Christmas in Hong Kong - Day 1

Christmas in Hong Kong - wow, what an experience! More about our actual Christmas day in the next post...for now, I'll just start with our general/first impression of the city...extremely crowded. Just close your eyes and picture yourself in the most crowded setting you have ever been in. Now, multiply the amount of people in that setting by 20. Finally, imagine yourself being pushed in the back or elbowed in the ribs by nearly every person that you encounter. Did you do it? Good! Now you've experienced Hong Kong for yourself! ;) OK so maybe I'm just slightly exaggerating, but seriously, the place was nuts. The aggressive manner of many of the people there (be it locals or visitors) definitely took some getting used to, but it also made it fun! We looked at it as "part of the experience" and were able to laugh about it...in most cases :) We really did enjoy the trip!

Our first day in Hong Kong officially started around noon after we checked into the hotel and started to explore nearby areas. First things first, we were on a mission to find some lunch! We wanted to start off with something authentic so after aimlessly wandering around Kowloon (the part of HK that we stayed in) we ended up deciding on a place that looked packed - always a good sign! We requested a table for two and were quickly ushered to a small round table where 3 other diners were already seated. Talk about awkward! Strange for us, but the others hardly seemed to notice so we decided that the seating arrangement was probably not out of the norm for that particular restaurant. Once we left the restaurant, we spent our time exploring Tsim Sha Tsui, checking out the many, many stores and restaurants along the way. Finally, it was time to meet our friends, Jason and TJ, for a Christmas Eve candle light service (at an English speaking church). Jason is a good friend of Matt's from college. They met several years ago and have stayed in touch ever since. Jason was born in HK and his parents still live there so he and TJ visit often. It was SO much fun to meet them there and see some familiar faces! We were thankful they thought to invite us to church. It was just a great way for us to shift our focus away from the crowds of HK to what the real meaning of Christmas is. We were admittedly feeling a little homesick, knowing that had we been in the states, we'd be surrounded by family and fun Christmas Eve traditions. But the best part about Christmas is that you can celebrate the birth of Jesus no matter where you are! It was such a joy to sing our favorite Christmas songs among so many other people :) After church, we joined Jason's parents for an authentic Cantonese meal where I was brave and tried fish and lamb (two things I don't normally eat)! When the meal was over, we said goodbye for the night and Matt and I made our way back to our hotel. As we got closer we could NOT believe the massive crowds of people that were walking around. There was loud music playing, lights flashing and groups hanging out everywhere. It was certainly different than any other Christmas Eve either of us have ever experienced! Finally, we made it back to our hotel and settled in for some rest so we'd be ready for day #2 in HK...Christmas day... :)

Our hotel in Hong Kong, The Langham

After checking in to our hotel, Matt took a quick second to plan our agenda for the afternoon.

As we set off for lunch, we immediately found ourselves surrounded by tons of people. This was just an average sidewalk...nothing too special about this particular area.

Wooo, we found a place to eat lunch!

...and see that girl sitting right next to me? Yeah, I definitely don't know her.

Typical street in HK.

We walked up and down Nathan Road, a popular spot for shopping for tourists and locals.

Christmas Eve candle light service at Island ECC in HK. Not sure if its OK to take pics in church, but we did anyway, just for the memory :) It was so cool to be at a church service in Hong Kong!

Us with our sweet friends, Jason and TJ.

I thought people were supposed to be at home with family on Christmas Eve? Apparently, that's not the case in Hong Kong!

...but after a long day of walking around, we viewed the crowds more like this ;)

This is exactly what McDonald's looks like at midnight on Christmas Eve back in the states ;) We got a kick out of the lines and had to step in for a quick picture!

Random, I know. I just took it b/c I used to watch a lot of Jackie Chan movies with my bro and the memory is fun.

Matt's Singapore 10K

A few months ago Matt and a few of his coworkers signed up to run a 10K (about 6.2 miles) race. The big day (12/6) finally came and much to his dismay, Matt was getting over a bad case of the flu. I tried to convince him to just skip the race and rest up, but he was pretty set on running it...and he did a GREAT job in spite of the way he felt! I am so proud of him for always doing what he sets out to do! Way to go, Matt!!

 Matt and his coworker/friend Jason all ready to run the race :)

There's Jason approaching the finish line (he's not the one wearing sweat band!)

...and here comes Matt! Go, Matt, Go!!

Can't even tell he's sick!

Ahhh, so nice to be done! Good job guys!

The Great Barrier Reef - Day 4

For our final day in Australia we took our time exploring Port Douglas and then enjoyed the drive back down the coast to Cairns. We had such a fantastic time!! The entire trip will surely be one of our favorite memories from our entire experience over seas and we're soooo glad we got to see all the beauty that North Queensland has to offer!

View from our balcony...we could see the famous 4 mile beach!

Path to the 4 mile beach from the driveway of our hotel

Port Douglas' 4 mile beach

The great little place that we stayed in

Beautiful Port Douglas

The drive up and down the coast from Cains to Port Douglas is right along the water and its SO pretty! :)

We ceretainly never see road signs like this in the states!

The Great Barrier Reef - Day 3

On our third day in Australia we decided to visit the little mountain village of Kuranda. While the town itself is super cute, most of the fun is had in getting to and from Kuranda. We went with the Skyrail/Scenic Railway combo. Our original plan was to take the train up the mountain and the skyrail back down, but unfortunately, we got a bit turned around and ended up arriving at the train station just as the train was pulling away. Bummer! So we ventured over to the Skyrail station and hopped in a cable car ready for the 60 minute trip up the mountain. Now some of you may remember from a blog I wrote shortly after moving to Singapore that I am very afraid of being suspended in the air (ferris wheels, ski lifts and of course, cable cars), so a 60 minute ride was a huge feat for me! The skyrail ride was well worth it though! The views of the coast were absolutely breathtaking. Once we made it to Kuranda, we spent our time looking in all of the touristy gift shops and found plenty of Aussie souvenirs - including an authentic didgeridoo :) After an impromptu, hour long lesson on how to play the didge, we found a place to eat lunch and then made our way to the Scenic Railway.  Said to be one of the most scenic railways in the world, the Kuranda Scenic Railway weaves through the Barron Gorge National Park on a 90 minute ride from Kuranda to Cairns. We saw beautiful waterfalls and more amazing views of the coastline...

On the cable car headed up to Kuranda

 It was a LONG ride!

...but the views were amazing!

"I sure hope this box won't snap off this cable..."

Views like this made it possible for me to forget we were in a cable car

We made it!

Matt had been eyeing didgeridoos for a few days and decided it was time to get serious about them...

His first trying at playing one!

Time to go...

Matt inside the train

Just like from the skyrail, the views were amazing!

One more stop at the lookout point on our way back to Port Douglas - too pretty to pass up!

Listen to Matt play the didgeridoo for the first time :)

A little lesson on how to play...

The Great Barrier Reef - Day 2

From the day we decided to go to Australia over Thanksgiving, we knew our top choice of places to go was the Great Barrier Reef - its the whole reason we went to north Queensland to begin with! So when day 2 of our trip arrived we absolutely couldn't wait to head out to the reef - and let me say, the reef did NOT disappoint! From the moment we got into the water and looked down, we were amazed by the coral. We've never seen anything like it! The reef stretches more than 1,200 miles along the east coast of northern Australia. Its home to hundreds of species of fish and coral and its the only living thing on earth that is visible from the moon! As you can imagine, its a site to be seen! Our reef tour operators, Wavelength, took us to 3 different snorkel sites along the reef. We got a good 4 hours in of exploring the reef and its many fish and different types of coral. The pictures definitely wont do justice to what we saw, but they will give you a good idea of the awesome-ness that lays just below the surface of the water. Throughout the entire day, Matt and I kept saying to each other "I can't believe we're snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef!" and now that I'm sitting here in our apartment, I'm still so thankful that we got to share such a fabulous experience together. Day #2 of our trip is filled with such sweet memories - ones that we'll surely never forget! 

M & K, ready to board the boat and see the reef!

Leaving Port Douglas...the ride out to the reef took 1.5 hours. Talk about being far away from the coast!

We were blessed with a beautifully sunny day and fairly calm seas :)

We made it to the reef! We can hardly wait to see what's under the water! The turquoise area is actually just the sandy bottom of the ocean, but the dark-brownish bits are all coral reef. It stretched on for miles and miles!

First things first...we were there during stinger season so before we could enter the water, we had to put on full body lycra suits to protect ourselves from "stingers" - box jellyfish and tiny little Irakandji jellyfish. They can sting you and cause shock to your heart. Yikes! I'll take the suit over a sting and shock to the heart any day. We looked sooooo good in our suits ;)

Look at that coral below us! We are ready to see what else is down here!

Amazing! Our very first goal was to find Nemo...

Looks like we found him - and his family!

Well hello there Mr. Fish! This guy was HUGE!

So cool!

Neat, huh?

Look at the beautiful, blue clam. That's the biggest species of clams there is!

We can't believe we're at the Great Barrier Reef! Hey, what's that over there...?

...oh you know, just a SHARK!

Thankfully, we only ran into the harmless kind...white tip reef sharks.

Bye friends!