Days 44, 45, 46, & 47: Hong Kong, Hong Kong ~ Toronto, Canada

Wow! We had three great but very full days exploring Hong Kong. On Friday, we started off by visiting three traditional markets in Mongkok (the neighbourhood our hotel was in). First, we walked through the Flower Market, which was located, of course, on Flower Market Street. The whole street was lined with various flower shops, and it smelled heavenly!

 Here's Kevin "wafting" to smell the flowers (or is he reading his fingers?):

Just beyond the Flower Market was Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, a bird market set in a Chinese-style garden. This big, stupid bird was at the entrance:

Hundred of birds were for sale -- most were in small individual cages, but some medium-sized cages held over 30 birds! I don't know how humane it was, but it was certainly something to see:

 

This guy was really proud of his parrot:

This "free" bird taunted the caged birds by stealing their food:

They also had bags of live crickets and meal worms -- with the fate of being fresh bird feed. Kevin taunted all of the birds by stealing their worms:

Next, we wandered over to the Goldfish Market, among the most bizarre markets I've ever visited. The street was filled with a plethora of goldfish shops, and most of them had tropical fish hanging in plastic bags out front:

 There were lots of other aquarium critters too, like crabs, crayfish, and this mad pile-up of turtles:

We went to the harbour on the mainland-side twice to see the view south of Hong Kong Island. Once was in the daylight:

During the day we walked along the Avenue of Stars, which features handprints of HK movie celebrities -- we of course didn't know any of them:

At night we saw the world's largest permanent lightshow, called "A Symphony of Lights". The buildings on Hong Kong Island are illuminated by lights and lasers, accompanied by music:

The skyline of the island was beautiful!

On Friday night, we went to the area known as Lan Kwai Fong, the main eating and drinking area on Hong Kong Island. We enjoyed dinner and beers there, and it was bustling with tourists and partiers since it was Friday night. First pub we stopped was at the bottom of the strip and had pricey drinks, then as we worked our way further up the hill, the beer prices kept dropping lower and lower:

On the way back to our hotel, we discovered several hooker bars within a block of where we were staying. One had prices for the girls posted next to the door. Apparently Russians are the the best:

 The next day, in better light, we noticed posters outside another one of these fine establishments advertising some intriguing additions to the traditional "hooking" experience:

We pried ourselves away from the prostitutes, and went to The Peak, the top of the hill towering over the city and harbour on the Hong Kong Island side. The from The Peak we had an extraordinary panoramic view, and the weather was perfect!

On the tram, heading down the hill again, I raced in to get a seat, and a rat-bastard little kid slid in past me, stealing the best spot. What a jerk! I was outraged and pouting. Apparently I must look like the kind of person that small children can walk all over, as the following day another four year-old punk butted in front of me on the bus and stole the front seat! I considered pulling a tantrum, but then figured that if I acted like a giant baby other people might've thought that I was a giant baby.

After The Peak, we went to Hong Kong Park to the Edward Youde Aviary. It was really cool! It had a stream running through a walk-through rainforest valley, with small waterfalls and pools, all enclosed inside a stainless steal mesh. About 600 birds were held inside.

I had a lot of fun identifying the birds we saw (by referring to the free pamphlet). This is a Bali Mynah:

 These are Lories:

And this is a Java Sparrow:

I think I might have to add birdwatching as a new "interest" of mine on Facebook.

In the evening we went to the Temple Street Market for dinner and shopping. At first we found it rather unimpressive and much smaller than we'd imagined. What was all the hype about? We struggled to find a Chinese restaurant with any English on the menu, and when we finally came across one with the bonus of pictures, we jumped on it:

The barbecued pork buns and poached vegetables were excellent. The "steamed pork" (AKA pig's gross parts) and "steamed chicken" (AKA chicken skin and fat wrapped in fish cake) weren't so awesome. It was a fun, authentic-feeling experience nonetheless. After dinner we soon realized that we were on the entirely wrong end of Temple Street, having missed our intended target of the market almost completely. The market was super-packed and humongous. The street stalls seemed to keep going on forever with clothing, handicrafts, toys, general junk, fortune tellers and dildos:

If we weren't already "market"ed-out, we certainly were after our last full-day Hong Kong. In the morning we took a bus (upon which the stupid-wiener kid I mentioned earlier sniped my seat) to Stanley Market. Stanley is a village on Hong Kong's southernmost peninsula, and it's right on the water. It was beautiful, with a huge European-styled promenade bordering the waterfront, and a large number of pubs, bars and restaurants:

Kevin bought a painting from the market...

We laughed at this tie...

And then we enjoyed some food and beers by the ocean. We watched a man transfer his small dog from its personal stroller into his dog handbag for easy portability at the restaurant:

 This was the second time we'd seen a man pushing a dog in a stroller since arriving in Hong Kong. Here was the first:

We think the cigarette hanging out of his mouth gave him a more "manly" appearance.

Back in our 'hood, we (Kevin quite grudgingly) went to Ladies' Market. It was pretty similar to the other markets we'd been to already, with the addition of many stalls offering lingerie and slutty club outfits. Frustrated at having to dig through disorganized piles of extremely tacky clothes, I gave up and we proceeded to the nearby H&M where we both had much better luck.

For our last dinner in Hong Kong, we headed back to the (correct) part of Temple Street Market and had dinner at a boppin' place on the street, right in the middle of the hustle and bustle. It was great! We tried some more Chinese dishes, including bok choy with garlic, spicy beef with mushrooms, and sweet and sour chicken. YUMMMM!

We absolutely loved Hong Kong, but we're happy to finally head back home to Canada! Our voyage finished today, and what an adventure it was = 47 days of fun and exploration, 6 countries, 5 books, too many beers, and an unfathomable amount of traveler's diarrhea. Our flight left Hong Kong at 3:10 PM, and compared to the extremely low-budget airlines we'd used thus far, Air Canada's economy class seemed like first-class to us -- meals and drinks included, and individual TVs -- but 15 hours sure is a long time to sit still. We arrived at 6 PM in Toronto, and Kevin's parents picked us up from the airport. Kevin's mom, Linda, reminded me exactly of my mom last year when she met us at the arrivals gate -- as soon as she saw us, her arms started flailing like wounded bird trying to take flight. She even had balloons and a "Welcome Home" sign hanging on the door of the their house for us! I can't wait to get reunited with my family and friends in the weeks to come! I hope you're prepared Canada!! Thanks for reading! xoxo

Days 41, 42, & 43: Siem Reap, Cambodia ~ Hong Kong, Hong Kong

On Tuesday our hunt for a crocodile burger was satisfied:

Crikey! They were delicious! Huge, stuffed full of great toppings, and the meat in the burger had a bold flavour, unlike any beef or chicken burger I've tried. It tasted well-seasoned, but it could've just been the natural flavour of the croc. A glass of red wine to accompany it, and I felt like a fancy girl.

On Tuesday evening we went to a restaurant that had nightly "Apsara" dance performances. It's a cultural Khmer style of dancing, and you watch while you eat dinner. We saw several different dances. Two featured only women, and were slow and rhythmical. One was called the "Blessing Dance", and the dancers threw flowers:

The second was called "Apsara Dance", and the women wore these beautiful headdresses:

Two of our favourite dances were more lively and upbeat, featuring both men and women. They wore amazing costumes during the "Pailin Peacock" dance, but it was hard to capture any pictures because they moved so damn fast:

The last dance of the evening was called the "Fishing Dance". Everyone carried wooden fishing baskets, and it told the story of one guy courting or "catching" a girl. It was really cute:

The costumes were beautiful and the style of dance was very unique!

Because it's the low season for tourists in Siem Reap, the tuk-tuk (motorbike-cart taxi) drivers were desperate for customers throughout our entire stay. As soon as we stood up from our table at a restaurant, two or three would eagerly run over and ask if we needed a ride. During the one minute walk back to our hotel, we usually had to turn down 8-10 different drivers. It got pretty annoying at times, but we understood that they need to make a living. A few drivers used more creative measures to attract business. One man would try to get the attention of a woman in a restaurant, while she was still sitting down at her seat. When she looked at him, he'd hold up a sign that read: "Hello Beautiful Lady, do you a need a tuk-tuk?" It was pretty funny. Other drivers opted to "pimp" their rides, decorating their tuk-tuks with flashy designs, such as Spiderman and Batman:

One man chose to paint the slightly more inventive "Butterfly Man" on his tuk-tuk. Apparently Kevin believes the drivers all look the same, as he excitedly greeted a random man on the street, wrongfully thinking it was the guide from our temples trip. They didn't look anything alike.

Last night we ate Khmer-style BBQ. A grill (on top of a gas burner) was put on our table, and we barbecued up five different kinds of meat, some more exotic than others. Beef:

Shrimp:

Frog legs and snake:

And crocodile:

The frog legs tasted great -- just like tiny chicken legs. The snake was really chewy. The flavour wasn't bad, but it felt like I was gnawing on a big piece of gristle. The crocodile was awesome -- kind of a cross between chicken and fish, but a little bit chewier. Around the base of the grill was a "moat" filled with broth, veggies and noodles. The broth developed a lot of flavour from the various meat drippings. It was our last meal in Cambodia, and what a great way to finish our time there!

Today we had an early start, as we flew out of Siem Reap at 8:35 AM. We had a stopover in Malaysia where we happily tried every sample available at the airport's bulk food store. We both bought some candy, and Kevin made the store clerk laugh when he tried to fill his plastic bag from the bottom. He'd also chosen the smallest bag size and stuffed it so full that it would barely close. Then, I had the pleasure of listening to him struggle to open the Ziploc bag, slurp down one single candy, struggle to zip the bag closed again, then noisily shove the plastic bag away. He repeated this process about 30 times.

We arrived in Hong Kong at 6:30 PM, and took a big double-decker bus to the neighbourhood of our hotel. Here's our bus driving away after dropping us off:

About 10 seconds after taking that photo, I realized that in the scurry of getting off at the right stop, I'd left my small carry-on bag under the seat of the bus. Luckily it only contained my PASSPORT! Crap on a stick! I tried chasing the bus, but it was much too late... especially because the sidewalk was packed with pedestrians, and especially because I'm not a fast runner on a good day.

So we decided to check into our literally microscopic hotel room, and get the hotel clerk to help us.

He tried calling the bus company but there was no answer. With relatively low expectations, I went out onto the street again, hoping to catch the same bus when it circled back towards the airport. As I waited, I went through a series of various emotional states: self-loathing, freaking out about needing to get a new passport issued in Hong Kong, sorry to Kevin for ruining our night, SO hungry, sad that my journal was in the bag too, wishing that I'd lost the bag with my clothes in it instead so I'd have an excuse to go shopping, etc. Well, someone must've been smiling down on me today, because the second bus that came by was the one I'd left my bag on, and it was still there under the seat! After extensive happy-dances on the street (on my part), we went for dinner at cafe-type restaurant:

Tired from the long day of traveling, we returned to our room to rest up for tomorrow's adventures. Our bed is actually two small twin mattresses pushed together. It's not a bad thing actually, because makes it much easier for me to regulate Kevin's bed-hogging since there's a clear divider line in the centre!

Days 39 & 40: Siem Reap, Cambodia

So, the hotel we stayed in our first night in Siem Reap had a few flaws -- the room was grungy, the bathroom seemed like a dark, dirty cave, the price was too high, and the location was kinda far from the main area. Breakfast was included with our stay, and it wasn't exactly superb either -- service took a long time, and I believe that Kevin's two tiny, sawdust pancakes ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back. We started looking at different hotels immediately after eating. We compared a couple of similar-style rooms as we worked our way into the main part of town. Suddenly "Viva!", a Mexican restaurant / guesthouse, appeared before our eyes like an oasis in the desert. It's clean and bright, cheaper at only $20/night including breakfast, and in a much better location -- right in the heart of the main restaurants and shops area.

Best of all, whenever we need a plate of nachos or $0.50 glasses of draught beer, we just have walk downstairs. Yesterday we ate Mexican for both lunch and for first dinner. Ole!

For second dinner, we headed to Pub Street. We met up with Kevin's ball hockey friend from Korea, Jon, and his girlfriend, Ashley. We shared some drinks and good times!

Today we woke up to discover that flooding from Thailand made its way over here last night while we slept. The river that runs through Siem Reap is completely overflowing, and all of the streets in the main part of town (that were dry just last night) are totally flooded. Everyone has no choice but to wade through the water to go anywhere. Here's the river and street next to it:

 And here are some students on their way to school:

It's actually pretty funny. The water's really warm, so it's not uncomfortable, and the quality of people watching has gone up by 146%! Here's the view in front of our hotel's restaurant:

After a breakfast of Mexican omelets, we visited the world-renowned temples of Angkor. During the Angkorian period (9th-15th centuries), the ruling god-kings of the great Khmer Empire built imposing temples as a way of asserting their divinity. More than 100 temples can be seen today, which stand as an impressive monument to the greatest ancient civilization in Southeast Asia.

First we visited the best-known monument -- the vast Hindu temple of Angkor Wat. It was built in the 12th century as a mausoleum and temple for King Suryavarman II. We couldn't believe the size of it!

It's most memorable feature is the distinctive conical-shaped towers, designed to look like lotus buds:

 We were also impressed by monkeys humping on the back gate.

It took us close to two hours to walk around the massive grounds of the temple, and we were dripping with sweat when we returned to our tuk-tuk (that we'd hired to drive us around the temples for the day). Kevin left a lovely sweat stain on the back of the seat:

The next place we visited was Angkor Thom, an immense city enclosed by four defensive walls, 8 m high and 3 km long on each side. It was built during the late 12th and early 13th centuries, and was the last and greatest capital of the Angkor era. It was home to an estimated million people, and was an architectural masterpiece -- much more spectacular and extravagant than any Western city at the time. Each gateway leading into the city is approached via a stone causeway crossing a wide moat. On each causeway, 54 god images on the left and 54 demons on the right depict the myth of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, the myth of creation where gods and evil spirits churn the ocean for a thousand years to produce the elixir of immortality, creating order out of chaos. Here's the south gateway:

And here's a handsome "devil":

In the centre of the walled city is the temple of Bayon, fascinating because of the large carved faces adorning the sides of its 54 towers.

 

Two hundred metres northwest of Bayon, we walked across the Terrace of Elephants. It would have been used by the king to address his public, and as a ceremonial viewing platform. It was also used as a platform for Kevin's elephant impression:

Pretty sweaty (okay, extremely sweaty) and exhausted by this point, we decided to visit one last temple that interested us, called Ta Phrom. It's a stunning 12th century temple-monastery that, rather than being cleared and restored like most of the other Angkor monuments, it's been left to the jungle and appears roughly as it did to the Europeans who rediscovered these ruins in the 19th century. Roots and trunks intermingle with the moss-covered stones and seem almost part of the structure. It was really cool -- our favourite temple of the day!

We'd both bought one-day passes to see the temples -- and both felt "templed-out" after a mere five hours of exploration. I couldn't imagine how temple-obsessed you'd have to be to get the seven-day pass!

We got back to Siem Reap around 2 PM, and had fun wading through the "river" on Pub Street. We chose a restaurant specifically because they advertised "Croc Burgers", but unfortunately they were fresh out of crocodile. I'll continue the hunt tomorrow!

Lunch was followed by a grand siesta, then another Mexican meal for dinner:

We even ordered take-out beers for our room. I don't predict that the next two days here will be overly productive. Yay!