Honeymoon Part 3

I've been a horrible blogger. I can't believe the last time I've posted was more than a year ago and I've left a series of posts unfinished. Needless to say, lots have happened between then and now. No worries, my wife and I are still married and in love. Haha, I hope I didn't scare you there. So I will start with finishing our honeymoon.

We arrived in HK on a late spring night. Our hotel was the W just on the other side of the sea. The express train took us directly there (well sort of; we still had a great deal of walking to do). The hotel was fabulous and we love it. HK though, was a bit disappointing. It has certainly changed a lot since I last visited as a child. It was harder to find local restaurants than before (perhaps I was hitting all the wrong places). We didn't have that great of a culinary experience while we were there. The tourists sites were nice but a bit too touristy. Then again, that's why they are called tourist sites, right? The biggest impression I had with HK by the time we left (we've spent 2 days there) was that it felt like an extended mall and we hated malls. Plus, there seem to be more people from the mainland and overseas than the locals. It's just feels very commercial and not very relaxing at all.

Anyways, we got a the train after our HK days were over and went up to GZ. I knew from reading news reports and family members that GZ has changed a lot since I left. Most of the old districts were gone but part of it still remains. Knowing how much my wife loved traditional Chinese culture, I booked a hotel room for us at the heart of the old district. Despite taxi drivers refusing to take us there (the streets are too narrow and crowed), it was a great choice! Our hotel was right on top of the walking-and-shopping district and street food is EVERYWHERE! We even found a restaurant that serves you Korean BBQ and hot pot at the same time and it was all you can eat!

The good thing was that we used the subway to get around and it was half of a mile one way from our hotel to the nearest subway station so we were able to walk off the food we ate. While at GZ, I took my wife to all the famous sites and museums and she really enjoyed them all. She also met the maternal side of my family for the first time and to my surprise, they all got along really well despite most of them do not speak English. I've also met up with my childhood friend and they took us all over the old district one day just so we can take photos.

Overall, despite the influx of people from other provinces and the eradication of the Cantonese culture, we still loved our time at GZ. The food, the arts & culture, and the people we love were all too awesome not to miss.