second week in hk

time is flying here in hk. already my second week. this one went by a little quieter than the last. played a lot of basketball, had a lot of great meals with friends and relatives of tai. went to a few clubs. slept in real late. spent more money on stuff. i didn't take many pics because, as i said, this was a relaxing week. when diab and govind get here i will do more sightseeing and then i will have good pics for all y'all. oh and i left my brand new cellphone in a cab last night so that phone number i gave in the last post is now obsolete. i have to buy another one. i am a twit.


'have you seen this guy? he owes me money.' that is the translation of this poster.

hong kong is sweeet!

hong kong. the asian island city. the next atlantis? i am having a hard time describing it compared to other cities i have been in asia. it is modern like tokyo. it is western like shanghai. but it is altogether unique and vibrant, flooded with people at all hours, clean and very very hot. millions of people live on top of one another in soaring sky scrapers, so tightly packed together that from a distance they look like floating cities. but somehow hk manages to stay green and lush and relatively easy to navigate. anyway, on my first day, i walked across the border from china in like ten minutes. i took a train to the main tourist area in kowloon and checked stuff out while i waited for tai. he ended up telling me to meet him at his friends place and i took the transit and a cab to get there. well my first impression of a hong kong dwelling was a large mansion on a mountain overlooking the islands. it had four golf greens for chipping and putting, a gorgeous pool, there were nine dogs, two chefs (who made us homemade chocolate and caramel cakes with icecream), eight maids, i don't know. it was just crazy. then the guy's driver took us downtown where tai and i took the subway back to his place. the next day we went wakeboarding around the islands. tai's friend's yaght picked us up and we met up with his friend and his speed boat. it was a fun day but tai split his head and i didn't get a chance to go. got a great view of the city though on the way back as the sun set. we got tai some stiches and met up with some girls i met in shanghai and went to a cafe that was filled with cats. the next day i bought some baskeball shoes and a cellphone (that's right you heard me. i finally got one) my number is (852)97218106. went for a bikeride yesterday and met up with tai's friends and watched a movie. i don't know. it has been busy but i am having fun (spending a bit much but...). anyway, hope you enjoyed the pics from china. here are the ones from my first week in hk. cheers.


tai getting some serious air just before cracking his head open on his board. haha

coming back into victoria harbour as the sun sets after a day of wakeboarding 

city skyline over hk from the top of tai's dad's appartment 

made it to hong kong

well, i made it out of china alive. technically i am still in china but....anyway, i won't go into hong kong just yet. lets just say there have been mansions, private boats, beautiful sights and some shopping. but, i did promise that i would upload all my pics from china when i got to hk so here they are in order.

BEIJING
around beijing
beihai park in beijing
temple of heaven
the summer pallace

SHANXI PROVINCE
pingyao

SHAANXI PROVINCE (an extra 'a')
xian

SHANGHAI
shanghai alive
the fourth floor captain's youth hostel
Hangzhou

GUANXI PROVINCE
guilin
yangshuo
longsheng

sorry there are so many and that they are all here at once but i haven't been able to upload them for two months. enjoy.

happy canada day

canada day. i was lucky to come across this bar where there were lots of canadians and free drinks for trivia questions.

longsheng

i took a four hour bus ride from yangshou to an area called longsheng where the mountains are all sculpted to grow rice. it is absolutely awesome to see and i hope my pics can do them justice. we arrived in a small village and climbed the mountains to get a great view of the terraces from above. i was planning on going to another town called sangjiang where there are lots of minority villages and more terraces with less tourists but the roads were all washed out in floods and i had to return to yangshou. the bus broke down on the way back though and took five hours. it is raining a lot these days so i think i will leave for hk soon. i look forward to seeing my buddies there.


longsheng is an area where there are huge rice terraces built into mountains. i can only imagine how long it took to make these but they are hundreds of years old.

in yangshou

i arrived in yangshou from guilin. this town is sort of what i imagine khosan road to be like in bangkok. there are tons of foreigners and chinese tourists and no lack of western restaurants. not really how i thought i would end my china tour but i am glad to be eating western food for a change. it is really beautiful though and not hard to get away from the modern town. i met some people in guilin and came to yangshou with them. we went rafting on bamboo rafts down the river and then biked through all these minority villages surrounded by ricefields and mountains. so beautiful. it rains on and off here but stays extremely hot and humid regardless. i don't know how much longer i will stay but it will only be a few days, as i have to get to hong kong soon. i will post the pics later.


yangshou is really pictoresque. these limestone hills are everywhere.

these guys are cool