Hong Kong oh Hong Kong ( the search for accommodation)

I don't know where did we get the idea that Hong Kong would be cheap. Hmph

After much delay and discussion for months about the trip, mostly trying to determine when would be the suitable time to go to Hong Kong because I can't possibly go on my due date. 

The first thing we did was to check the season. Hong Kong can be very humid and can also be the total opposite of having heavy rainfall. Both can be uncomfortable to travel. Due to this we decided to move our trip to December, and since Hong Kong is known for its tremendous fireworks during NYE, we decided to spend our NYE too. This is to replace last year's NYE; me and Adam went to bed at 10 pm! I kid you not! 

We moved the tickets and it was a hefty sum to pay (for us anyway). But since this would be our only overseas trip... we should have the budget for it. 

Next, the search for accommodation

We decided to try Airbnb for the first time as the hotels in Hong Kong are really expensive, plus we would want to live among the locals as a change for this trip. 

I narrowed down some of the accommodation that I find suitable for us. Mostly small studios. Since we are both in the design industry, we re picky when it comes to the design of the apartments. Im also picky on the bed that they provide. All in all, it has to look clean, and close to the public transportation. It is very important that you read the reviews before enquiring/booking to avoid disappointment or images that could be deceiving. Always ALWAYS read the reviews.

Days and days of researching, we finally narrowed it down to two places and contacted the host on the availability

Choice 1 is a beautiful apartment and I LOVE the bedroom. However, the host has confirmed that the place won't be available for the dates that we wanted. Boo hoo. We would definitely want to try living here if we ever come to Hong Kong again with a couple of friends as it is huge for just the two of us. 

Choice 2 is a much simpler studio apartment. As you can see it has a small kitchen, a double bed, and enough space for us to move around. It is so cute and definitely has the characteristics of Hong Kong. Small tight space. A bonus for this studio is that it has a private balcony for us to enjoy as we please. Contacted the host and she approved our booking right away. She did warn that her apartment is on the 7th floor. Thats my cardio for 2016 and we need to pack light (yeah, right!)

Im looking forward to spending winter in Hong Kong! 

So, should we bring BabyIJ?

Hong Kong oh Hong Kong

Well, truthfully we have never really thought over where should we go this year. Last year was filled up with many trips and we decided that we can go on ONE trip this year. After discussing for many months end of last year, we decided to go somewhere Asia since we haven't really been to all Asia countries. After weighing between Korea and HK, we decided to go to HK. Adam doesn't really fancy going to to Korea so feel free to let me tag along if any of you are planning to go to Korea. 

So, Hong Kong!

We are pretty much clueless about Hong Kong except for the fact that they have good halal dim sum and it is really dense in terms of buildings and people. I do worry if theres any language barrier as how we have experienced when we were in Uzbekistan. Seriously, we can't even order ice cream in Uzbekistan because we can't read the menu. After much thought, we decided to go to HK in November to give us ample time to prepare for the trip. Tickets booked and paid when we saw that MAS had a promotion of almost 50% the full price. 

But then... God has a better plan. He gave us a surprise in March. I got pregnant and my due date is in November, exactly on the dates that we have planned our trip. Lesson learned, NEVER plan too far ahead especially when you've decided to try for a baby. 

I'm thankful you came into our life BabyIJ. No trip is not worth postponing to accommodate you

Here is our very first photo of BabyIJ. This was taken when he was just a few weeks young. He was less than 1 cm. If you look carefully, he is that little bubble near the top. He is currently near to 30 cm at 22 weeks. 

and so with this little miracle, the planning for HK was put on hold and is to be continued ..