Beautiful Hong Kong

With the year coming to an end and with still twenty plus days of vacation left, I was able to convince my boss to split the remaining vacation days I have left so that I get a full week off every third week! Nice! This means I now have time to do other things than catch up on sleep after a hectic week of working the graveyard shift.

So for my first week off I and a friend decided that we would take a three-day trip to Hong Kong. My friend has never been to this city before, and I was eager to revisit it again and experience the sights, sounds and smells after not having seen it for 2 years.

I know now that travelling in September when you live in Asia is a big no-no! Out trip was unfortunately timed while typhoon Kalmaegi (Luis) and storm Fung-wong (Mario) was on the rampage. This meant that our trip had to be cancelled and moved the day after. It also meant that the skies were very turbulent, and flying was a scary experience!

But back on solid ground the weather in Hong Kong was actually quite warm, and we were able to spend two whole days just seeing the sights, walking, taking pictures, eating strange foods, and just soaking in the exotic atmosphere.

...and shopping! That was one of the reasons why I wanted to go to Hong Kong in the first place! Temple Street, Sham Shui Po, the very classy Elements mall, and all the other places where one could spend their hard-earned cash! Of course I ended up spending more money than I had planned, but I came back home with plenty of nice things, some of which you cannot buy in the Philippines at all.

It was a short trip but it was well worth it. And I cannot wait to visit this city again. After coming back to the Philippines, my feet hurt for days, my friend got a cold and I felt fatigued for days: signs that we both had a marvelous trip! It was a much needed breath of fresh air, and I cannot wait to see where I will be going on my next week off!

I almost forgot to mention: this was also the perfect opportunity for me to test out my new gear. I will tell you more about that in my next post!