Hong Kong and Bangkok, Thailand! Day 2!!!

Jet lag was not in our favour last night/today!  Although we had a pretty good sleep on the teeniest bed we've ever slept in together, we were awake by 4am (not too bad, as that's 4pm Canadian time!).  We didn't want to lie in bed and get frustrated that we couldn't get back to sleep, so we got ready, packed up our stuff and checked out of our room.  The hotel had no problem storing our luggage until we had to head to the airport for 10am. 

Note: the mornings were quick for us to shower and get out the door, as my blowdryder AND straightener didn't work in Asia.  I was slightly frustrated, as my hair gets OUT OF CONTROL, but I was hoping I could manage that, the morning was okay, but by the time we walked around Bangkok, OH DEAR!...time and photos will tell!

It was a GORGEOUS 25 degrees when we left the hotel at 5am to walk to Causeway Bay, have breakfast, get a coffee and do some sightseeing.  There was a FREE shuttle from the hotel to the Bay, so we didn't have to worry about navigating our way around, which is great when you're tired!

Bright eyed and bushy tailed at Causeway Bay!

My husband is looking a LITTLE sleepy this morning!

There are high rises EVERYWHERE in this city!

And traffic, all day and night!

We loved that there were elderly Chinese people doing Tai chi and other various workouts along the Bay early in the am.  I mean, seriously, there was a lady around 80, that Graham and I couldn't stop admiring as she was more fit than us by far!

I took this for my brother-in-law Allan, I thought he'd love it!  Graham had no idea what Beer Pong was, but it was here, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!  Canadians would be in a lot of trouble here!

Cityscape.

I was amazed at how well Hong Kong used EVERY BIT OF SPACE IMAGINABLE to build.  Seriously, there are ZERO spaces in between buildings and apartments here!

This ladies and gentlemen, is how things are built here.  By bamboo scaffolding!  I am sure it's SUPER sturdy, but my feet could not handle standing on this for hours to build. That and I can't climb like a monkey!  They do this without a harness or anything else well, and their supplies on their back!  Think this would be legal here?!?!?!

Chinese buns and the BEST ICED COFFEE ever, were our breakfast!  I know, not the most healthy, but COME ON!  It was the most delicious breakfast we had eaten in ages, and really didn't want to start the day with congee (congealed who know's what) or rice!  These buns were delicious, moist and less than 50 cents Canadian!

Graham taking artsy, fartsy photos with our new camera!

Patiently waiting for the shuttle to the Metro Station.

We took the train from MBK station to the airport.  Not only was this super cheap and fast, but you get to check in for your flight AT THE TRAIN STATION!  No luggage to lug around and you walk straight to customs when you arrive at the airport!  It was the best experience and completed in less than 2 mins!  We even got upgraded to emergency exit seats for the flight to Bangkok!

Graham on the train to Hong Kong airport.

Although we don't have any photos of the airport, it was incredibly bright, airy and beautiful!  We had GREAT noodle bowls at the airport, which ended up costing about $4!  Now that's cheap airport food!

Our flight with Thai airways was fantastic, apart from the food.  We had no idea what we were eating at one point, and BOTH of us had to spit out our food, which for Graham is a miracle, as he eats ANYTHING!

Now onto Bangkok for the next 2 days! The flight with Thai Air was a great start to what we hope would come our way! We were exhausted by the time we landed, but we wanted to try to make it to Khao San Road before we needed to crash for the night. It was overwhelming at first, but we enjoyed our first night! Graham went to bed early, and I went out after dropping him off, as I couldn't sleep and neither does Khao San Road!  Needless to say, it was also HOT, HOT, HOT at 42 degrees with humidity today!

We are staying at the New Siam Riverside, and it is beautiful here.  They have ferry access to anywhere you need on the river, so it is just perfect!  At less than $40 a night, even better!

Welcome to BANGKOK!  It is full of life, colour, culture and AMAZING street food and shopping!

A typical DAY scene on Khao San Road!  This place REALLY comes alive at night!

Typical street food scene in Thailand.  It was amazing seeing everyone at work!

Making my "non" spicy papaya salad (and by non spicy, I mean, so hot I could barely eat it...mostly because this lady couldn't speak a word of English!).  Although really hot, it was delicious and easily addictive!  This fresh, hot dinner cost me 30 baht, or $1!

Graham enjoying a DELICIOUS mango shake (mangoes and crushed ice blended)!  They are refreshing and a whopping 75 cents.  We knew the second we drank 1, we'd br drinking these daily!

The famous Mr. Thailand tuk tuk (seriously, it's in EVERY guide book).

The sun starts to set here VERY quickly!

What's better than AN HOUR foot massage, on the streets of the market when you're exhausted beyond belief?  Paying 200 BAHT or $7.50 for one!!!

This was our first experience with the most friendly Thai people.

They offered EVERYTHING from massage to fish spa, to manicures and pedicures and "happy endings" (if you are unware of what this is...it's a Thai speciality offered to men after a massage).  I found this sad.

This is a FISH SPA.  You put your feet in it and the little fishes eat off your dead skin (like a pedicure).  We were not brave enough to try it!

Khao San Road getting busy!

There was an entire street of restaurants and bars.  It was beautiful and hot, so a perfect time to stop in for a drink and a late night snack.

This is my "it's hot and I could REALLY use a beer face"!

A beer, Tom Collins and Satay= $6!!!  Graham was HILARIOUS at this point!  We had a conversation that went like this:

Graham: "Do you think this chicken tastes weird?"

Me: "Umm, it's PORK!"

Graham: "I guess that makes sense then!"

I apologize for the language.  Signs like this were SO common to cater to tourists, what was more hilarious, was that when you would go to order a drink, no one spoke English (even though this sign was in English), so you'd have to order your drink by pointing at a photo of what you wanted, hoping you liked what it was in the end!

You can't go here, without shopping!  Knock offs are a plenty, but a lot of them are factory defaults and not knock offs at all!  I bought Birkenstocks for $7.25!!!!!!

Well, there was the taste of Hong Kong and Bangkok!  Temples, Street food and more of Bangkok tomorrow!