On the side bar to your right, I posted a link of my travelstatus via Tripadvisor application for Facebook. I'm not sure if everyone can see it, without having me as a friend on Facebook. I still have to figure that out! ANYHOW, I have starred my favorite cities that I've been to and I want to share my awesome experiences with you! I think I probably have a Top 5 most loved cities but I'm going to start with my all time favorite which is HONG KONG! :-)
I don't think it's a -most likely to- visit city for ordinary people.... But hey...Read above I'm anything and everything BUT ordinary... No, but seriously it was by pure coincidence, and I must say I am a very lucky girl to have family over there.. And NO I'm not Asian..
My sister was to be married in January of this year, and I was her secret guest of honor... She had no idea whatsoever I was coming and I covered all our conversations in lies and lies..My BIL (brother in law) planned everything, and before you knew it I hopped a train to Dusseldorf, Germany and boarded my Emirates flight to Dubai.
I'm just a student and I couldn't really afford a straight flight, and I actually enjoy it more, because I get less claustrophobic, with stops in between flights. It took me a whole day and a half probably but it was totally wortthhhhh iittt!!! :-)
First things first... How to get there... I flew over there with Emirates...
My take on Emirates: I know I didn't make use of too many airlines.. But the ones I traveled with all SUCK in comparison with Emirates!
PRICE: approx. 600 Euros (INCL. round trip train ticket with ICE to Dusseldorf, Germany)
So, 600 Euros to travel all the way to Asia, come on talk about affordable!
SERVICE: SUBLIME!; crew members are so friendly, it's not even funny! I don't think I ever met such a lovely bunch of people!
FOOD: Really important! All food served on Emirates flights is Halal. And it tastes so so so so soooo GOOOD! You get a menu, with the provided dishes, and on top of that ALL drinks are on the HOUSE! (except for champagne, but hey I wasn't celebrating new year,so!) The food is fresh, and I could dare to say healthy, but it didn't taste like crap, like most airlines.. I was in heaven!
COOLEST service/gadget: You get to travel with a total of 35Kg luggage.. which I thought was really nice of them... AND they have cameras on the nose of the airplane or beneath it? I don't know where they are placed necessarily BUT, I could actually see the landing strip of Hong Kong, and also when we flew over some countries in the Middle East I could see the mountains and the mountains... and more mountains.. I thought for sure I could see a cave where some infamous person is hiding.. (hmmmm long beard, turban...) but I didn't! LOL!
WOULD I USE AGAIN: DUH! Most definitely! Loved everything about the Emirates and I would LOVE to travel anywhere with them again soon.
So, Hong Kong.. After leaving Holland and Germany for the worst winter I have ever experienced I arrived after 9 hours in Sunny Dubai! Woot! I couldn't believe it, I have arrived at my first stop... I think my co travelers couldn't believe me either when I took off my jacket and stood in the sun like a moron. I was sooo happy it was warm and it had an early crisp morning breeze... My travel buddy as I called him secretly; Sasha was looking at me in a weird way, but I didn't care.. I was in the SUN! Sasha was my German travel buddy, Sasha if you're out there THANKS for helping me through the flight! Even if you slept through most of it! For some reason I always attract people to start talking to me. Apparently I have a friendly face or an invisible -to me- sign stating TALK TO ME! Well, as I mentioned before, I'm not really a fan of flying but ever since I flew with Emirates and Sasha, it has decreased a lot... Tnx guys!! :-)
Now, Hong Kong... it is an amazing city, to say the least. I will try to keep it as short as possible.. But there are so many things to say about that beautiful city that I would probably have to do a part 2 on this series. In any case, I stepped foot in Hong Kong, and from that moment on I realized that I would not only want to go there once more, but I could totally see myself living there. It's a true melting pot of cultures and I was floored to even meet people who speak the same language as I do, which is Papiamentu, there. I got a guided tour by my sister and her husband, as well as a friend of ours Val. I can honestly say that Lan Kwai Fong is my favorite places in HK. It is a long street of clubs and bars with global music. I danced to reaggeaton in Asia... are you kidding me? I went to the highest point in HK called the Peak and dined in the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant. (famous from the Forest Gump movie).
When I think of China, I think of Panda's. Don't ask me why, I just do. I actually went to Ocean Park HK and came face to face with these amazing creatures. They are the cutest, fluffiest and most adorable bears in the world! I really want one for Christmas!
Public transportation is amazing and most of the locals speak English, even if they don't speak it too well, they are still more than happy to help you. The language spoken there is Cantonese, but Mandarin is widely understood and spoken as well as English in the city center.
Hong Kong is divided in two parts the Kowloon side and the Hong Kong side.. If you watch CNN as much as I do... (Thumbs up if you like Christie Lou Stout!) they always have a shot of Hong Kong side.. and this is a picture of me actually sitting there..it was really cloudy and rainy. And I must say that the weather there in January wasn't all that pleasant. Really misty. So my guess would be, visit during the summer, when its nice and hot! :-)
Semper ad Meliora,
Sha*
Waiting for part 2!
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