Remote

Remote does not describe where I am right now. I started in HK and took a taxi to the train to a plane to a bus to a speed boat (with our luggage sitting on it) to the white sand beaches of this island.

I am on the southwest tip of Thailand accessible only by a 30 minute boat ride it's 3am and we just arrived (we left HK at 8pm).

Our speedboat dropped us off in water...Where we had to carry out luggage onto the beach



I had to write this down. I am in complete awe of this situation and where I am right now. I cant believe I am experiencing this and know that I will most likely never be anywhere quite like this again. I love this trip


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Location:Ko Samet, Thailand

Leaving on a jet plane....

Sorry I missed a day, it's been a crazy 48 hours and I literally had not a single second to log on.

So let me pick up where I left off. We had another great night out on Tuesday night.


We found some fun Chinese men that wanted to join in the dance party and then I smoked my first hookah (sorry mom, when in Rome....). That was the earliest night I've been home yet....before 2am!

Wednesday was a free day. By free I mean still tons of things planned. We started the day with a hike down Bowen Road which has great views and lots of interesting things to see.








We then went back to the hotel and went to Kowloon, which is a peninsula off of HK. This street has tons of shopping and LOTS of stuff to see. It is more of what you think of when you stereotype China. We checked out some fancy hotels, ate, and then walked to the Taylor Street market which is where you can bargain and find lots of stuff to buy. Sorry, no good knock off purses.

We then returned out for the evening. They cook food outside...so weird.



Another night out last night. There are lots of Brits here and we met tons of fun people. People are crazy here....insane....






Today we went to Polytechnic University and listened to a speaker teach us about the culture of Chinese people and, in turn, how to market to them. One example is that they like to do everything in groups. So, if there are two lines and one is completely empty, they will wait in the other line so that they can all go through it together. Really interesting stuff

I am now at the airport waiting to leave Hong Kong (sad) and head to Bangkok (yeah!). When we get to Bangkok we are going to a remote island called Ko Samet. We will spend the weekend there sunning, snorkeling, hiking and relaxing. The weather in HK has been amazing - 70's and sunny and not a lot of smog. Thailand is hot...90's every day. I better get a tan!

We aren't sure if Ko Samet has internet service, but the consensus is that it most likely won't, so this may be my last post until late Monday night. Ill still keep track of what I'm doing so i can fill you in on my return. I can't believe this trip isn't even halfway done. I'm savoring every moment and I don't want This experience to end!! I do miss you all though....

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Location:Bowen Road, Kolwoon, Night Market, Poly Tech U

Fashion Forward

Alright, so I left off last night heading to dinner. Man was that a fun night out. We started with Chinese and wine. I must say that I have yet to experience amazing Chinese food here. We then went out for a couple of drinks and lots of dancing



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As mentioned, today was fashion day. We stared at Li and Fung, which is the worlds largest supply chain company in the world. It was really interesting. Did you know that "Made in China" really means assembled in China? The materials for the items we use are really sourced all over - not necessarily just from China. They work with tons of brands that you've heard of (Dior, Chanel, Express). We then Saw their showrooms which is like tons of mini stores set up so that vendors can see their product in it's environment. Sorry, no pictures - we weren't allowed.

We then took the subway (much larger, cleaner, and nicer than Chicago btw)


And had lunch and met with Moiselle, another fashion company. Our speech was from the owners son and quite interesting.

The streets here are crazy and crowded - and just amazing to look at



And some fun random pics for you...



Tomorrow is going to be a hike and possibly some shopping. I'll hopefully have some more scenery pics for you!

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Location:Li and Fung/Moiselle

Amusement Day

So today was a great day. Have I mentioned that I love it here? We started the day with a trip to Stanley market which is a bunch of small shops with trinkets, T-shirts, and cheap junk. I didn't buy you anything from there (don't get too excited, I think Thailand is a better place to buy the junk).

We then continued on to Ocean Park - which is a theme park similar to Disney. We rode some amazing rides that were on the side of a cliff






We then had out first business meeting with Paul Pei, who is the sales and marketing executive. He got his start in the states in the hotel industry - so it was interesting to hear him speak. We then finished our tour of the park by checking out the giant pandas. Dinner is next on the agenda and then a night out. Tomorrow is the fashion meetings, so it should be a great day!




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Location:Stanley Market and Ocean Park

Jubilee Street

Jubilee street....I saw it and it just worked. I LOVE it here. It is truly an amazing place - I love the night life, I love the colors, I love the friendly people, I love the hilly streets...I just can not get enough.

So we went to dinner at 12:30 last night after checking into the hotel. We went to this street that was insane...full of bars and clubs. Everyone is outside dancing, drinking, making friends. There are tons of tourists and expats here - more than I would have thought. We stayed out until 4am enjoying our vacation. Oh. All the music is American. Although the street was crazy (maybe comparable to Bourbon Street) I could have uprooted everyone to the US and no one would have known the difference.

This morning we got an early start and just spent some time walking through the zoo, botanical gardens and then parts of the city Everything is hilly and the shops are so unique.


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We then we to "The Peak" which has some incredible views of the city. We took a funicular up, which is almost like a trolley ski lift. There were shops, we ate lunch and just took everything in. Oh-the weather here is amazing. It was about 77 and sunny all day.




We then hiked down the mountain and some amazing greenery. It was probably a few miles and walking downhill at a 45 degree angle is harder than you think after a while.







We then walked to Aberdeen which is close by and went to the water to take a somewhat scary boat ride.






This is a restaurant that we boated by. Not the one we ate at, but still super cool. You can only get to it by boat.



We then took a bus back to the city and then took a bus/boat to a seafood restaurant called Rainbow on Llama Island. We had Lobster, shrimp, Groupa (not grouper) and more it was some of those places where you could choose your exact fish if you wanted



Sorry....the skyline was amazing, but it is hard to take pics from a moving boat.






Okay, thats all for now. I'm beat. Tomorrow we are going to the market in the morning and then Ocean Park, which is an amusement park, in the afternoon. We will have our first business meeting there and then we get to stay and ride the rides. I'm excited to see if I can still handle roller coasters like I used to!!

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Location:All over Hong Kong

I'm here!

Made it! We came in about 3 hours late...but were here. I know I'm blogging a ton -well see if i keep it up once the fun really begins. Plus, I hope I'm interesting and not inundating you guys too much...

So it's 12am here - or 10am Chicago time. I cant really see the city yet because it's so dark, but there are tons of Xmas decorations. It looks like a typicL city from what I can tell so far. LOTS of shopping. I've already seen Tiffanys...oh my! Even thought it's late, we are all heading to grab our first official non-airplane meal. Amazing. Tomorrow is all touristy stuff, so I hope I'll have some adventures to share!

Here are a few pics so far. This is us having out first cocktail on the obnoxious plane ride



There are 22 of us total - including 2 depaul staff. Here is out tiny hotel room and my roommate/coworker Julie and I. Don't judge us for what we look like after 24 straight hours of travel!






:)

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Location:The Garden View Hotel in Hong Kong

Brutal

So I'm writing this blog fully aware that I can't post this until I'm on solid land. This 14 plus hour flight is BRUTAL. I think I hit rock bottom at the 7 hour point while we were flying over Siberia (no joke).

A human body was not meant to sit this long. And while my bum is plenty round and squishy, it is not sturdy enough to get me through the duration pleasantly.

I know that once I land I am going to be in travel bliss - but for right now there is no amount of movies (we watched 4), random TV shows (about 6 hours worth), iPad air-hockey (we played a row tournament), airplane food (they are already preparing me for the mass amount of rice I a going to eat), red wine (thank god - that at least knocked me out a bit) or people watching to make this part of the trip fun. I know I'll look at it tomorrow as an adventure, but for right now it just plain sucks.

And, no, I am not going to read this again on my way back. My return flight is from Thailand to Tokyo and then back to Chicago and that is even a longer flight that his one. Oy...

Once we land it is going to be about 9pm in HK or 7am in Chicago (14 hour time difference). So, if i get a chance to post this soon after we land - have a great Saturday morning. We have about 50 minutes until landing and that might just be the most exciting news ever!



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Location:Somewhere in the skies