The Octopus watch is not the only way to pay for your transportation fee, the most common way is by an Octopus Card. The Octopus card or Octocard works the same way as my wristwatch. I only purchased an Octopus watch because I wanted a watch and I liked the idea of anyways having some money on me that was not in the form of cash. One of the best things about the transportation in Hong Kong is that it is very cheap! I love traveling on the MTR because I could travel almost anywhere in Hong Kong by the MTR. I stayed in the New Territories which are further away from Hong Kong Island. So I would often on the weekends travel down to HK Island. So next time you travel to Hong Kong you might want to check out buying an Octopus watch, especially if you plan on going back regularly or live there. Luckily I still have some credit on my watch so I can easily get on the bus without worrying about buying a bus ticket next time I’m in Hong Kong.

Maggie and Liz!! I was on my way to Island ECC on Hong Kong Island and it was a long walk. Anyways as I was coming up to my destination here in Hong Kong I saw my friends Maggie and Liz sitting by a window in a coffee shop. They are such sweethearts. I’m really glad my friends introduced them to me this year.

So we were over by Causeway Bay here in Hong Kong eating lunch on Sunday and we ended up eating next to a couple of groups. I think they were a missions group of some sorts. Anyways they decided to put on a show for us while we ate. I did not get a chance to record it all but I did manage to get the tale end of it. Hope you all enjoy! Just click the link in order to view the  clip.

Well over here in Hong Kong/ Shenzhen, the temperature and weather are a lot different compared to North Carolina which is where I am from. So of course my temp is going to be a little higher due to the humidity. Especially since they scan your forehead.

So anyways they place me in quarantine! And I was there for almost half an hour… So once they take my temperature a different way, under my arm, they say in Chinese that my temperature was 36 degrees C. Well that is a normal temperature. A police officer came over and told me that my temperature was greater than 37 degrees and that I needed to wait a little longer and have my temperature retaken. Well this is when I said, 他说三十六。Which is you said 36 degrees. The officer looked a little surprised and started to repeat himself in English like he didn’t know what I was talking about. He quickly went back to his post and within five minutes they gave me back my passport and I was out of quarantine. I didn’t mind being in quarantine, I know they are supposedly taking precautions. I just thought it was funny how they tried to tell me something different and I was able to repeat to them what they said.

Well I will be uploading some more pictures soon! Hope everyone is doing great  back home and until tomorrow!

I have been taking pictures and I will be uploading some more on flickr, but until then I do have some pictures uploaded already! Please check them out if you want to! My flickr page is http://flickr.com/photos/brandonnc well thanks everyone and I’ll write again tomorrow!

Well as you all know I have finally reached my destination, which is Hong Kong! I am have been planning this trip for well over seven months. Anyways I’d like to share briefly my experience I encountered in the different airports that I traveled in to reach my destination. Well I left out of Raleigh North Carolina (RDU Airport) and I ended up getting there three hours before my plane left… Let’s just say that it was a very boring wait. I actually wish I had waited a little longer, because I could of spent the extra time with my family before leaving. But I have only been on an airplane twice in my life (this being the second time) and I did not know what to expect. Last year I also went to Hong Kong, but I traveled over to HK with a group. This time I was traveling over to Hong Kong by myself and then meeting a group of friends over there.

So overall it was extremely easy to find my different gates and checkpoints. I was a little nervous once I arrived in the Canadian airport. I did not stop at the International Toronto Airport last year, so I was not quite sure as of where to go at some times. But thankfully the majority of the Canadians that I met were very pleasant and very helpful. I did notice a pretty diverse culture in the airport and throughout my hotel. Oh just a word of advance, do not travel to Canada on Canada Day unless you want to be shedding out some extra dough… I did not do a lot because everything was a little expensive, I guess because of the tourists.

The funny thing is that Hong Kong is celebrating their return to China after being colonized by the Brits for 100 years on the 3rd I believe. So I will be able to experience Canada Day and Hong Kong return to China. I only hate that I will be missing the 4th of July. I really enjoy watching the fireworks and celebrating my nation’s heritage.

Anyways thats all for now, I’m a little tired and there is not much to report on for the time being. Especially since I just arrived here in Hong Kong and I need to get some necessities.  Plus I need to grab a bite to eat! Until later guys, zaijian!

C1- My Gate to Toronto-Hong Kong

Originally uploaded by brandonnc

So this is the gate that has taken me to Toronto, Ontario for my 13.5 hour layover… I’m only here in Canada for a little while and then I board my airplane to Hong Kong! I was lucky enough to come to Canada on Canada Day! What a coincidence! Anyways I flew with Air Canada and that is possibly why I had a layover in Toronto. Everyone has been extremely nice, except the custom’s agent. She frustrated me a little bit. Also to my surprise a lot of people speak French here in Toronto. I figured Ontario was a mostly English speaking Canadian province. I knew British Columbia spoke French and what not. Anyways I wish I could of stayed a little longer to explore, but my journey is for Hong Kong! Anyways I’ll write another blog post once I get in Hong Kong. It’s getting kind of late and I have to be at the Toronto Airport at 8am eastern standard time. Anyways later!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri_band

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_band

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands

It is often a great idea to keep an eye out on the weather that your travel destination endures. I recommend keeping an eye on your travel destination’s weather forecast a month or two before your trip. This will give you a pretty accurate idea of what your trip is going to look like. It will also help with your plans of travel and the different activities that you could look in to if the weather goes unplanned.

There are different ways to moniter the forecast for your travel destination. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can use the weather app built in. If your using Windows Vista or Windows 7 you have the choice of setting the weather gadget to your travel destination. And if your on a Macintosh then you have the option to use the weather widget.

If you are interested in traveling to Hong Kong I have been monitoring the weather year round now that I have been traveling there for two years now. During the month of June it has been very rainy. I remember last year around this month it also was very rainy. Upcoming July should be a mixture of rain and humid weather.If you are wanting to know the temperature then just take the celsius temperature and plug it into this formula. Tf = (9/5)*Tc+32

Hong Kong is very humid year around so be prepared to wear light clothing. Also make sure to wear clothing that will allow your body the ability to breathe. Otherwise you might have a pretty miserable trip!

Anyways thats all for now! I hope my readers find this tip handy! Later

I actually wish they would extend the visa to two years because this will be the second time I’ve had to apply for a Chinese visa. I just went last year! So I wish I could just use the same visa I had last year. Anyways back to applying for the visa. Another major problem with applying for a visa to China is you cannot just mail in your passport and application. They require a physical person to hand them the application. Therefore you have to go with a service that exclusively takes people’s passports to the Chinese passport office. This adds even more to the cost of your visa. This year I am traveling to Hong Kong by myself so I am using a service called http://www.visaexpress.net/. There price is fairly cheap… at least compared to some other services. Plus my friends that live in Hong Kong have greatly recommended this service to other foreigners that are traveling to China.

If you want to save some money and a trip to mainland China is secondary, then you could always travel to the Embassy in Hong Kong and perhaps you can obtain your visa there. Most of the time people are not denied visas but it does happen. Since traveling to mainland China is a major priority to me, I am making sure I have my visa before leaving the country. The cost will not be cheaper due to the currency exchange, the Chinese government is pretty good at keeping the cost as close as possible to what we pay here in the States or for the people in Britain. The only cost eliminated is the fee a third party service charges for their service. Other than that it is equal to what you pay in the States. So try and get your visa as soon as possible and if I were you just go for the 1 year visa. Who knows you might want to travel again to China before your visa runs out. The one year and the six month visa are the exact same in price. **I plan on traveling back to China next May to visit my sister Vicki and her husband Ben and my two neices, that is if they would like for me too!**
http://www.visaexpress.net/china/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China