Sunday started bright and early – although that was by accident! I’m still not used to the time difference. We met up with a friend of mine from work who had moved home to Hong Kong, and went on our way!
First stop was the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong’s Walk of Fame. The giant statue of Jackie Chan was so popular, we couldn’t get near to take a photo! Oh well, I’m not much of a martial arts fan anyway. There were several other statues and models, and spectacular views over to Central on Hong Kong Island.
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We then caught the Star Ferry over to Central, and caught a bus down to Stanley Bay on the south side of the Island. Unfortunately while we were there, the rain started! So we didn’t have a look at the market, but having got lost the night before, we had already seen one!
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We had lunch at a Yum Cha Restaurant at Stanley, then hopped back on the bus to Central. Then it was time to ride the Mid-Levels escalator! 20 minutes on a travelator/escalator from Central up to the Mid-Levels, looking at the streets below and the buildings along side. Krystal and Patrick thought I was nuts wanting to go up, but I’m pleased we did!
Finally it was time to taxi up to Victoria Peak for the rest of the afternoon. The view from the top is amazing! I think we almost managed 360 degree views over all of Hong Kong. It’s funny how the building just seems to stop at the foot of the mountains – the buildings are so tall and there’s so many, and then there is none! There doesn’t seem to be suburbs crawling the hillsides like Auckland.
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For the record: It was hot, humid and windy. You are NOT to laugh at my hair!
Then the humidity turned into a full blown rain storm! It BUCKETED down! We hid inside a bookstore for a while, and finally braved the weather to reach the tram station. The Victoria Peak Tram was possibly the steepest ride I’ve ever been on! It was actually hard to stand up in places.
Sadly, the day had to end, as Krystal had work in the morning, and we had things to sort out before our flight. All in all, a great day.
On our first day overseas, we decided to go for a day trip to Macau. We got up early, found the subway, and got to experience the Hong Kong MTR for the first time. Auckland needs one of these! Found our way to the ferry terminal easily enough, and purchased tickets. Then through customs (Macau is a different country – we had to leave Hong Kong and re-enter again in the evening), and onto the TurboJet.
Arriving in Macau heralded the beginning of ALL our fun. No sooner had we left immigration, we were accosted by a man trying to get us to take a pedicab to the city. Not wanting to do this, we tried to get away, but somehow ended up facing the wrong direction and a little bit lost! We had a basic map in our Lonely Planet Guide, but it wasn’t very helpful. We found ourselves a supermarket, bought water and some snacks, and then found a little garden to sit down in.
Found our way, but 5 minutes later we were promptly disoriented again. We must have looked quite stricken, and an English-speaking local gave us directions. Finally we found the start point of our journey!
Largo do Senado is a tiled square surrounded by Portuguese colonial buildings, in one of which is the tourist office with DECENT maps. The flags are part of the advertising for an International Youth Dance Festival being held in the city this week, and the displays are a competition for sculptures for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Having got our hands on a decent map, we set off for the centrepiece of Macau’s tourist trail – the Ruins of the Church of St Paul. Built in the early 1600’s, a fire in 1835 destroyed the entire church, leaving only the facade and staircase.
Next to St Paul’s is Mont Fort, which houses the Macau Museum. Walking around the outside of the fort gave us good views over mush of the local district.
We then decided to go for a bus ride to see the islands of Taipa and Coloane. This turned out to be easier said than done when the bus drove right past and didn’t stop! We found another bus about 15 minutes later, so all was not lost. The bus was a good way to see the “country-side”, costing very little and travelling around the coast. We stopped at Hac Sa Beach, which the Lonely Planet Guide said was good for swimming. I don’t know what the LP writers are used to, but that water is filthy! Plus by then it was pouring with rain, so we had a quick look and then back to the city for us. Another hour or so of wandering the side streets, then time to head back to the ferry for Hong Kong. All in all, a great day in Macau. Maybe we’ll be back one day to see how it looks at night-time!
Friday 4th July: The day we flew out of Auckland to Hong Kong for the first leg of our journey. We had originally planned to leave home about 9-9.30am, however due to some incredible protest action by truckers in all the major cities, we brought our plans forward by an hour or so. Which meant we sat at the airport for about 4 hours before we could get on the plane!
Eventually got on the plane, and settled in for our 11 hour flight. Nathan was a bit gutted to find our plane had not yet been upgraded – apparently that’s happening DURING July – so no power for the laptop. We did, however, have a very nice flight attendant who went and charged it in business class for us. Food – not too bad for plane food really!
Eventually we got to Hong Kong International Airport, went through customs no problems – and promptly got lost trying to find our transfer. After an hour or so of searching, we were informed by Cathay Pacific staff that we were looking for the wrong thing, and told where we should be. Got there, wait another 1/2 an hour for the bus, and then we were off!
I have no idea where it was we were, but that bus ride showed me one of the most incredible sights I’ve seen for a while. We were driving down a street, and lining the street on both sides and in the middle were boxes and BOXES of fruit! People unloading trucks and pallets into little cubbyhole shops along the road, along a whole street. Oranges, grapes, cherries, watermelons, and even good old NZ kiwifruit. Just incredible.
Well, we’re all settled in to our hotel, and off to Macau for the day on Saturday, so will post pictures and an update when that happens. Bye for now!
I’ve finally finished my degree!!!!!
I had a quick look online this afternoon, and the final results were in as follows:
Managing Human Resource: B+
Organisational Behaviour: A
That’s right, an A. My very FIRST A. I’m just a little chuffed.
So those two little letters have just signaled the end of 5 1/2 years of studying, and I will graduate with a BSc in Molecular Biosciences in November.
P.S. For those wondering what Human Resources has to do with Molecular Biosciences, it’s nothing at all. I was just sick of science after 5 years, and wanted a change! Worked in my favour, I think.
Well, I’ve done it. Rather, Nathan’s done it. I was proudly presented this morning with my very own website, to document my thoughts and what-have-you on a semi-regular basis. When I remember, that is. Being notoriously bad at remembering to write in diaries whilst growing up, I’m not sure how this will work! But huge kudos to my man who took hold of the “I’ve been thinking of writing a blog” discussion a couple of months ago and ran with it. He even would have surprised me, had I not got the automatic email that the domain name people sent to my email address. Oops.
Anyway, I figure the main point of this site is to keep the friends and family up to date with what’s going on in our world (also really bad at keeping in touch – sorry!). The main news – we’re off to China on Friday for a whole month! It seems a bit surreal that in only 4 more days we’ll be on a plane on our way to Hong Kong. All those months of dreaming and planning are finally coming to an end, and I’m looking forward to writing about where we’ve gone, what we’ve seen and putting up pictures to share our trip with you all.
Right now, though, time for bed. Long day and all that. Goodnight, all!
Do you know the best thing about birthdays?
Cake. Lots and lots of cake.
