National Day Hong Kong- Round 2

So due to the Mid-Autumn Festival and China’s National Day (October 1^st) we get the first week of October off. During this time most CTLC teachers go traveling, either around China or around other parts of Asia. I, along with Angie, Cassie and Ethan, had decided to go to the Philippines, because none of us had been there before, and flights were really cheap! Of course, we had to fly out of Hong Kong (it is way cheaper to fly out of HK than the mainland, due to extra fees) Luckily, in a way, we were flying out the day after China’s National Day, which meant we would get to see the fireworks in Hong Kong, and part of the lantern festival. Also, Cassie, Angie, nor Ethan had been to HK before, and would get to see a small part of it for part of the break! J

We were scheduled to fly to Angeles City, Philippines on October 2^nd, and return on October 7^th, allowing for approximately 5 days in the Philippines and October 1^st in Hong Kong, since our flights were so early we needed to stay the night.

I should mention that any commentary on Hong Kong is particularly biased, as I absolutely adore the city!!! Anyways, we decided to try and cross the border at 9 AM, but (so surprisingly) I was running late, and ended up going through a different border checkpoint separately and meeting everyone else in Causeway Bay, on Hong Kong Island, where our hostel was. (although oddly enough I beat them there, due simply to the fact that I already had an Octopus card [HK’s metro card], and they had to wait in a long line to buy one)

            Once we settled up with the hostel, we were all starving and decided to go the Mid-levels for a place I knew served excellent burgers. Mid-levels is an area of HK with the largest outdoor escalator in the world, and has a great selection of restaurants and bars. Once we go there, I found out that the burger restaurant had closed, to be replaced with a deli, but that the good Mexican food place next door was still open, so we ate there, and had a absolutely delicious mango margarita! From Mid-levels we decided to make our way back to Causeway Bay for some shopping. Sadly, it was only destined to be window-shopping, as we did have to go to the Philippines the next day. If you know me and Causeway Bay, then you know how difficult it was for me not to buy anything!!! Lol!! (Although come to think of it, I did buy a pair of earrings, and a scarf… :/ ) Hmm, guess I really am a shopaholic! ;) [Yvonne would be so proud] At Causeway, we were again starving and decided on sushi for dinner (oh how big my smile was!!)

I know it is difficult to tell, but the fireworks actually do spell zhongguo (中国） in Chinese characters! [Note: it is backwards here]

From Causeway we then headed across the harbor for Kowloon, so that we could watch the fireworks show, which I had read started at 8 PM. So I’m not really sure where I read that, but it was most definitely wrong!!! >:( Turns out that the fireworks were not scheduled to start until 9 PM, but we did manage to get great seats and saw the light show, so it sorta worked out. Following the fireworks, which were awesome (as seen from the below pictures) we had to make our way through, what must be the 7^th circle of hell, aka wall to wall, body to body crowding of thousands of people trying to get onto the metro! The only reason we decided to make the attempt was, because there was a fire dragon dance scheduled in Causeway for 10 PM (which we ended up missing, making the effort for naught, sadly) Angie and I did get to check out the lanterns there for Mid-Autumn before making our weary way back to the hostel. [NOTE: the quality of the lantern festival in Hong Kong has sadly diminished]

Seventh Circle of Hell, pre-MTR station

The next day we were up and at it by 5 am to make our way by bus to the airport. Luckily we were able to find the bus stop, after going to two wrong ones, and get the proper bus. We made it with plenty of time to check-in, check our bags and get through security. We then had breakfast and started to make our way to our gate. We were doing great for time until we stopped at a bookstore for some purchases and to use the nearby restroom, which by the time we went to the train to the gate made us pretty late!! L We basically ran off the train, up the escalators and then sprinted to our gate, as it was Final Call!! (I should note that as I was in an all out sprint for the gate, loose change in my pocket started to come out and was littered in the hallway of the airport, lol! [I’m sure it looked hilarious to other people]) Thankfully we made the plane, although we were literally the last people to walk on, and then they promptly shut the door! We were off to the Philippines!!

The people lanterns were kinda cool, but there were so few of them! ;(

             Angie and I inside a giant lantern exhibit :p