Let The Whirlwind Begin

March 2019

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This year, Ryan and I thought we would change up our travels a bit. Instead of our typical duo, this trip includes Forrest, our amazing never-the-third-wheel traveler extraordinaire, making us a terrific trio (or maybe a terrible trio, depending on who you ask). Not only did we gain a travel companion, this trip will also include a lot of firsts, even for our travel-happy friend. While Ryan and Forrest have both been to Asia before, this trip marks my first time on the continent (hooray). The plan (subject to change) is to optimize our time in Southeast Asia to visit as many countries as possible while not dying from: exhaustion, angry taxi drivers, waterborne diseases, hordes of mosquitoes, and general tomfoolery. The plan (as it currently stands): Hong Kong, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. For those who do not know Forrest and his magical travel abilities, we will just say he is a wizard (just to keep the theme going). He is a self-described travel hacker and runs his own travel business while traversing the globe. His ability to find cheap flights and utilize reward points borders on ridiculous. With Forrest’s amazing expertise, we have left the flights and accommodations up to him. So without further ado, let the whirlwind adventure begin…San Fransisco to Hong KongWhile traveling and exploring the world is amazing; flying, especially long flights can be THE worst. The flight from SFO to HKG is 15 hours. But this trip, is not a typical trip. Forrest Magic #1: Flying Business Class on Cathay Pacific. Food, booze, and a good snooze.📷Cheers! 📷Over the top…everything Once landing in Hong Kong we immediately went to our hotel to check in. While being able to sleep fairly well on the plane, we were still rather tired having left SF at 11:45pm March 24th and arriving in Hong Kong on March 26 at 5:30am. Unfortunately for us (and anyone in smelling distance), we would not be able to get our room until much later in the day. Not wanting to lose a moment, we grabbed a few items from our luggage and made our way into Hong Kong proper.📷Best friend for two weeks…bottled water (brought to you by Marriott) 📷Rolling on out We decided to take the more cost-effective route into Hong Kong (with some cash-saving advice from the hotel) via a bus to the Tung Chung MTR station instead of taking the Airport Express line. By the time we made it to the MTR station, it was the peak of rush hour.📷MTR 📷Feel the bustle Free from the sea of commuters, we started our walk through the city. Ryan, having been to Hong Kong several times prior, picked a few locations that he thought I would enjoy (e.g. green and not too crowded). With a few places in mind, we fueled up on caffeine and Asian pastries and made our way over to both Hong Kong Botanical Gardens & Zoo, and Hong Kong Park.📷📷Botanical Gardens/Zoo and Hong Kong Park 📷📷📷Brownea grandiceps 📷Obligatory selfie #1 The Botanical Gardens/Zoo was filled with an array of orchids, blooming trees, and even swinging monkeys. From the gardens we made our way over to Hong Kong Park, which features a huge aviary. Along the way, we passed the long line for the tram to Victoria Peak.. Noticing the ever growing queue we decided to take a moment to eat our bakery treats and preorder our tram tickets (the preorder line was significantly shorter).📷Egg tart and salted egg bun pastries 📷Aviary nom noms From the aviary we made our way over to the tram, thankful for being able to use the pre-purchased ticket line. Pushing our way onto the crowded tram, we climbed up to the top of Victoria Peak. Once you exit the tram you make your way through a dizzying building filled with never-ending escalators, chain restaurants, and tourist traps. When we finally found our way out, we were both grateful to get outside and away from the crowds.📷Tram to the peak 📷So many escalators 📷Hong Kong in all its glory 📷Obligatory selfie #2 📷After taking some time to enjoy the views of the city, we decided to make the most of our time on the peak and walk around the edge and up to the actual top.📷Walking along Lugard Rd 📷Governor’s Palace After walking for about 1.5 hours and climbing too many stairs for our jet-lagged selves, we desperately needed some food. And what better than to eat some dumplings! Ryan managed to somehow find a place that both served vegetarian dumplings and had a Michelin Star! Both of our dumplings were oh-so delicious!📷Vita Lemon Tea…..so good 📷Just let me eat my dumplings Following our amazing meal with our tummies nice and full, it was time to finally go back to the hotel. Feeling particularly gross after our hike and flight, we opted to take the Airport Express line to get us back (it was much faster). After a much needed shower, we went to the lobby to meet up with Forrest who had just arrived from Brunei via Kuala Lumpur. From there, we ate a western style dinner (burgers) before heading back to the room. While the boys squared away our travel plans for the next day, I dozed into a sweet sweet slumber.📷