THE TRIP OF MY LIFE!!

10 weeks, 11 countries (including HK, Macao and Taiwan), million memories and one life changing experience! Let’s start!

Places I’ve been in 10 weeks!

This was the trip I always wanted to make and wished for since I arrived in Asia. The whole trip was quite a big coincidence and I didn’t even plan to see this many countries! My plan was to take a trip around China for 2 months and then do one month around Myanmar and Korea. Due to my boss’s wife sudden change of heart and her revoking my Visa I didn’t have an option then to leave China. THIS WAS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!! Even if I really wanted to travel around China and more know more about different places in China, but the things I learned on this journey will be with me my whole life and It changed me from the inside! So I will thank her for revoking my visa! Life is full of signs, sometimes you just have to let go, not resist and go where it takes you. Since my plans changed in the last week I had to do my whole trip planning all over, so what did I do? I booked a train ticket to HK and from Macau to Bangkok. And decided that that is the only thing I need to reserve and the rest will come as it should! Of course I had to see all the friends in different places in Asia, like my Philippine, Korean and Taiwanese friends! Everything else was a mystery and that scared me, I didn’t know what will happen, how it will happen. I live for adventure, change and to be happy, that’s how life should be! Fuck the comfort zone we are living in our whole life. Time to explore!

I will not go into the deep things (what I discovered about life, myself and how to find true happiness), that is reserved for a different blog. I don’t believe in forcing my believes on others and here I’ll just scratch the surface of these and focus more on the experience, traveling tips for these places and things I saw and what I learned on the way. My style of traveling is really basic, very budget oriented, oriented towards people and culture and so less towards taking beautiful and amazing photos, all about the experience and doing things I haven’t done yet!

THE BEGINNING (Shenzhen, China)

I left Ningbo, China on the July 14^th, 2015 and headed towards Shenzhen where I met up with my close friend and spend the day exploring the old city to find something a little different. Every time I travel with Aki, my close friend, I always end up doing something I would have never imagined and as you guessed it, this time wasn’t any different! We went to see some big park where we found a “winter hall” with an ice ring and winter wonderland hall with ice sculptures, ice slides and snow ball fighting arena! I mean could have things been any better?! It was really hot outside and for the first time I was carrying my huge backpack, and when we saw that, it was like a sign from above. Ohhh did we have fun, like anytime with her, I felt like a kid again and it’s a really great feeling. This is why she means so much to me, because she showed me that sometimes you have to find the child inside and just let it go!

We spent the afternoon roaming around and looking at random sightseeing things in the center and of course the focus being on finding a really awesome place to eat (Only in Asia)! After some good food, durian shakes and cakes we slowly set our way to Hong Kong.

TIP: Shenzhen (SZ) is a city in China which boarders Hong Kong (HK) and you can easily take a subway to downtown Hong Kong. Both HK and SZ speak Cantonese a lot of HK’s go there to party, shop or just walk around to get better deals on things and enjoy the cheaper things in China!

Me in the skating arena	Aki in her winter clothes
Ice arena	Show slide
Backpack and I	Aki and her sun umbrella

Hong Kong

During my stay in China I probably visited Hong Kong 4, 5 times for different reasons and I went from a hater to a lover of the place. First two times I came it was because I had to take care of my visa issues, in order to get my working visa in China. And so I usually stayed for 2, 3 days doing the visa issues, sightseeing and hanging out with my friends there. I didn’t like it at the beginning, because of the fast way of living and it’s just too crowded, that’s coming from a guy who has been living in China (haha)! People seem to always be in a hurry and running everywhere, apartment buildings are one on top of the other, and mostly because I had serious visa issues! I also missed my flight back to Ningbo the second time I was there. Not a good start at all!! Third and fourth time I didn’t go for Visa things anymore, but because I wanted to surprise my friend for his birthday and once just to relax! Once you are outside of the crowded city, it’s is simply stunning and amazing to explore different islands and finding that HK is actually an amazing place with everything you need. You have amazing hills overlooking the island only 40min bus ride from the city center (Dragon’s back), many island which have their own purpose and you are also able to see the true locals in their natural habitat since beaches are 30,40 min from the city center with many BBQ places and sport parks. The outside of the city is really what makes this place so special and memorable. Of course there are things in the city that are nice as well, not mentioning the narrow alleys with shining sings hanging on every possible fixable thing, city promenade, old city markets, old temples and buildings, amazing food and an interesting fusion of Chinese and British culture.

View from the Promenade	A park in HK
HK streets at night	View from the Dragon’s back

TIP: HK is a really easy city to get around, subways & buses & trams can take you almost everywhere and It’s the easiest to buy an Octopus card and top it up in every 7eleven or subway station. For me the majority of interesting things are outside of the city, that’s where you can spend a relaxing or sports colored day and enjoy the people and culture during the night! I strongly advise you not to talk about the issues with China and what they think (except if they are your good friends). There are a lot of mixed feelings on this topic and from my experience people from HK have this blind faith that China is bad and nothing good can come from them. Those Chinese living in HK are also treated as less than locals. Having said this, people from HK are really nice, polite and warmhearted towards foreigners. As a foreigner you will bland very well in this International city!

Getting back to my trip! After getting back to HK we went our separate ways and I found myself a place to stay, the following couple of days I spend mostly being with Aki, met my other friends and just enjoying the life in HK. Waking up in the morning, taking a walk to 7eleven and grabbing something to eat, heading out into the city, walking around the really tall buildings, feeling like a small ant, taking a coffee to go and just observing the people around me. I also met with a good friend Lu, with whom I’m looking to maybe do some business one day. He was my closest friend in Reims and is also a very cool person! It was also really nice seeing all my friends again and enjoying some time with them, they are super nice and kind to me. One of my German friends also joined us, she always had a dream to go and work in HK and she finally did. I’m really proud of people who have their goals and will follow them until they come true!!

Next I took a ferry from HK to Macau (a small “country” on the other side of HK). Leaving this place was much harder than expecting since this meant also leaving China. With time I found myself really connected with China and HK and leaving was like leaving a part of me behind. The freedom and memories I have accumulated will luckily always be with me and this is what matters, but I knew there was something more out there!

Typical HK breakfast with Dim sum	Amazing Chocolate ice-shaven ice-cream
City streets of HK
My friends and I	Special HK desserts
Big Buddha	HK skyline
My friends from Hawaii and HK	Aki and I

Macau

Macau is officially “a city of China” and it’s mostly known as the gambling city. Gambling in China is forbidden, so they have this little haven to use as their gambling place. Macau used to be a Portugal colony and people residing there have both a Macau passport as well as the Portuguese one. The city is really small and one part is mostly filled with casinos while the other part has the old square, a famous building everyone takes pictures in front and apartment buildings around. The main tourist places are really nicely built and well maintained but once you step a little out of these borders you will see a lot of torn down buildings and basically not well maintained apartments. After all it’s a nice place to spend a day or a nice getaway from HK. I never had an intention to visit Macau, but since the plane ticket from Macau was much cheaper than from HK, of course I couldn’t miss the opportunity to explore a little. They also have a famous pastry, which btw is very similar to the ones we have in Europe. Chinese ones are not as nearly as good as these!