I’m up at 6 AM on a Sunday for no apparent reason. I figure now is the best time to tell you all about my trip to Beijing and Hong Kong!

I took off for about two and a half to three weeks for this vacation. This will be the first time I will be going to Beijing and the third (second if you only count the times you remember) to Hong Kong. It has been almost 14 years since I’ve been back to Hong Kong, so I was very excited to see what has (and hasn’t) changed.

But first, the flight over. My family and I signed up for a tour group to visit the mostly popular parts of Beijing. We departed around 11 AM on a 13-hour flight to the motherland (kinda). I’ve ad longer flights before, but since this was a direct flight, it was somewhat of a new experience.

Those who are friends with me on Facebook knew that during the first part of my trip, I’ve been pretty silent on Facebook. It’s because unlike Canada and the United States where they have a (somewhat) free flow of information via internet, China monitors their internet. As a result, Facebook, Twitter, and the likes are blocked. Plus, the Wifi in the hotel was pretty terrible. The accommodations were pretty good otherwise.

Some of the highlights that were experienced on the trip were Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, the upcoming city of Chengdu, and mainly the food. I gained about 5 pounds in the first 5 days of being there.

Bird’s Next. Beijing Olympics.

Stinky tofu. Mmmmm…

After a week in Beijing, we were off to Hong Kong (a much more related form of the motherland to my family). We stayed with my brother’s fiancee’s family. A lot has changed, but a lot has stay the same. Hong Kong still retained the elegance I remembered back when I was 13 years old (the last time I visited).

Ocean Park.

There was also my brother and his fiancee’s engagement party!

However, one of the highlights of the Hong Kong portion that will always stick out in my mind is when I got to meet @MellyWelly15! I already miss her so, and I wish I was in Hong Kong longer to spend more time with her. She’s such an energetic and loving person to be around, always smiling and cracking jokes. Plus, she gives magnificent hugs too. <3

If you ever have a chance to travel, I would definitely recommend Hong Kong. Such an elegant city with so much to do, so much to eat, so much to see…