Hong Kong Phooey

After eight days of relaxing and roughin' it in the Philippines we were all looking forward to our trip to Hong Kong. We were anxious to see another major city and compare it to Seoul, which we have all finally grown complacent with, and we were definitely looking forward to electricity and hot water.

We arrived in Hong Kong at 5:30 in the afternoon and the first thing I did was buy a new camera (mine finally died while we were in the Philippines). Then we unsuccessfully tried to get money out of the ATM before giving up and deciding to head to the hotel to throw our stuff down first. Before we left Korea I found the best/cheapest/most popular places backpackers usual stay and how to get there from the airport. We easily found the bus and headed toward the city. This is the first picture we saw of the buildings of Hong Kong and honestly at first I was little disappointed because it looked so much like Seoul. Little did I know we weren't even close to downtown and the spectacular skyline that was awaiting us.

This is where we stayed, well entrance to where we stayed. This mansion is really just a big building with guest houses all individually owned by different people on each floor. We all stayed in a room smaller than my side of the dorm room with a fridge and a sketchy looking bathroom in the corner. I was less than thrilled but there was air conditioning, a tv, and the lady said they had hot water so we said okay (again, there was no hot water). We tried looking at another place the next day, but it was way more expensive than this place, and we were already a step up from where we stayed in the Philippines so we decided to stick it out and rough it for four more days.

This was our first view of the city from the Star Ferry. When we arrived at the "mansion" we hadn't seen the big skyline yet. So when we got a taxi to take us to the ferry terminal and saw this, it literally took my breath away. The big tall building with the white lights on top is the IFC building, or what we called "the Batman." It's where they filmed the Hong Kong scenes in The Dark Knight.

On the ferry crossing from Kowloon Island to Hong Kong Island. The ferry was cheaper than the buses and the subway with a much better view!

This is the style of the public transit buses for Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong was a British territory for so long they had the double-decker buses and drive on the left side of the road. It was such a strange feeling, I seriously felt like we were going to have a head-on collision a couple of times.

This is the Lan Kwai Fong district. We went because it apparently has some of the best bars and night life in Hong Kong, but turns out it was also the foreigners' district.

The Stanley Street Market could give you souvenir overload but the places seemed more authentic than the stores and stands in the city. We walked the streets for several hours despite the heat. Everything was just so cheap, and we had to stop ourselves from buying everything. We did get a couple of good souvenirs to send home though!

This is on the other side of the Stanley Street Market. The waterfront was lined with cute little shops, bars and restaurants. We stopped and had a beer after battling the heat all afternoon and enjoyed the waterfront. It was such a different vibe from the city of Hong Kong and you almost forgot you were in Asia for a second. Don't know if that is a good or bad thing, but it's just how it seemed.

Next we went to Victoria's Peak. We wanted to make sure to go before dark so we could see the skyline in both the day and night. Too bad it was a cloudy day, but it's still an amazing view. While we waited for it to turn dark, we went inside the shopping center at the peak to eat dinner (there is a mall/shopping center everywhere in Hong Kong). While we were eating, a huge thunderstorm rolled in and we had a front row seat. The storm got so bad we couldn't even see out the windows. I prayed it would stop so I could get some pictures of the skyline at night, after all that was the main reason to come to The Peak.

Luckily it finally stopped raining and we went to the top viewing deck of the shopping center to take some pictures. However it did not stop lightning and thundering. But it was worth it for this view...

...And this was the view with lightning striking behind me and illuminating the whole city.

Loved this picture of us in front of the city. I mean, look at that view, if it wasn't lightning I would have stayed up there all night.

WAR EAGLE, HEY! This was at a bar in the Lan Kwai Fong district. I was so excited I started singing Weagle, Weagle, really loud. Can't believe football season starts next week, everyone better keep us posted!

The view of Hong Kong Island from Kowloon Island. The skyline is so big, I still didn't get everything in.

Looking towards Hong Kong Island on the Avenue of the Stars.

Derek and the Bruce Lee monument on the Avenue of the Stars. They also had celebrity hand prints and names on the river walk kinda like the Walk Of Fame in Hollywood.

This is Hong Kong Park. And, although it was a pain to get to (no thanks to the Lonely Planet) it was a really cool park with ponds, waterfalls, fountains, conservatory, aviary, museum and several restaurants. It was definitely worth the hassle.

At the top of some big tall tower thing they had in the park. It was exactly 105 steps up a giant spiral staircase (it had a sign telling us that, although I had to count to make sure it was correct).

The IFC Building (aka The Batman) at night. We had drinks at happy hour and enjoyed the sunset from the rooftop restaurant they had there.

On Lantau Island in the cable car heading up to see the Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha.

At the entrance to the shopping village before you get to the monastery and Buddha (seriously malls everywhere).

View of the monastery and the Buddha. The monastery is fairly new, founded in 1906. Luckily the monastery and Buddha were a nice distance from the entrance and the shopping village.

The Tian Tan Buddha, the largest seated, bronze Buddha in the world.

Very nice! ...High five!!

This was at the Temple Street Night Market. It was very similar to the Stanley Street Market but much bigger. These people loved to haggle too. Derek talked a woman down $150 Hong Kong Dollars for this really cool mask. We ended up paying about $20 US dollars for it in the end. This is at a restaurant we ate at both nights we came to the market. They had great food and as you can see in the picture, PBR! This was my favorite place we ate while in Hong Kong and it was a great way to spend our last night in the city.

We had to get up really early the next day to catch our 9:00 flight back to Seoul. We weren't looking forward to going back to Seoul after the amazing trip in Hong Kong. It was just so easy in Hong Kong, everyone spoke English, they had all kinds of international foods and beers, great shopping and we knew we would be back to struggling to communicate with everyone and rice & kimchi. We arrived in Seoul safely and luckily all our luggage arrived. By this point Derek and I were exhausted so we bit the bullet and paid for a cab back to the island so we could get home as quick as possible. We immediately crashed for the night. Unfortunately that was all the time we got to recuperate because we both started week long summer camps the next day. But more about that in the next post.

It's Always Sunny In Philippines

We're going to do this blog a little differently than the others. We had such an amazing time in the Philippines and the post would be so long if we tried to talk about everything, so we're just going to post the pictures and captions of our favorites pictures out of the 800 I took (excessive, I know).

This was at the Manila airport where we had about a four-hour layover before we headed to Palawan. We wanted to get out and see a little of Manila, but the area around the airport looked extra sketchy so we chose to wait it out in the airport. The Manila airport was laid out poorly, and you had about a ten-minute shuttle ride to get from the domestic building to the international building. Also, nothing was labeled and we basically just wandered and asked different people which way to go until finally landing at the correct spot.

This was the "tricycle" that was the main mode of transportation around Puerto Princesa (the capital of Palawan). It's basically just a small motorcycle they built seats around. Luckily, the hotel we wanted to stay at was close to the airport so we were only on them for about 3 minutes.

This is the DeLoro Inn where we stayed the first and last nights on the island. It was expensive by Philippine standards but incredibly cheap to us. They had a nice staff and not only booked a van for us to take us the 7 hour drive to El Nido the next day, but gave us a deal on touring the island as well. For 250 bucks (divided by 4) we got an air conditioned van ride to El Nido, and stops to Sabang beach (lunch included), the Mangrove Rain Forest tour and the Underground River. We thought it was a pretty good deal and honestly we were still trying to get our heads around the currency conversion so we just said yes.

This was what we could have taken for the 7-hour ride to El Nido. The Jeepney is the style of public buses for the island. We saw several broken on the side of the road or stuck in the mud. We were happy with our air-conditioned van ride.

These pictures were from Ugong Rock. A limestone rock formation created thousands of years ago when the island was underwater. The tour guide assured us that it was easy and the flip flops we all had on were fine. We made it out safely, but it sure would have been easier with real shoes. The journey up the cave was a work out. We had to squeeze through cracks in rocks we never thought we would fit through, climb through holes and up rickety wooden ladders but the view from the top was worth it. You can tell in the picture how hot and sweaty we were. Luckily the climb down was easier. We also learned later that the cave was a hide out from the Japanese during World War II. Very cool!

The Mangrove Rain Forest tour sounded cool. When else would we get to take a boat ride through a rain forest right? But after five minutes of looking at basically the same mangrove tree over and over and only seeing one small snake we were underwhelmed. Luckily it only cost us about $4 so we weren't that bummed. The picture on the river is nice though.

This is basically the picture perfect scene I had been hoping for since we decided to go to the Philippines for vacation. This is in Sabang where we stopped to have lunch. The picture doesn't even do it justice. It was beautiful.

The Underground River tour was amazing. It's the longest navigable underground river in the world. Unfortunately we only got to go a mile into the cave but it was still cool seeing all the formations. The highest part was called the cathedral and I think it was approximately 70 meters high (don't hold me to that). We all agreed that the tour was the highlight of the day.

El Nido, finally! It was a long ride up to El Nido, but after only a couple of literal bumps in the road we made it safely. We arrived late at night, so this was the beautiful sight we woke up to the next day.

This was Big Lagoon, the first place we went snorkeling. It was amazing with crystal blue waters. When we first pulled up in the boat we saw a huge monitor lizard on the shore, but by the time we got there he ran away. We hired the boat so it was nice to be the only people there and have our own little deserted island for the day.

Our first sunset in El Nido. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Day 2 in El Nido. This was what we woke up to, but it didn't stop us from snorkeling...

...Because once we were underwater it didn't matter. Plus, the water was so much warmer than the rain!

This is the cave we had to swim through to get to Hidden Beach...

...Well not really, they just made us cause it was "cooler." Swimming through the cave was the only real highlight of this place. The snorkeling wasn't too impressive but I saw two small Black Tip Reef Sharks so that was cool.

Port Barton! Our final destination on our Palawan journey. Port Barton was small and not as touristy as El Nido. It was more secluded and we only had electricity for about four hours a day, but at least we had somewhat hot water here.

This was the view from our beach bungalows we stayed at. We splurged slightly since we stayed in a horrible place in El Nido. These bungalows were still basic, just a bed and a table, but we had our own porch overlooking the beach and they told us they had hot water so it was a no brainer (for the record it was not hot water).

These cute little girls ran up to us on the beach and said, "Hello, picture." We couldn't understand them at first, then I realized they wanted us to take a picture so they could see it. Apparently, all the kids are used to having their pictures taken by tourists.

The first full day in Port Barton we spent island hoping and snorkeling again. The snorkeling wasn't as good, but the beaches were nicer, with white sand that reminded me of home. I enjoyed laying out on the beach all day. The beach pictured here was called Exotic Beach. It was my favorite in Port Barton.

The second day in Port Barton we hired a boat to the Blue Cove Resort. It was on a secluded island and had a bar/restaurant on the beach and chairs & hammocks on the beach as well. It was nice lounging on the beach all day again, and we all brought books and just enjoyed relaxing on our own little island for the day. We also had a nice lunch of grilled pork and rice.

This was the sunset on our last night in Port Barton. We had some friends from Korea meet us here and we enjoyed the sunset and some nice Pina Coladas on the beach. It was a great way to end our trip in Palawan.

The next day we took a van back to Puerto Princesa were we stayed for the night to catch our early flight to Hong Kong. We didn't do much in Puerto, but went to a nice International restaurant and the boys had a nice steak with blue cheese sauce that they kept talking about. We watched National Geographic and chilled the rest of the night to save energy for Hong Kong. Overall it was an amazing experience, and I don't think I can say enough positive things about the trip and Palawan.

Next post...Hong Kong!

Bored Games

The first semester is over; summer break is here for the students. They get a nice vacation, July 21 – August 30, during which they can play outside or relax or study at various private academies that specialize in different subjects. Some students even sign up for English camps, but there will be another post on those later.

So for now, I have to show up to school for “work days,” also known as "desk warming." Thing is, I’ve finished all my work. Summer English camps are planned. Lessons for next semester are already filed neatly in three-ring binders with digital copies saved in a folder labeled “John” on my computer desktop. That means I’m here and there’s not a whole lot to do. Here’s a rundown of my day.

8:00. Arrive at school.
8:00 – 9:15. Check email, read the news, IM Beth on Facebook, listen to my iPod.
9:15 – 9:20. Listen to my iPod. Look out the window.
9:20 – 9:25. Stare at the wall. Also, listen to my iPod.
9:25 – 9:40. Watch some music videos and live performances on Pitchfork.tv.
9:40 – 9:42. While I’m looking for the principal to sign off on the sick leave I took Monday, one of the office workers asks what I’m doing here.
9:42 – 9:50. Daydream about vacation.
9:50 – 10:30. IM some more with different people on Facebook. Decide to listen to Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago all the way through. On my iPod.
10:30 – 11:30. More surfing the Internet and playing flash games. Order Chinese for lunch.
11:30 – 12:00. Read American Gods.
12:00 – 1:10. Lunch. Fried rice, dumplings and ice cream.
1:10 – 2:30. Nap.
2:30 – 4:20. Read American Gods.
4:20 – 4:30. Check email, surf the Internet, post this blog, pack up.
4:30. Leave school.

The semester ended yesterday. Today’s Wednesday and I have two more days of this. Don’t get me wrong; it’s kind of nice to have a bit of a break and be left to myself, but this is what a “work day” entails. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be more productive.

Found this video today. It pretty much sums up the desk-warming experience:

Vote For Pedro

Sorry this is kinda old but at the beginning of June Korea had elections. For what positions, we have no idea, we couldn't understand what they said, but we had to post about the campaigning.

It started about April, with large billboards that covered entire buildings (see the picture below), but nothing too out of the ordinary. Then in the mornings we noticed men in suits on the side of the streets waving/bowing, next to one or two people with brightly colored shirts on (I liked candidate #7 cause the hot pink shirts). By the end of May, it was a full-blown disaster.


The last weeks leading up to the election brought on the trucks riding around the city, with loud speakers saying to vote for soandso (think Mayor "Red" Thomas's 1955 campaign in Back To The Future), but with really loud, annoying Korean pop music. There are obviously no noise ordinances in Korea. We woke up several times to these trucks riding through our apartment complex. The downtown intersection where the bus drops us off was out of control. There were trucks blasting music and politicians on every corner with about 10-15 supporters in the brightly colored matching outfits dancing, bowing and waving. Derek would stand right next to me and we couldn't even hear each other. At first it was funny, but after a week of it, we were ready for election day. My description doesn't do it justice, so I had to take a video to prove how bad it was. And this was on a good day, only two trucks with music, imagine it with four!

On the plus side, voting day is a national holiday so we didn't have to work. And, since we are foreigners the politicians never gave us the time of day! Anyways, next time you're complaining about the campaigning back home, just play this video and think, "It could be worse!"



This cartoon is from a blog we like that deals with foreign teachers living in Korea. It pretty much sums up the whole post. Check out the blog here.