Thread: Leaving to Asia @ the end of Jan.

So I'm going to be heading out of the country with my girlfriend for the first time at the end of January for about 4 weeks. We plan on hitting 3-4 places in that time frame, but as of the moment not sure which places first.

For one week we'll be staying in Hong Kong, I have relatives there. We will be landing and leaving from HK. Luckily my grandmother is still around so we'll be staying at her place. Take my grandma to stoll with us a few times and just do some sight seeing by ourselves. The subway there is so convienent and clean it's amazing! The food will be as equally delicious and of course shopping! In HK I plan on at least trying one of the timed noodle eating challenges since I'm absolutely in love with ramen!

The second place we plan to visit will be her hometown in China called Toishan. It's not a very big city but it's been developing quite nicely, so I've been told. Here is the main stop of the trip so she can introduce me to some of her friends and family back "home". I'm sure there'll be lots of eating again with many of her friends and family to meet. Her parents which live in the states still have a house there so we'll be staying there (woohoo saving money on the hotels!). I'm sure we'll be visiting the schools she has attended along with lots of nostalogical places for her.

Thirdly is Beijing. Here we will be strictly tourists and lots of sight seeing. Of course we'll be stopping by the Great Wall, along with the Forbidden City. Can't wait! Since we're in China of course we'll be heading out to the hot springs and it'll be my first time! I'm very excited for these new and exciting experiences.

As for the final week we're still unsure of where to go. My uncle has recommended Macau and that's a definite possibility. Lots of casinos and food I hear. They say that's a fun place and my girlfriend seemed to like that idea. If not there we may just extend our stays at the other three locations a little longer, probably mainly HK. I'm sure there'll be a lot of pictures which I'll share with the community when I get back. I even specifically bought a new Sony camera for $500.00, not including the memory chip and bag that I'll have to get for it as well.

So as of now I'm going on a diet, trying to lose some weight which I'm sure I'll be gaining back as I roll on through Asia. Lots of running for sure lol. If there are any other places that anyone would recommend while being in China I'm all ears, or any sites I should see in the three cities I've said feel free to let me know. But just to put it out there, for the fourth place, we would like a place closer to one of the three original cities we plan to visit. Shanghai is out of the running, because it was either Beijing or Shanghai, and we chose Beijing =D. Since Macau is close to HK that's a big possibility and on top of that my uncle recommended it haha. We plan on ordering our tickets by the end of December or beginning of January. I'll try to put in as many updates as possible througout the trip, if not then when I get back.

You should check out Singapore or if you're trying to just relax head out to Thailand or Indo (not sure if you consider these locations far). But if you do consider it use the smaller airlines like Jetstar they have fairly cheap flights!

Originally Posted by beemer freak

You should check out Singapore or if you're trying to just relax head out to Thailand or Indo (not sure if you consider these locations far). But if you do consider it use the smaller airlines like Jetstar they have fairly cheap flights!

I don't know anything about jetstar but airasia is really cheap. Hong Kong to Bangkok for $154 picking a random date. They even have a promotion on a return ticket back to Hong Kong for $84!

Thanks Jake and Beemer for the suggestions. I'll look into those and see if they're worth checking out. $84 for return ticket is a steal, but how's the plane? I don't want to get on a plane which isn't comfortable or reliable lol. Probably going to be hitting up Cathay Pacific for the plane ride to Asia and back. Their service is good and their planes are usually better in quality. My family has always flew with them since I was young haha.

Update: Things are quite finalized, we have a friend that can hook us up with a tour that'll pass by both Beijing and Shanghai for a week so I guess we'll be making an extra stop lol. First is the tour, then down to HK, Macau's next, and finally her hometown. We're going to be purchasing our tickets this coming week and hope the visa's to China won't be too much of a hassle. By the way if anyone knows a company or service that has exotics that you can rent and track in Macau please let me know. I've heard of it but where I've been searching nothings come up.

Originally Posted by Nemesis07r

Update: Things are quite finalized, we have a friend that can hook us up with a tour that'll pass by both Beijing and Shanghai for a week so I guess we'll be making an extra stop lol. First is the tour, then down to HK, Macau's next, and finally her hometown. We're going to be purchasing our tickets this coming week and hope the visa's to China won't be too much of a hassle. By the way if anyone knows a company or service that has exotics that you can rent and track in Macau please let me know. I've heard of it but where I've been searching nothings come up.

i'm not sure there is a track that you can race any exotics there. as far as i know when they have the GP it is right on the streets. you guys will have fun in macau...but that is definitely a place you go with your boys. it's some wild fun for the guys there if you know what i mean.

shanghai was a great city with awesome night life scene. there are some awesome clubs there!

HK too! LKF is the place to hang out if you are looking to go drinking.

i been to other smaller cities in china that were developing. just gotta watch your stomach and what you eat there. i ate a lot of crazy stuff and luckily did not get sick. my friends were not so lucky...but whatever that alcohol they gave me that "chinese alcohol" i cannot stand it. it taste like a old moldy carpet drink. it makes me just want to puke!

if you have not gotten your tickets yet i would also say check out japan. maybe up north like hokaido area but cities like tokyo and osaka are always fun too. hands down they have the best food in any place i have traveled.

have fun in asia!

Thanks for the tidbits roadstar but I don't think I'm going to be down there clubbing very much haha.

Update: Finally came back from N.Y to get my Visa, and we've pretty much booked and scheduled everything. I will be leaving on Feb 2nd from N.Y. to Hong Kong. Layover for 2 hours and then to Beijing. We'll be there for 5 days, visit the tourist attractions such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City and ect. We will fly out to Shanghai and be there for another 5 days. After Shanghai it's off to Hong Kong. We'll be living with my relatives there for about 3-4 days and eat lots!. We'll then take a bus to her home town in China. Stay there for about a week, say hi to her friends and family there. After that's all said and done, back to HK. Don't know if we're going to Macau yet or not. It's only a few hours away by bus and we'd only be there for another 2 days or so. Final destination is back to H.K for another 3-4 days until the 28th when we'd be flying out back to the states.

Can't wait, very excited, and expect many pictures when I get back!

I know you've already booked everything for your trip, but started typing anyways.

I've always wanted to visit Guilin in China; whenever my wife and I get there, it's definitely on our list! That's the place in china that is surrounded by hundreds of tall skinny shaped mountains.

Post about your trip when you get back though- Macau seems like it'd be pretty awesome, I've heard that overall 3 times as much money is spent on gambling there compared to Vegas!

Yea, definitely look forward to a lot of pictures.

Originally Posted by GoHokiesGo

I know you've already booked everything for your trip, but started typing anyways.

I've always wanted to visit Guilin in China; whenever my wife and I get there, it's definitely on our list! That's the place in china that is surrounded by hundreds of tall skinny shaped mountains.

Post about your trip when you get back though- Macau seems like it'd be pretty awesome, I've heard that overall 3 times as much money is spent on gambling there compared to Vegas!

yep way more money in macau over las vegas. the gambling culture there is totally different from US. vegas has a lot more fun and games kind of gambling. macau is more straight serious gambling.