HKDL: The Sequel (July 2019)

On my way out of China, I took a few days to stop at Hong Kong Disneyland. Looking back, I was lucky. I arrived in HK just before the protests began in earnest and avoided getting caught up in them. Selfish as it is, especially as I agree with the protesters, I’m glad my holiday wasn’t affected. After a year living in China, the last thing I wanted was to have my ‘breaking free’ celebrations brought down by politics. My trip could have ended a lot differently. Thankfully, it didn’t.

Saying Goodbye to New Zealand and a New Year Hell in Hong Kong

Finishing off my holiday, I spent a final day back in Auckland with two lovely ladies. We kept our plans vague and enjoyed a fairly laid back day walking around the city, enjoying a quiet lunch in a very sweet park and topping it off with a trip to the cinema to see Into the Spider-verse (which I absolutely recommend, if you’ve not seen it). At some point during the afternoon, we also treated ourselves to ice-cream on the wharf.

Hong Kong to Auckland

Hong Kong Disneyland was only the start of my wonderful Spring Festival holiday. My next stop was New Zealand, a place that I had dreamed of visiting for years – in no small part due to the beautiful scenery in the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit films. To say that I was excited, and that practically everyone I know was insanely jealous, is an understatement indeed.

HKDL Shows and Parades

While I was at Hong Kong Disneyland, I tried to see as many of the shows and parades as I could feasibly squeeze in to my 2 days there. I think I managed to do pretty well all considering (I saw 2 stage shows, 2 parades and a projection show). In this post, I am going to give a quick rundown of all 5 of these shows and try to unpack the over all strangeness I felt while watching them.

HKDL’s Hollywood Hotel

It’s not been the easiest few months for me so when I went to Hong Kong I decided to treat myself and booked 2 nights in the Hollywood Hotel. I’ve stayed in Disney accommodations before in Paris, so knew roughly what to expect, and I was not disappointed. The long and short of it is the hotel was beautiful, it was well placed in the park grounds and the staff were very friendly.

HKDL Jan 2019: Food Diary

One of the things I was most excited about my holiday was getting away from the same old foods that I’ve been eating for the past 5 months and have a bit of variety in my meals. That was exactly what I got at Hong Kong Disneyland and today I’m gonna share with you all the mouthwatering foods that I ate while at the park.

Year of the Pig at HKDL

It’s 2019 and people all around the world are celebrating the lunar new year, which this year happens to be the Year of the Pig. Not one to miss out on the festivities, Disneyland Hong Kong stepped up and was filled with (mostly outright unsubtle) nods to the celebrations with a multitude of meet and greets, shows and decorations throughout the park.

An Evening in Hong Kong

Before I came to Hong Kong, I spent a disproportionate amount of time on Google Maps, trying to figure out my routes. I took screenshots and made sure that, even without internet, that I would know where I was meant to be heading. Honestly, I am glad I did. It made the walk from the station to my hostel a lot less stressful. Admittedly, I did walk past the road I was looking for a good few times but I eventually spotted the sign for Kimberly Road and found the hostel shortly after.

Hengyang to Hong Kong (Crossing the Border)

Finally, after months of anticipation, the Chinese winter break begun and my long awaited – and, frankly, well deserved – holiday was finally here. My itinerary? 2 days in Disneyland Hong Kong and then 11 days touring the Northern Island of New Zealand. It was an incredible holiday, one that I will never forget, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. I’ve got a lot to say about everything I did so I’ll break it all down into “small” chunks and tell you all about it. So, without further ado, we’ll start today with the trip from Hengyang to Hong Kong!