Why Hong Kong is Awesome & a “Must See” City!

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hong kong was an awesome place to visit but before we get to that, let’s talk about our time in zhuhai, china!

the weather was rainy and the conference kept us pretty busy so we didn’t get to explore much of zhuhai but there was much to see and do with the conference! the first night my husband sat on a panel to discuss leadership and public speaking and he did a fantastic job staying engaged and looking at the other speakers when 90% of them replied in cantonese and mandarin! i was highly impressed.

he rocked his keynote and workshop and i got to hear more about how handsome he is. every time i turned around, more ladies were taking photos with him-i loved it! someone asked me if i got jealous about this and i’m working on a post about jealously but the short answer…nope. i’m confident in his love and attraction for me so no worries that others find him dreamy too.

zhuhai china ryan avery ladieshere’s some information for you when it comes to eating and drinking. you cannot directly drink the tap water in china and starting on our plane ride there, we started being served hot water (boiling it kills the harmful bacteria found in the water there). this was a bit shocking to me at first because i don’t really like hot water or tea for that matter.

however, this all changed by the end of the trip and now my tastebuds actually sort of like tea! look at me growing and evolving. maybe soon i’ll even start understanding how insurance works!

so, when you attend meals whether it’s in the hotel, conferences or restaurants, you typically need to supply your own bottled water if you don’t want to to drink hot water or tea because it won’t be an option. i finally started to remember this by the end of our trip because for me, hot water doesn’t quench my thirst so i need bottled water with me.
zhuhai china food conferencesee the almonds on the purple thing on my plate (aka the one without the bone)? that was probably my favorite sweet thing we had! the purple comes from the root of the taro plant and then it was covered in thinly sliced almonds. delicious! they even serve a similar thing at mcdonald’s instead of apple pie!

please note the fork that was immediately brought to me once the waiters saw i was white. i very proudly ignored it and used my new found chopstick skills, only dropping a few things on the table during the process.

this district conference was once again super fun! they had beatboxers, choreographed dancing, traditional dancing, sexy ballroom dancing. thanks again for showing us such a fun time, district 89!

after our weekend in zhuhai, we took a 1.5 hour ferry ride to hong kong where i played with the baby sitting next to me because he was so intrigued by my curly hair. it took all of my restraint not to take a picture with a stranger’s baby so here’s this instead:

IMG_0970hong kong is super cool the moment you set eyes on it! it’s much more westernized than mainland china because it was owned by the british up until 1997 and has a different political system than the rest of china.

IMG_0974

IMG_0992we did go to two of the three sites of ‘occupy hong kong’ and the ‘umbrella movement’ protests. there wasn’t much action while we were there and many of the tents were empty during the middle of the day. we were told that many people still need to go to work and then come back at night.

they are fighting for democracy and having the right to elect who they want to represent them.

hong kong travel umbrella movementafter we got situated in our hotel (which was overlooking a cemetary, photo on my instagram), we ventured to do some exploring before ravery’s workshop and do some shopping! here is hong kong’s time square, which was filled with incredibly fancy shops and a burberry store. we were told the 3 story burberry pays almost $1 million hong kong dollars a month for rent = $129,000 US dollars! we did not make any purchases here.

hong kong time square ryan and chelsea averynext we ventured to mong kok, which is an intensely populated and dense shopping area. there are malls along the way as well as stalls and flea markets all around. here’s the thing about shopping near here…most places don’t let you try on clothes! the few jackets i put on over my shirt came up to like my elbows so i didn’t trust just holding something up and buying it. be warned because i was very shocked by this! higher end stores would be a better bet if you need to try on clothes.

hong kong travel busy streetthey also totally use bamboo as scaffolding during construction! it was incredibly sturdy feeling and used everywhere.

hong kong travel bamboo constructionfor lunch we had dim sum, which is very famous in hong kong and essentially means small dishes of things that are steamed/baked/fried (thanks for the correction, vivien). it was delicious! those yellow balls were filled with a sweet yolk filling, the little brown balls were a some sort of seafood, the white puffs were filled with barbeque pork and the center rolls were filled with peanuts and veggies.

hong kong dim sumi felt bad at a point during this meal because our friend derek ordered us a special treat:

hong kong travel alboloneit was too fishy and strange for me to eat! i did try it and then it just sat lonely and watched me eat non-fishy things. it was apparently one of these guys:

hong kong travel albalonethe next day ravery gave his last workshop of our time in china/hong kong in the coolest place he’s ever spoken:

IMG_1113it was on the 68th floor of the ‘international financial center!’ his workshop was broadcast to their offices in australia, singapore and mainland china! it was an excellent speech to end on and i’m so proud of him for delivering each and every speech with authenticity, energy and passion!

hong kong travel speaker ryan averyas a reward, our local tour guide of the day (thanks again cecelia) let us in on a local favorite! there was a line around the corner to get a table at the place. they are very well known for their ‘beef, tomato and noodle dish.’ the soup was only about $2!

hong kong travel local food

hong kong travel beef and noodlesit had an egg on top of it and ramen type noodles but we were told they weren’t instant noodles. the bread was delicious and covered in a delicious kaya jelly, which is like a coconut/egg jam. for drinks we had sprite with salt in it (very interesting but good) and milk tea. when we asked for a bottle of water…no luck so remember to bring your own!

after we shopped around a bit more, we decided we needed a celebratory drink so cecelia took us to the ritz carlton…which is on the 118th floor! it was spectacular, even if the iphone camera sucks.

hong kong travel ritz carltonwe took the metro to meet up with folks for the farewell dinner and i got my first taste of christmas on our way to catch it! little tiny christmas villages are my favorite and i always wish i could shrink down and live there.

hong kong travel tiny villageit was at this dinner where i tried my first “hairy crab,” which is considered highly popular here!

hong kong travel hairy crabmy 6 year old tastebuds were freaking out at first because no part of this looked appetizing. i mean…it’s a crab and it’s hairy and i felt like its eyes were staring directly into my soul.

i am pleased to say i took a nibble of its innards and it sort of tasted like buttery potatoes!

hong kong travel hairy crab tasteanother tip: if you sit down and there are two sets of chopsticks, one is used for serving yourself from the communal food on the table and then you set those down and eat with the other ones. it’s also very rude to set your chopsticks on the table so there is usually a little porcelain resting thing for them or put them on your plate.

we had a fantastic time and can’t wait to be back! thank you again to both the people of district 85 and district 89 toastmasters and new friends along the way for showing us such a spectacular time!

farewell dinner

questions:
1) when you go on trips, do you make your blog readers family sit through all your pictures?
2) how do you feel when others comment on the attractiveness of your spouse or significant other?
3) if you could live in any fantasy world, where would you live? (harry potter world for me DUH)

ps. we saw this on our way to the airport! who’s getting excited for mocking jay?!!?

hong kong travel mocking jay

7 Comments

  1. Rachel G

    November 18, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    We’re leaving for hong kong in like, 2 hours. 🙂 And we’re going to see Mockingjay while we’re there. Some of my students tell me my husband is handsome when they see him….but Angel, being short and brown, isn’t really the epitome of exotic beauty for most. My Dad, on the other hand, is tall and blue-eyed, and in Malaysia, the salesgirls will even give him special discounts because he’s “so handsome!” They also often ask him if he’s studying in university. And he’s 46. People who don’t see many Caucasians can’t tell how old we are very well, interestingly. My Mom once received a very shocked greeting from an elderly lady in our neighborhood when she appeared holding my infant sister. The lady thought that my mom was 15-year-old me and couldn’t believe I had a baby. My Mom was like…yeah, this is my 7th baby and I’ve been married 17 years…
    Rachel G recently posted…My Christmas Wish List

    • chelsea

      November 19, 2014 at 3:54 pm

      i love that we’ve been to the same places so recently, rachel! have so much fun in hong kong-can’t wait to hear about your adventures and enjoy ‘mocking jay!’

      that is hilarious that your dad receives ‘special discounts’ for being so handsome-ha! that is interesting that they think he could be in university (which i guess you could at 46 but not as common). haha love the story about your mom/you mix-up! people be crazy.

  2. Amanda

    November 18, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    This is so cool! I love all these fun facts you share. I would not have dared touch that crab though. Shuddering just looking at it. My fantasy world has to be Alice in Wonderland.
    Amanda recently posted…Tell Me About Your Town: What You’re Thankful For

    • chelsea

      November 19, 2014 at 3:55 pm

      it took me some time before i was willing to try the crab and i only nibbled it. totally strange to see it taken apart though-you would not have liked that!! ohhh alice and wonderland would be fun and trippppppy

  3. Vivien

    November 19, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    Thanks for writing about Hong Kong! I hope you don’t mind that I am going to be nitpicky about a few things so I apologize in advance…

    Dim Sum: not all dishes are steamed. Actually I’m trying to think, a ton of dishes there are, but there are also a fair number of dishes that are baked or deep fried.

    No fitting rooms for trying on clothes: I do beg a small correction on this. I’ve been to many places in HK where you can try on clothes, but I think it’s generally the “middle end and above” shops (for lack of a better term) where you can do this. Flea market and street shopping, then yes a lot of them are cash only, no trying allowed. Oh yes, and a ton are no refunds/exchanges either.

    Just out of curiosity…was that treat you got Albalone?!

    Good on you for trying out the crab! And apologies again for being so nitpicky…

    • chelsea

      November 19, 2014 at 3:58 pm

      thanks for being nitpicky, vivien and no apologies! accurate information is necessary and i was just basing it off what i was told and experienced so thanks for letting me know and i shall update the info! we were mainly in lower end malls shopping so that’s probably why about the trying on.

      and YES! i think it was abalone!! thanks vivien for the corrections and input!

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