Back from my most recent trip to Asia. Even though I’ve only been back in Toronto for a week, Asia already feels like a lifetime ago. It’s hard to believe I fit in so much during my time there! One of the most unique things this time around was experiencing all four seasons during a two-week span. From the 30°c weather in Taichung to the snow in Shirakawago, I’ve pretty much seen enough in two weeks to last me for a year.

Starting from my first day of travels – I really didn’t do much except take a 15.5 hour flight from Toronto to HK and watch four movies while on board. (In case anyone is wondering, I watched 幕末高校生, 万能鑑定士Q, 後會無期 and 同桌的你. I would recommend watching the second and third movie only. The first was too stupid and the last was too sad.) After landing at HKG, I did something I’ve never done before – take the bus home from the airport. Since the protests were still going on in HK during that time, it was recommended I take the bus to avoid the sites. The bus itself wasn’t too bad, but it did take 1.5 hours to get to Chai Wan. Then I had to figure out how to walk home by myself while dragging all my luggage along. =S

After an uneventful first day, the next morning I met up with Cisca and Tina in Wan Chai for lunch. It was my first time meeting Tina and the first time I’ve seen Cisca since seeing her in Toronto last winter. Tina made reservations at a Japanese restaurant called Habitat. I ordered the tuna and uni set from their lunch menu, which cost $168 HKD. It included miso soup, a salad, chawanmushi and an ice cream mochi for dessert. It was very big for a lunch portion, but it was great food and great company for my first meal out in HK.

Later that day I took their suggestion and went to Admiralty to visit the protest site. It was a little eerie seeing all the tents pitched up in the middle of the road. I didn’t run into any full-fledged protesters, but there were a lot of people like me with their cameras out snapping photos. Aside from being impressed by how orderly the tents were lined up down the street, I was also impressed by the amount of art that was on display throughout the site. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

After leaving the protest site I backtracked to Pacific Place to browse around the shops then later stopped by Cityplaza to grab a tea before heading home. I wouldn’t say HK has changed a lot in the two years I’ve been away, but seeing the protest sites and hearing the opposing viewpoints has really made the city somewhat different. Even though I will probably never live in HK again in my lifetime, I really hope that there will be a happy outcome for the people in HK. =)