HKDisneyMarch11

Alrighty, my plan for today was to write an awesome blog about my first day at Hong Kong Disneyland, but due to a crazy bus ride that turned dinner from an one hour event into an almost three hour event, so that awesome blog will have to wait till tomorrow, which is actually today now, because I made a video last night to take the place of my blog, but it took about an hour to upload and in that hour I fell asleep. Sooooo here is the video, and I may or may not be posting again today. Next week mid-terms begin, so I'm in full project/study mode. Enjoy the video and disregard the "my movie" title. I was tired and forgot to retitle it last night. lol For all of you waking up back home in a couple of hours have a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah day!

Just a little teaser...

It is getting late, and Tuesdays are my busiest so a full blog of the weekend will have to wait. No worries though, I do have a few videos to share. NOTE: For those reading this who do not know that I'm a huge disney fan; Just know that I'm a huge disney fan. : ) Let the videos begin!

Who are those amazing dancers??!! Johanna, Sidsel and Jatana of course!

Muppet Mobile Lab - Funny to hear Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew in Chinese

Space Mountain! I took two videos to compare listening to the preshow in English and Mandarin. This one is the English version.

Here is the Mandarin version. Not sure if it is just the fact that I can't understand what she is saying, but the crowd noise seems louder in this video.

Home! Nice to see home half way around the world. It's amazing how much this made me miss work. I wasn't sure about how I would feel about the disney characters, but they were much better than I was expecting. Pictures of those to come tomorrow!

That is all for now. Signing off from Macau. Everyone in have a wonderful day. It's bed time for me.

Videos from Zhongshan Film City

These guys were performing when we first arrived. They were so awesome!

4 Year anniversary

This will be a very short update as I need to fall asleep so I can wake up for class tomorrow morning, but I wanted to update today because March 24, 2011 marks four years for me and my wonderful boyfriend Tyler Jones. :)

The two of us agreed before I left that we would celebrate his birthday, which is also today :), before I left and our anniversary when I returned. Of course I still wanted to celebrate a little so today I: Slept in and wacthed Big Bang Theory, Ate lunch with two of my friends at McDonalds becasue it sounded good, Went shopping and bought my self a belt and got my ear pierced! (More on that later) Went out to Taipa for more shopping, Dinner of duck and rice from the corner stand, and a girls night complete with movie, ice cream and facials.

Today was a really great day. It's hard being away from Tyler, but with skype and good friends and the simple fact of being in such an amazing place helps to make time fly. I love him very much and feel very lucky to be in such a wonderful relationship.

Mainland China Heritage Trip

The weekend before last I went on a trip with IFT's Heritage Club to mainland China. We visited Cuiheng Village and Zhongshan TV and Film City in honor or the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. Hope you enjoy this photographic tour!

Out in front of the Zhonshan TV and Film City. It was kind of imposing pulling up to the place.

Giant map outside the village. The area is divided up into different sections like Japan Scenes, China Scenes, USA town scenes, European scenes. The maps were all in Chinese, except for a few phrases and all the information plaques around the village were only in Chinese. A bit of a bummer, but I wasn't that surprised.

This was in the Japan scene. As you can kind of see from the photos, the place is pretty run down and there really wasn't a whole lot of people there. It was like this through the entire park, and I found it to be a bit depressing. I would have loved to know more about it in its heyday, but I think that time is long gone.

I loved all the American signs they had up.

Friends up in the Japanese tower that was there. My friend Sanna and I went up later, and got stopped by a Chinese couple who wanted a photo with us. SIDEBAR: This would become the theme of the day. Our group was the only group I saw with any westerners in it, and people were fascinated by us. By the end of the day I had been asked to be in about 5 different photos, and had many people just try to take our photos on the sly. It was hilarious. My favorite was a little girl who's mom wanted her to take a picture with me. I honestly think the little girl was a bit afraid of me, but she sat next to me, we smiled and then she skipped back to her mom. Mainland China is a whole other world. SIDEBAR DONE

The very top of this sign reads "The redskins are here." It's interesting to see what the Chinese think of when they set up an "American" scene.

Looking down on the New York Street Scene! Ahhh looks just like I remember it. : P

In the western scene.

Out in front of a "bar".

Sanna and I both had to go up and feel these flowers before we realized they were fake. From afar they relly looked real. It was pretty cool.

I thought this was cute. It was on the back of a wedding carriage.

Would you like to buy a hat????

We made it to Japan!

Inside what we think was meant to be a tea house.

A very kind Chinese man took this for us. He was so cute. He took one and then was like "no,no one more" (of course he just use head nods and hand shakes to communicate this) and then took another.

The most adorable waste bins in the world.

Now we are at Cuiheng Village. This house is the only original and was where the revolutionary leader, Dr. Sun Yat Sen.

Everybody around the world loves to leave there mark. Cool though to see it in Chinese and not English. Hope this doesn't say anything offensive!

The museum which was actually pretty good. Most exhibits were in both Chinese and English. The first floor took you threw Dr. Sun Yat Sen's life and the revolution. The second floor is all about his family and wives.

After a long day of walking we were ready to get back on the bus.

But we walked some more! I'm not really sure if this was even a part of the village, but we strolled around for awhile. My friend told that he thinks they plant rice here.

There was a very odd mini zoo. There weren't many animals and I didn't really know why it was even here.

Some bunnies!

And a chicken. There were also some piegeons and some house cats. That was the oddest to see, and I really wanted to let the cats out and say, "Run free!"

So at the end of a very long day we decided to celebrate by getting frozen yogurt! It's very similar to YogHut, but not quite as good. Still it hit the spot right then.

Dancing Fountain at the Wynn

Took this while my friend Sidsel and I were wandering around down by the casinos in Macau. The show was only about 5 min., but it was very pretty.

Wanderings around Macau

Welcome to Fisherman's Wharf! Last Saturday Jatana and I decided to go exploring. Fisherman's Wharf is down near the Ferry Terminal and is considered to be a failure. After exploring our guess as to why it is a failure is the poor deisgn. It is pretty cheesy, and while cheesy can work when done well, this is not an instance where it was done well.

The Rocks Hotel.

Outside the Afrikana Bar

Wait..I thought we were in China?

Strolling in Paris which looked like Bourbon St.

What can I say...

He was just so cute!

This was the best part of Fisherman's Wharf. The Ice Gallery! Admission is 80MOP and you can wander around inside for 30min. There is an ice slide that is a lot of fun but difficult in a skirt. You also get free coffe, tea and hot chocolate.

Outside the Ice Gallery

Entrance

Jatana trying to climd out of the undergroud game room.

Voila!

This snake was outside the Aladdin Arena thingy. Can't really remember.

I need to add photos of Jatan. She is just as big of a clown as I am.








Now for the Wynn! This hotel is located in Macau and has a very simple design. Amongst all the neon, the Wynn looks very classy.

the Wynn! One of my favorite looking hotels in Macau.

The awesome, giant sign out front.










My wonderful, amazing, awesome mother sent me a care package! Below is picture of the box which made it all the way from the US entact but definitely a little bit beat up. It took about two weeks to get here, and once it arrived I had to pick it up at the post office down in Senado Square. If it was smaller it actually could have been sent to IFT, but that is in a box is kept down at the post office.

It was really nice to get something from home. Just seeing my mom's handwriting and knowing that at one point this box had been in my house made me really happy.

The box!

The first glance!

All of my goodies! Which include: Two cards for St. Paddy's day, some magazines, my wonderful face wash you can't buy here, some Peeps for Easter, Glamour, and the most delicious Granola from Sugar Magnolia Bakery (thank you to my amazing boyfriend Tyler)

TIP: If you are ever in Statesboro, Ga go to Sugar Magnolia Bakery! My faovrites are: the Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chicken Salad Sandwhich, all Pizzas and of course the Granola.

TIP: If you really like a certain body product bring it with you. I didn't bring my face wash and the pollution in the air made my face break out really bad. Nobody likes pimples.









Signing off for now! Tomorrow it's back to Mainland China I go!

Trolley Ride up Victoria's Peak

The view from our trolley. The ride up was soooo steep. We stopped at one point to let some of the trolley workers jump on, and it was so scary. Luckily the trolley started up again just fine and we made it the top with no problem.

Video of Victoria Harbour

I took this video while we were waiting to see the Symphony of Lights. It's a nightly light show that is the world's largest permanent light show. Very impressive, but not as impressive as we were hoping for. TIP: If you want to see the show arrive 45min-1hr early. Good spots go fast!

Hong Kong Take One (Finally)

SO it's taken me awhile to post pictures from Hong Kong but here they are! Are you ready??

Welcome to Hong Kong! Fresh off the MTR and out into the chaotic streets of HK.

TIP: After doing some research all of us exchange stuents decided to buy what is called an Octopus Pass. This pass is good for all modes of transportation (except taxis) in Hong Kong to pay for fares, and you can also use it at most stores to pay for your purchases. We even used it in IKEA to pay for lunch! The cost of the pass is 100HKD plus a 50HKD deposit which is refundable if the card is returned within three months. I suggest anyone planning to spend more than a day in HK to purchase the pass. It saves so much time, and since you have the ability to use the card at stores you never have to worry about not being able to use up all the money on the pass. You can replenish the pass at any MTR station.

IKEA! Got some chocolate, cookies and candles. All the Swedish, Danish and Finnish students felt very much at home here.

Sanna looking oh so cool.

Just a couple of the giant building we passed. It really is a whole other world from Macau. By the end of the day most of us agreed that we loved visiting HK and want to go again and again, but we are really happy to be studying in Macau. In Macau you can walk most places, and Macau just has more of a small town comfortable feel.

Up at Victoria's Peak looking down to HK and Victoria Harbour.

Clowning Around.

The day we went was pretty clear, and the views were just awesome. We rode the trolley up to the top of the peak. It was a lot of fun and provided awesome views. Video coming soon!

This is the Peak Tower. You can pay extra and go to the very top, but really there is no need. The views from all the surrounding look out points were awesome, and none of us felt like we missed out by not going to the top.

What can I say? We clown around a lot.

I found this to be very odd. It is a small restaurant that is right across the street from Peak Tower. The whole area is surrounded by a very well to-do neighborhood. I'd love to go exploring more and maybe have dinner at this restaurant, but don't think I will any time soon.

The panorama came out small here, but this is from the other side of Peak Tower at a small Temple/lookout point.

The beautiful metropolis of Hong Kong.

I thought this guy was really cute. He is guarding the temple.

Woohoo!

One thing I want to say about visiting Victoria Peak. Make sure to either go at night or on a very clear day. Unless you want to walk up the mountain, you'll want to take the trolley up. The ride is about three minutes and is really cool, but the line for the trolley is about an 45min-1hr long. We asked and apparently it is like this most days. I would allow a minimum of 3hrs to see Victoria Peak, especially if you want to wander around the surrounding area. I definitely suggest doing that. There is a long trail (I think it was somewhere around 13km long) that winds all around the mountain.

This was down in the MTR Station. Only in China : )

Party on the MTR!!! Woooo! I know the other passengers must have thought we were crazy. : )

Sidsel unleashed!

Terry! This was right before he started practicing for his new profession...pole dancer. haha

Dinner down at Temple Street Market.

I had pork with rice and soy sauce and milk tea to drink. It was very good!

We had planned to go to the Ladies Market, but due to the fact that we ran behind about four hours, the Ladie's Market was closing up about the time we were ready to start shopping. Instead we went to Temple Street Market. This is the big night market in Macau, and is filled with about anything you could ever want from scarfs and purses to sex toys and booths to have your fortune told.

TIP: The group in total was about 10 ppl. This was very hard to keep up with, especially since most people's phones didn't work. My advice would be to travel in smaller groups or set meeting places, and just be cool with breaking off into smaller groups. We didn't set a meeting place, but did say that we would head back towards the ferry terminal around midnight so it worked out.
Storytime: There were five of us who planned to go back together around midnight. From what we had seen the MTR stopped running around midnight and we didn't want to risk getting stranded and not knowing how to get back to the ferry terminal. What happened was while shopping at the market we got seperated. Around 11:30pm Sanna, Jatana and I decided to head towards the ferry, hoping the other two girls would do the same. We went to the ferry terminal, got our tickets, boarded the ferry and were sitting waiting to leave when our two friends walked on board! We couldn't believe it!

Another strange thing was the something similar happened with four of our other friends and they somehow managed to get on the same ferry too! They took the 5am ferry though. lol

TIP: The ferry runs ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT!

Hong Kong was amazing and we have already made plans to go back in two weeks. This time we will stay the night and plan to visit the Giant Sitting Buddah, some shopping and HONG KONG DISNEYLAND!!!!! Can you tell which one I'm most excited for? ;)