Adventures in Asia: Day 1

Holy Moley did my day begin early! We were super excited to be on our way, though, and totally amped when to actually get on the plane. We were only a few hours from Japan, not to mention Hong Kong!


Well, let me tell you, being that excited makes for a very long flight. We weren't as enthusiastic to be on the plane 4 hours later, realizing we were only halfway through the first of two flights. I think the photo is a good indicator of how we felt in those cramped little seats...


We did eventually make, and boy howdy was Japan amazing! We landed at Nartia International Airport which is in the American equivilant of a suburb of Tokyo, and then we had to transfer to Haneda International Airport which was just over an hour away located on the edge of the city right on the water. It was a super fun ride.




We had an 8 hour layover in Tokyo giving us approximately 3.5 hours to explore the city. We decided to make our way to Tokyo Tower, which is the tallest structure in Japan. Getting there was more fun the the tower itself, I think. We had to navigate the MTR (metro system) and then take a 20 minute walk to it. Along the way we saw unexpected, often hidden, always beautiful aspects of the city that we most definitely stopped to appreciate.



The view from the tower was crazy! From the observation room thingy you could see all the way to Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Disneyland (on good days). It was too smoggy/foggy to see that far though, so I paid attention to what I could see and took time to think about the expansiveness of the city and how it still supports aspects of traditional Japan even though it's one of the most modern places on earth.




After that it was back on the plane for a 4 hour flight to Hong Kong. How did we survive claustrophobic economy seating after such a long day? Well, we didn't. WE GOT BUMPED TO BUSINESS CLASS! Booyah!! It was TO DIE FOR! Huge seats with foot rests that reclined super far back, acres of leg room, even the blankets and pillows were nicer. AH! I just wanted to spend the night right there...


We eventually did make it to Hong Kong. Our taxi ride was an interesting one. The city was so captivating. It's massive and everywhere you look there are enormous sky scrapers. They were really very pretty, all lit up and hazy look in the rain (torrential down poor welcome us to the city). I was definitely happy to finally be in Hong Kong after months of working and waiting.


The happiness that filled my body as we pulled up to the hotel was indescribable. After 30 hours of travel, I don't think I could have kept going. Believe me when I say the first and only thing we did upon our arrival to the Stanford Hotel in Mong Kong was shower and go to bed (besides record the following video, of course).


SIDE NOTE: If you want to see the all of the photos from day one, click here or visit my Facebook page!

It's Crazy to Be Here

Okay, so I've been WAY more tired than I thought I would be. An 18 hour time difference plus activity packed, 17 hour days means that I don't have the energy to eloquently update this bad boy. But, rest assured, I will be blogging all about amazing Hong Kong in the near future. Sadly we are leaving tomorrow, and so each day starting July 9th (having arrive home safe and sound), I will write about a day of my trip and cover my blog in photos. If you are interested (and even if you're not) I urge you to check it out because I've gotten some fabulous shots. This trip has been a larger than life blessing. I've seen and experienced so many different things that it is almost like it's all a dream. Alexis says I'm photo happy, but I just don't want to forget that this actually happened.

You'll see what I mean in about 2 days when the record begins... Until then, here's a teaser that demonstrates just how exciting our time here has been:

It's the Hong Kong Countdown!

4 hours until I leave BYUH
7.5 hours until I board the plane
15.5 hours until I reach Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
24 hours until I fly out of Haneda International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
28.25 hours until I land in Hong Kong

I am excited to get to see these two amazing places!


Look for updates each day about our adventures! Just look at that city! How will I not have something to say?

Honu

Some friends and I went to Shark's Cove on Thursday. It was an absolutely beautiful day for snorkeling. The water was perfectly flat, there was no wind, and there were only fleeting moments of cloud cover. This meant for calm seas with clear visibility. That visibility allowed for some amazing sights.


We chose to leave the little cove (pictured above) and venture out, around the rocky coast (imagine us on the other side of tha rocky wall protecting the shore) and over to Three Tables, located west (left in this case) of the cove. Doing so allowed us to not only avoid tourists, but to see a much richer, undisturbed environment.

Feeding on the enormous, craggy rocks were the most beautiful fish! I could just list off their names, but I know that would tell you nothing of what I saw so here are some photos.

butterfly fish

moorish idols

eyestripe surgeonfish

yellow tangs

Those are just a few of the fish I saw. We also saw parrot fish, sergeant fish (which look like little silvery zebras), and humuhumunukunikuapua'a, the Hawaiian state fish (google that, I dare you). There were so many fish of all shapes and sizes! Some were small, like aquarium fish. Others were bigger than regulation size footballs. And those mentioned are just the fish that I knew by name. There were others I'd never even seen before in an array of colors and shapes. The lava tubes, and huge rocky caves make the perfect home for coral and fish that feed on it so there was no shortage of wildlife to be seen.

As we headed towards the shore there was a huge school of whitebar surgeonfish and indo-pacific sergeant fish. Hundreds of them just swimming along maybe two feet below us. Alexis was brave and dove after them, but we were coming up on the rocks rather quickly so I was content to watch from afar. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't because she saw a huge eel as she went down and that TOTALLY would have freaked me out.

The big school of fish wasn't even the best part. As we swam around towards the tables we saw sea turtles (honu in Hawaiian). Alexis has good turtle juju and so we saw two. The first one was ten or fifteen feet below us. She was average in size, maybe a little on the small side and she was gorgeous. As if that wasn't cool enough we soon saw a second one. This one was just a little one, maybe only a foot, for and a half long, but she was much closer to us. She was beautiful to watch. Vibrant green and so graceful, she swam out to sea as though she were flying. The sun shown right down onto the ocean, the rays broken up by the water. This gave everything an ethereal glow. Little bits of life floating in the water would catch the light and sparkle. And there she was, not 10 feet from me looking me right in the eye. It was moving to say the least. I swam with her a little, watched her come to the surface for air and then she dove and it was time to say good bye.


I realize that turtles, especially when snorkeling or diving, are not a rare sight here, but this was a gift of an experience. There weren't people all around trying to get a look, just the five of us swimming along in perfect conditions. There weren't kids splashing or the sounds of cars driving by, only the sound of the water hitting the rocks and gentle kick of our flippers. The seculsion of it all is was made the experience so worthwile. It was like I was looking back in time at an island that hadn't been touched by the abrasive west. It was so humbling. I cannot wait to go again! If any of you ever come visit me, we will definitely be going here.

P.s. None of these photos were taken by me. I do not have an underwater case for my camera. However, my birthday is coming up... That's right. I said it. That's just now badly I want to be able to take photos of my own under water experiences because so far they have been AWESOME! ;0)