Asia Trip 2007

Highlights:



China & Macau
Mom and I joined a 9 day tour that started in Beijing (Summer Palace, Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven) for the first half then Suzhou (Venice of China), Wuxi, Hangzhou and Shanghai for the second. Though cold in Beijing, we were lucky we did not get to experience it along with their infamous wind chill factor. In fact, our late afternoon jaunt on the Great Wall was windless and we even had to take off our coats to keep from overheating! Anyone who has been there knows how unusual that is. The second half of our trip welcomed us with slightly warmer weather but still overcast and murky throughout (winter "fog" or just plain pollution). We pretty much spent no more than a day per town. In a blur, we visited canals, gardens, temples and lakes plus the usual "factory visits" to suck out our tourist $. Most of our tour mates departed from Shanghai, but Mom and I put our free day in Shanghai to good use by eating real (nom-tour) food. Besides checking out the Oriental Tower, we splurged on dim sum and squab at the Grand Hyatt's high rise restaurant (the tallest building in China, 4th in the world). The food was painfully delicious! I think it's true but after 9 days of tour food my judgment may be suspect. The Xin Tien Di renovated area was also very interesting and had so many restaurants we had trouble choosing. We continued on to Hong Kong where I met up with 3 of our tour mates for a day trip to Macau. Our walking tour included savoring local street fare and ended with a Portuguese dinner. Yes - food plays a significant part in the highlights on my trip!

Hong Kong and Singapore
On the second part of our trip, I spent about 6 days in Hong Kong visiting my old haunts and checking out some new ones with my friend Tina. A couple of my favorite days out were spent hopping on the tram and wandering Central and taking a morning hike on the Peak with Tina. But the biggest treat was Tina's friends, William and David, taking us out on their boats around Sai Kung. They motored to a remote cove and cooked us a 5 course meal accompanied by champagne and wine! It a side of Hong Kong I've always adored - next to this dynamic and dense city are the serene coves and outlaying islands. It's just beautiful.

The last few days of the trip were in Singapore to visit my friends Chris, Kat and Tze. I spent a day with Chris' mom and visited the newly renovated National Museum of History - the most multimedia, interactive and modern exhibit I've ever seen. But my favorite part of the day was at the Singapore Botanical Garden. I'm not much of a botanical garden kind of person primarily because I've always been a bit disappointed with the gardens I've visited in the past. I expect something lush and packed with colorful and exotic flowers. Well, that exactly describes the Singapore Botanical Garden. It's tropical down there (it was in the high 80's when I was there and it's their cold season!) so it's dense and lush beyond belief. Most of my time in Singapore was spent chatting, chatting, shopping, shopping, and eating, eating, eating. Oh yeah - there was a bit of drinking and late nights too. Just as my recreational exhaustion nearly hit its peak, it was time to head back to Hong Kong for a last twirl before meeting up with mom and heading home.

It was a great getaway and my gal friends and I are already planning a trip for 2008!