Jean-Guy!'s Blog: Hong Kong, And Guangzhou Revisited

Hey everyone! I've decided to clean-up my act and get-around to posting photos from the trips I took a few months ago. I went to Hong Kong on 09 February, stayed at Cheryl's family home for four nights, returned to Mainland China on 13 February (in Guangzhou), and finally arrived in Beijing on 14 February. I flew to GZ instead of directly to HK for two reasons: firstly, flying to GZ and then taking a train to HK is a few hundred kuai less expensive than flying directly to HK but, more importantly, I wanted to make an overnight stop in GZ to visit a friend and former house-mate. Because I'm stupid, I didn't have a photo taken with said former house-mate so I don't have a photo to share with all y'all. I hope that the photos I took during my five nights in HK make-up for it. :)

Day 0
I arrived in Guanzhou's airport at around 2:00 P.M., or so. Because I had previously been to Guangzhou, I know my way around the relevant parts of GZ for travelling to HK. I eventually made my way to HK by train, via Shenzhen. I arrived at around 6:00 P.M. and made my way to Mong Kok, which is where I had arranged to meet Cheryl. In Mong Kok, I found a store selling 'previously enjoyed' BlackBerry devices, for to replace the one which broke very early on Christmas morning. After meeting Cheryl at approximately 10:00, we made our way to her home.

Day 1
On my first full day in HK, we deicded to take the Peak Tram. The Peak Tram is about a hunderd years old and has yet to have an accident. the first problem we had to solve was to find the base of the Peak Tram. We ultimately made our way to a park at the base of Victoria Peak.

While walking around the park on the Peak, we encountered a few interesting things, including a couple of hawks sparring (or doing something else!) in mid-air. :) Throughout the day, we travelled by peak tram, ferry, subway, public light bus, city bus, and taxi. :)

A very British sign

Construction?

Banyan vines

Better than the Peak's Burger King, I suspect

City-scape

Checker-scape

While we were walking through the neighbourhood containing this cathedral, we encountered a fake Buddhist monk. Ivy and I encountered one in GZ -- seeing an able-bodied person posing as a monastic instead of working was a bit depressing.

Smog

Cheryl's cousin KT's birthday is on 14 February. Because that fell on a Thursday this year, he deicded to have a little birthday celebration on the preceding weekend. A few of us had ramen for dinner followed by karaoke for 20. :D Much fun was had by all.

Day 2
After a night of partying, Cheryl and I took an early trip to Lantau Island to see the large Buddha. It's one of the largest Buddhas in the world, but it's got nothing on the one at Leshan, in China. After touring the compound for a while, we shared a vegetarian meal which was included as part of our admission.

Day 3
On the third full day of my stay, Cheryl and I did a bit of shopping for sunglasses and BlackBerry devices before heading to the world's tallest escalator. It's actually a series of small escalators linked in a sequence. In the morning, they head downwards but, at around noon, they reverse direction.

Throughout the preceding few days, I had seen many ads for the new museum dedicated to Sun Yat-sen. While riding the escalator for fun, we encountered signs pointing us towards the museum. Although the museum contained some interesting articles of clothing and writing, it was surprisingly uninformative with respect to his life and his multiple wives. I bought a souvenir for myself (a Sun Yat-pen), but I lost it shortly afer the current semester started. :(

Not Ottawa's Elgin Street

Sun Yat-sen and me

Sun Yat-sen and Cheryl

Day 4
I left Cheryl's place shortly before noon on my last day in HK. I took a train to GZ and went to the hotel at which Wan, one of my friends, had booked on my behalf. After I settled and had a shower, I went to another part of town to meet her for dinner. I'm afraid that I'm stupid, and I forgot to remove my camera from my bag for a photo with her. :( Ah well. Next time ....

Epilogue
The Prisoner Of Azkaban is on TV while I type this entry. I just realised that Hermione Granger is a wee-atch.

Hong Kong is also not free of interesting and funny signs and sights. Here you go! 'Til next time, keep your head high and keep your stick on the ice.