We’re at Hong Kong airport in the Cathay Pacific lounge waiting for our flight to Osaka where we’ll catch a bus to kyoto. We have a one hour delay but that’s not a problem since our flight is non stop. Hopefully I’ll have some time to work on the Hong Kong wrap on the flight. 
Update: we’re glad or flight was delayed. The lounge here is very very nice. 
On our third day in Hong Kong we took the ferry to Macau. Macau (pronounced Ma-Cow) is a small Portuguese country know for casinos and gambling! The ferry ride was about an hour long. You have to bring your passport, because you are technically going into another country. When we got there, we walked around the historical areas first. It is very different looking than Hong Kong.
The buildings are very colorful, and it has a much different vibe than Hong Kong. There are several areas with shops and markets. Many of the shops were selling something that was similar to beef jerky (but they didn’t call it beef jerky). It was some sort of dehydrated sheet of meat (beef, pork, boar etc.). All the places were giving out samples. Justin tried it. I wouldn’t.
On day 2 in Hong Kong, we took the bus (double decker buses!) to an area called Stanley. This is much quieter area than we were in the first day. Of course, there were several markets and lots of shopping! We noticed that this area had much more foreign (non-Asian) people than we saw the previous day. We walked down to a little beach and sat by the water for a while. It was a much prettier/sunnier day than the day before!
Yesterday was our first full day exploring the city. First, we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon and walked around. There are so so many shops/malls/markets that it is amazing!! It was really incredible to see all the people and experience the action.
We stopped at Simpson Sin’s (a tailor), and Justin got fitted for a custom made suit and shirt. On Tuesday, we will go back for his final fitting. That was really cool. The people at the shop were so nice. Justin heard about it from Anthony Bourdain. After that, we walked through the “ladies” market. Here, they have hundreds of booths selling fake designer purses, clothes etc.
I’m writing this with three hours left on my flight, and I’ve never been so disappointed to only have three hours left on a flight. The experience in Cathay Pacific first class has literally been unbelievable….and I had thought that I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.
From New Orleans, we flew to Chicago on a regional jet in first class, which was nice but nothing like international first/business. Basically it is what you see on all domestic flights: the seat is a little wider, there is a little more leg room, and the drinks/snacks are free.
We did not really take advantage of the snacks and just drank some coffee. The flight attendant was surprised that we didn’t want anything, but nothing really caught our attention. The flight attendant also noted that the shopping would be very good in Hong Kong and Singapore…Something he seemed very excited about. Anyway, he was a nice guy.
Our Bags all packed
I’ll never forget the first time Justin introduced this idea to me. We just arrived in Anguilla in May 2011, and we were sitting by the beach having a drink. I suppose he thought that I would be more easy going, but he was wrong!!
This is how it went:
Justin: “I think that we should take a big trip after you graduate”
Me: “Where and for how long”
Justin: “Australia and New Zealand for 4 weeks”
Me: “No.” “Way too long.”
It’s been over a year and a half since we had that conversation and somehow the 4 week trip got extended to a 10 week trip and Justin convinced me to say yes. I’m not really sure how he did it either. He kept showing me pictures of these amazing, once in a lifetime experiences and beautiful hotels. It would have been crazy to miss out on this opportunity. So, here we are!
We arrived in Hong Kong around 8 pm Friday night. The flight was incredible, but we’ll go into more detail about that when we have more time. Today will be our first day exploring the city. We’re on our way to breakfast! We’ll catch up soon!
Bags on
View from the room in Hong Kong
View from the room in Hong Kong in the other direction
Here we are on the plane. Next stop, Hong Kong. .
Trip Itinerary (click to enlarge)
The main reason for starting this blog was to chronicle our “Big Trip.” Much, much planning has gone into the preparing an itinerary for the big trip – I will probably post a couple times on the planning of the trip. We have gone through numerous iterations of the itinerary, but we have now settled on a final version…Or at least a final planned version. All of the flights and lodgings are booked. So here it is, in order:
Hong Kong
Hong Kong – 5 Nights
Japan
Kyoto – 3 nights
Tokyo – 4 nights
Thailand
Chiang Mai – 4 nights
Ko Lanta – 5 nights
Singapore
Singapore – 3 nights
Australia
Port Douglas – 4 nights
Sydney – 4 nights
New Zealand
Auckland – 2 nights
Rotorua – 2 nights
Hawke’s Bay – 2 nights
Wellington – 1 night
Golden Bay – 2 nights
Blenheim – 2 nights
Kaikoura – 1 night
Akaroa – 1 night
Mt. Cook – 1 night
Queenstown – 4 nights
Australia
Melbourne – 3 nights
Apollo Bay – 1 night
Mount Gambier – 1 night
Coonawarra – 1 night
Kangaroo Island – 3 nights
McLaren Vale – 1 night
Indonesia
Bali (Ubud) – 4 nights
Maldives
Hadahaa (Park Hyatt Maldives) – 6 nights
U.A.E.
Dubai – 3 nights
And then we fly to New Orleans (via New York).