October Break: Hong Kong, Krabi, and Singapore

October break quickly came around, and not only marked a well-deserved two week break from school, but the end of one full year of working in Thailand. And in an ironic sense, what better way to celebrate that feat than spend most of this given break outside of it?

After a couple months of planning, and getting Ezzy on board with travelling with me, we decided to visit Hong Kong, Krabi and end the trip in Singapore, where I'd also be having TWO job interviews for potential employment after I finish Assumption. As the dates for the trip had been shifted a few days earlier, I unfortunately had a few days in Korat to waste before I headed to Hong Kong after the weekend. After receiving the news that my original flight to Hong Kong has been cancelled, I had to ring the airline up and reschedule my flight, with the only decent time being a 4:30am departure. As far from ideal as it sounded, it did turn out okay in the end as it did give me a good full day to explore the city. Ezzy wouldn't be arriving until later that day so I spent most of the morning navigating the Hong Kong streets, checking in to my hostel, and sleeping off the exhausting before he arrived. My hostel, aptly named Hong Kong Hostel, was located on the main Hong Kong island in the fashion district. As expensive as it was, the location certainly made up for it. The room however, was incredibly tiny. Ezzy and I decided to book a private room but there was literally only space for a double bed and that's about it. After finally reuniting we decided to head to the famous Ladies night market and to the most densely populated area on earth, Mong Kok. Despite boasting that crazy feat, it wasn't as busy as expected (then again, it was a Monday). After spending the majority of the night trying to find what looked to be good food, we stumbled upon this little restaurant serving predominately noodle bowls. By this point, we were both super hungry so we just defaulted. Looking a little overwhelmed by the situation I was in (mostly non-english or vague menu items, and sitting on a tiny table with randomers), a lovely lady asked us if she could order for us. We explained what we would like and she ordered for us. Although I'm surrounded by generosity from Thais, I was blown away by the friendliness of a stranger in a place where I wouldn't have thought it to happen often -- like if I was in New York or London for example. In terms of food overall, we didn't have the best luck there; we mostly just ate noodle dishes. It was hard to find places to eat that suited both Ezzy and I, and weren't too harsh on our wallets; Hong Kong was far more expensive than I have prepared myself for.

Disneyland!

The next day, we met up with my colleagues Archna and Shubhu and ventured to Disneyland! Seeming that my whole family had just all gone to Florida without me, I was happy that I was able to get my Disney fix. Inevitably much smaller than its American counterparts, Disneyland Hong Kong didn't quite live up to other Disney parks I had visited. Nonetheless, it was a great day going on classic Disney rides and thankfully without the massively long queues. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to score any photo with Mickey and Minnie Mouse but I'm glad I was able to visit another Disney park to check off my list. Archna and Shubhu decided to stay for the fireworks whilst Ezzy and I decided to explore the city a little more. We decided to dress ourselves up and go to the Ritz-Carlton and visit the highest sky bar on earth, The O-Zone Bar. Located 118 floors up, the sky bar was very classy with expensive drinks to match. We only felt it necessary to have one cocktail each but the view was fantastic and really made me want to live in a city like this.

Drinking in style.

On our last full day in Hong Kong, we decided to visit the other big tourist spots on the island; in the morning we visited Big Buddha (also known as Tian Tan Buddha) and the Po Lin monastery. The Buddha statue sat high on top of a hill and took 268 steps to reach its summit. Inside was very plain and no photos could be taken but the outside and the view stemming from it was exquisite. Opposite the statue was the Po Lin monastery, where many devout monks reside. Lots of vegetarian snacks and meals were offered and it was very interesting to get a sense of Thailand again being surrounded by monks and hearing Buddhist chants. However, the monks at this monastery wore grey not orange. To save money, we decided to take the 45 minute bus ride to and from the statue, which gave us plenty of time to figure out what the next plan was. As time wasn't on our side, we decided to head straight to Victoria Peak, perhaps the most famous landmark in Hong Kong, due to it being the highest point on the island (554m above see level) which offered spectacular views of the city. When we reached, we had to wait around 20 minutes for the vernacular to take us to the top. When we finally made it, we weren't disappointed. We came just before sunset so luckily for us, it was too crowded. We were able to take pics of the hazy skyline and really see Hong Kong in all its glory. We spent that night visiting the Pier and seeing the skyline at night. It was a great end to our trip.

Our last full day in Hong Kong: Big Buddha and The Peak.

The next afternoon, Ezzy and I headed back to Bangkok on separate flights and spent the next couple of days catching up on missed sleep and just generally relaxing before we headed to our next destination: Krabi. Before we headed to Krabi though, we stumbled upon what was perhaps the craziest cafe I have ever visited. It is called Unicorn Cafe and it was just this pastel, rainbow-filled cafe scattered with plush unicorn teddies and yes, UNICORN ONESIES. I encourage anyone who visits Bangkok to go there -- its simply magical! haha.

Unicorn Onesies exist!!

Anyways, I was a little sceptical as to how Krabi was going to stand out from all the other islands/beach towns I had visited in Thailand on previous trips. However, as much as Krabi is a tourist destination, it didn't feel as overpopulated and full on as the other places (most notably Phuket). We stayed in a beautiful 4 star hotel about a 2 minute walk from Ao Nang beach with lots of delicious local (and halal) street food nearby. The first night we were there, some of Ezzy's friend were staying just down the road from us, so we decided to meet them, explore the night markets in the local town and catch up over a few drinks. However, the rain adjusted those plans and after a quick 5 minute walk around the tarp-covered market, we decided to sit at a local bar and have a few drinks. We bonded over a game of Jenga and danced the night away with new friends. Certain people had to be carried home (clue: not me) but overall, it was a great night and an exciting opportunity for me as I was able to make some new friends who were living in Singapore! Kevin and Kaja, it was so nice to meet you! 

Made some new friends.

On our last day in Krabi, we went on a day tour around the islands. The "4 Island Tour" visited Railay beach, Koh Tup, Koh Poda, and Koh Gai (known in English as Chicken Island). Unlike the other day trips I have been on, the stops we made were also points of interest for perhaps 10 other companies, which meant that the small little beaches were inhabited by tons of tourists. Being the xenophone I am, it didn't make a pleasurable experience for me. I just wanted to relax on the beach in silence and maybe take some pictures. Yes, I still took pictures and made the best of the situation we were in; that's not to say the islands and beaches I visited weren't beautiful, they were really pretty. We had our lunch on perhaps the quietest of the islands, Chicken island (although I still fail to see where that name comes from -- apparently the island looks like a chicken? Also, Ezzy spotted one in the distance that resembled more a turkey and we somehow thought they maybe got mixed up? haha). During low tide, you would be able to walk between islands by a narrow strip of land. However, with the timings that we visited each place, we were not able to do that. Despite the hoards of people around the beaches, it was a nice change to see yet another beautiful part of the country I've had the pleasure of calling my home the past year. To end the trip in Krabi, Ezzy and I had a full body massage...for him, a good experience. For me? Not so much....haha. If anything, the massage made me more tense as it hurt so much, despite the numerous attempts at telling the guy who was massaging me to be softer haha.

Last stop on our 4 Islands tour: Koh Poda.

The last part of my trip quickly came around. We left Krabi early Tuesday morning (20th) and headed to Singapore. As much as this trip was for fun, I also had two job interviews lined up in the latter half of the week that could potentially change everything for me, so nerves were definitely settling in. That night, we met up with a bunch of Ezzy's friends and chilled out. (It's been nice meeting his friends as it gives me the opportunities to make connections in Singapore without feeling like I have to be attached to Ezzy's hip the entire time.) The next day, I woke up and my body was aching all over (I blame the Thai massage!). This was the last thing I needed before my interview the next day. To avoid being stuck in bed and feeling sorry for myself, I spent the day with my girl, Marisa. She was visiting her sister and brother-in-law who lived in Singapore. We decided to spent the day on Sentosa Island and hoped that a familiar face and positive interactions and laughs would make me feel better. We went on the Skyline Luge, which offered two tracks totalling 1.2km to race around on. We had to take a chair lift to reach the top and we were allowed three attempts. Despite the hesitance the first time round, the track was super fun and it was nice to go back to Singapore and do touristy things - the last two times I hadn't really done anything of the sort. That night, I rested at Marisa's sisters house and they had made dinner for me. With all of us being teachers, this presented the perfect opportunity to take the time and prep myself for the impending interviews. We spoke for about half an hour and I took notes and tried to absorb as much information as possible. It definitely made me feel more prepared for them. The first day of my interviews finally came around. Thankfully, some Chinese syrup/medicine made me feel better and I went to the HQ of the company and sat with the CEO of the company for around an hour -- mostly talking about myself and my experiences as a teacher. No real questions were answered but it was still intense and I had to really sell myself. That night, Ezzy and I were supposed to go to a secret show hosted by a local Singaporean band, The Sam Willows (check them out here). However, the UBER that was arranged to pick us up never did...after waiting over an hour for it. So, instead we drowned our sorrows in Nando's. The second of my interviews followed the next afternoon. For this one, the dress code was more casual and I met with the Head of Recruitment at a cafe downtown. The structure of the interview though was very formal and intense, I was asked questions that really put me on the spot and I had to think and act quickly and really sell myself without sounding too cocky. This interview lasted almost 2 hours (the longest interview I've ever had!), but there was never a silent moment and lots of questions were answered from both parties so I felt the interviews went well. In exciting news, I was offered potential job contracts by both employers! However, due to not being able to start until April next year, nothing has been set in stone yet. To celebrate two great days of interviews, I joined Ezzy and his friends at the local bars and just enjoyed life. I wasn't too sure how often I could actually do this if I was to move to Singapore, so I tried to enjoy it as much as I could then. Sunday morning was soon upon me, and that meant my two week adventure was over. Can't really be too sad to leave Singapore as I will be back next weekend to see Taylor Swift in concert!

But what a trip it has been. Draining in so many ways but an amazing experience nonetheless. Now back to (what I call) reality with work. My last semester at Assumption...let's end on a high!

Until next time.