to catch a ferry, considering that both Mai and I get motion sickness, it was definitely a feat to make it there and back to the Island. I also managed to make her eat vegetarian western food, and climb one of the peaks.

A fading Big Buddha

Disneyland HK

Ngong Ping 360 (cable cars)

Churros and Icecream

And Bubble Tea! <3

With this one person, I experienced so much, she became my dinner buddy as I became hers. Together we tried out so many different kinds of icecream - difference flavours, decorations (like eggettes and churros); I tried Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Mexican, and Thai food with her.

Some of the best and memorable days were spent exploring with her. Take the day we visited the Big Buddha. We had kept putting it off because of the weather and classes, until it got to the point where I said, lets just go. It certainly wasn't the best day for the Buddha and the cable cars, as it was very cloudy and raining constantly, but it definitely was memorable. Also as we increased altitude, it got colder and we were not dressed for the weather we got that day.
One of the appeals for the cable cars is that you get this amazing view of Hong Kong - what we got, was a fuzzy image of the area and eventually the fog got so heavy that for 40 minutes out 50, we could not see a thing.

This fog stayed with us the entire time and yet it did not deter us from our mission. As we walked through the village, we grabbed some lunch (an excellent excuse to get out of the wind and rain), and tried this bean custard, which was deliciously perfect for the day, and then we made our way to the bottom of the stairs leading to the Buddha.
I feel I may have been misled about how many stairs there actually were going up. I had the impression that there were at least twice as many stairs as I saw, but because of this, when we realised how few the stairs were, we became more determined to climb to the top.

Just the little queue we were stuck in

It was beautiful. We may not have gotten clear skies that led us to see for miles, or warm sun, but the view and the sheer enormity of the Buddha, plus the day we had just had (did I mention we were in line for about 3hours), all mixed together, gave me the feeling of accomplishment, awe and dare I say it, peace. Sadly, however as we walked away from the Buddha, the fog grew thicker and eventually even the silhouette of it faded into nothing.

Other adventures we had include going to Disneyland Hong Kong!! Now that was a day full of childish fun, yet being adult enough to buy our own ~~toys~~ souvenirs and go on all the rides.

The last showing of The Lion Kong

Then we went to the Tai O fishing village, which as the name suggests, had a strong odour of fish, which some hoe managed to actually stick to us..

We challenged the Victoria Peak tram. On a Sunday. For those of you who don't know, sunday is the only day many migrant workers have off, so they congregate in central Hong Kong, and many take part in tourists activities. We should have remembered that, it was like experiencing a rush hour that never ended.

And finally, we had our day trips to Shenzhen and Macau. I'm going to say this, if you ever go to either one of these places, remember to take your passport and check your going to the right stop, or else you may end up having to walk back from the MTR to get your passport, and spend at least HKD100 and several hours just to get into Shenzhen, which is exactly what I did. What did make the trip slightly enjoyable was the obvious attempt to get me ie western person, to go buy "copy watch, copy bag; Louis Vuitton, Gucci" and my attempt at avoiding them and saying no. Definitely a lifetimes worth of giggles were produced that day.
Macau on the other hand was more successful, as I had remembered my passport, and there is only one TurboJet to the main island. Easy in comparison. But here is the annoying thing, Macau actually has it's own currency which looks similar to Hong Kong money, but its obviously not. Macau accepts HKD but Hong Kong does not accept Macau currency. Which meant we had to spend all our Macau money, if we got any, whilst at the island. We did manage it, as well as walking a ridiculous amount and then missing the last train back to our university, instead having to take one bus to Mong Kok (which was as close as we could get at 1.30am) and then walking the rest of the way.

In short, with out Mai, I probably would not have tried such a variety of Asian foods, desserts, nor visited as many places and had the experiences (both good and bad) that I had. And if there is one thing I will undoubtedly miss about Hong Kong, it's my dinner/dessert buddy.

When in China, Go to China (Part 2) - Next stop Shanghai

Forbidden Palace Markets - Photo credit to Lora

Still in Beijing, China

As we had decided to go on this trip over the National Holiday weekend, meaning we would get a few more days of traveling whilst missing less class. It also meant we had to deal with a shockingly large number of people and police/military presence everywhere. It's quite a strange experience to go through, particularly when every time you enter into a metro station, your bags need to be scanned and a metal detector to be walked through. It can also be an interesting experience watching your water bottle be weighed for what ever reason, and for those in the group who smoke, say good bye to a countless number of lighters and matches.

Major discovery: its ridiculous how many people can manage to fit into one area.

Another thing that came as a slight shock, was the toilets. Heralding from a very western country (Australia and England), the fact that everywhere you went, I mean everywhere in mainland China, had squat toilets, including the train. And about 80% of the time (not accurate statistics mind), they were not ideal. I consider myself lucky in this regard however, as I was never in the situation where I had to brave one of these infamous public toilets (which probably hadn't been cleaned in way too long). You always know when you get close to a public toilet (which are everywhere), simply because of the smell, not pleasant.

Another thing to make a note on is the actual weather we experienced, primarily the pollution. The actual plus side of going to the Chinese capital over the national holiday was that the first few days it rained constantly, however on the holiday, the skies were so clear, you forgot that there was a pollution crisis in China. It is an exceptional treat to visit one of the wonders of the world and actually be able to see as far as one's eye allowed.

Waiting for our train tickets. - Photo credit to Lora

Second Train - Beijing to Shanghai

Warning!! Do not do this!!

After the success and relaxed state of the 24hr train ride from Beijing, our group had made the wrong assumption in thinking that the train to Shanghai would be the same. And we were so wrong.

The facts:

It takes around 15 hours by train to get to Shanghai.

Sleeper Cabins - Full

Seats - Taken, every one

The existence of a Standing ticket

Booking for the day after the National Holiday

Result: The 6 of us, standing on a train for 15hours.

We didn't actually stand for the entire 15hrs. Instead we made camp on the floor, legs under the seats, heads resting on backpacks, squished next to each other, trying to sleep and avoid the bathroom. Sitting up constantly to allow people to pass, hoping not to trip them up, or them to fall on you (happened to me, she also didn't move for a number of minutes), having to get up fully with pins and needles in your legs and arm, as the food cart made its way down the carriage and back again.

It was a long trip..

Once we has arrived in Shanghai, it was straight to our hotel to shower and dress for the rest of the day - a day of walking around the city, taking in the view of the Huangpu River, eating sushi and crêpes and ending the day with a beer watching the sun and smog set. An excellent way to end this adventure into Mainland China.

Photo taken by Lora

When in China, Go to China (Part 1)

When in China, Go to China

(Part 1)

So technically Hong Kong is legally a special administrative region of China, however it is not really China. Well that is how it's (and rightfully) seen by the locals.
So when I say I went to China, it was mainland China that I went to - Beijing and Shanghai.

Two major cities of China. Two very different places.

This trip turned out to be a real learning experience for me, especially as I haven't too much experience traveling overseas. And it was with such a large group!
We began with five people, and then it turned to six.

One of the major difficulties that showed us how hard traveling can be in big groups, is booking. The booking of accommodation, flights, train rides, and finding places to eat with enough extra space. That in itself was an adventure.

24Hr Train Ride to Beijing

Unsurprisingly, this was one of the more relaxed parts of the trips. Granted it was also one of the laziest.
Can you guess why? Turns out that even if there are four other people stuck in a small space with you for 24hrs, when your lying on a bed for the majority of it, you tend to drift off quite easily, and a quite a bit. Also considering that this was the start of our trip, of course we were hopeful that the rest of the trip would be breeze. We may have been a little too optimistic.

Actually now that I remember, it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies. In fact, getting to the train station was pretty eventful, especially when weather wise, it was ridiculously heavy rain. 10 seconds in the rain and wind, umbrellas being useless since your already drenched before they are even opened.

Back to the train, it was certainly an interesting experience for me, as I've never been on a sleeper train before. The trip itself has already become a haze, a blur of sleeping faces, stories and gossip, trees, rail lines, high-rise buildings, stations, and climbing up and down the ladders.

Once we had arrived in Beijing, things got real, the excitement died pretty quickly, when we were all super hungry yet seemed to have little success with ATMs. You'd think that having an travel card would help, but if it doesn't have the correct currency is essentially useless. To make things worse, I couldn't get any money out and ended up relying on my friends for financial support for the majority of the trip. Definitely made things slightly more tricky (It wasn't until we were ending our trip to China, did i finally manage to get money out).

Now I'll tell you excuses I had for this lack of money. Firstly, it took me some time to transfer money to the right card and account. Secondly, i had to actually go to an ATM, which considering the hectic days we kept having and my amazing skill of forgetting this need, the days just went by. Thirdly, I am actually quite decent at directions and map reading, and yet as soon as I rely on one other person for directions, that's it, I become too reliant and barely managed to remember how to get back to our hostel.
We did manage to get food though - McDonalds.

Day One: How to get lost in China

Then the issue of getting to our hostel was the next task. Having lived in Hong Kong for a month before this trip, you get used to people at least knowing some English. In China, nope, not so much.
Taxi drivers wouldn't take us, granted their were five of us, and these taxi's take four people max.
Luckily, we managed to get a kind lady who knew some English, to translate for us, and get us two taxis.
Note: when you get separated, make sure one of you has the address of your accommodation.

As I was in the second taxi with one of the other girls, neither of us actually had the address, nor did the driver, who was going of her memory. The drive itself was nice, a good way to see Beijing, as long as your not worried about crashing, with the way people drive there, and before long we got the driver to pull over as we tried to find the right road. Plus side - I had remembered the name of the street we needed to go to. Down side - I needed the Chinese characters for it. We couldn't contact the others.
We had stopped in a nice area, near a train station, where we soon found a 7/11, and an international hotel, where we got a map, and help!

So turns out Shanxi lane, is the place where all the tourists go. Why? because there are quite a few hostels and hotels there. How did we get there? Rickshaw.
What a way to start in China, getting lost, not knowing where to go, but ending up arriving at your destination, as the only person who seemed to know this street was a rickshaw driver! Of course, it was slightly terrifying going on a rickshaw on a main and busy road, holding onto our luggage, but it was also the best way to try a new experience and feel that relief of finding the rest of your friends.

The hostel itself, was quite decent. It was well located, not too far from train stations and close to the center of Beijing. It was convenient with all the places we got to go to.
Here's a list of the major ones (with some pictures): Temple of Heaven; Beijing Mall (Why not); Summer Palace;