DISNEYLAND HONG KONG

Ask any ozzy which country would they love to go and visit and most answers would be America. Ask me why I'd want to go to America and I'll say 2 things, I would love to see Beyonce and go Disneyland. Growing up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, I would only dream of going of going to places like Disneyland. I'm a big theme park person and we don't have any in Sydney. =(

So when I came to Hong Kong, another big attraction was DISNEYLAND HONG KONG! Boy, was I excited. I didn't know Honkers (Hong Kong) had a disneyland. Even tho it wasn't America, it still was Disneyland!

Let the adventures begin

Where the magic begins

Minnie Mouse

Mother & Daughter

Handles are even Mickey... Cool aye!!!

Black minnie and minnie minnie

OMGEEEE where getting closer!!

HOORAAYYY for Disney. Our first time!

Can you see the excitement in my face!

Fountain in  before the entrance

More interested in the fountain than taking a pic

Look.... I have our passes

I'M HERE!!!

Meet my niece, she is probably the only child that doesn't smile at Disney.

Dreams really do come true. Can't believe I'm here...

Tahitian Terrence

Photo Frame 

Tarzans Tree House

The big boss 

Tarzans Monkey

So after we had gone on the Safari and Tarzans tree house, we mad it just in time for the 'Flights of Fantasy Parade' and it was the first time I would have an encounter 

So after finally getting our passes, we were finally inside. At this moment, I felt like a princess. Hahahaha! Not caring that I was 21 yrs old, it just felt so amazing being inside and seeing everything that I could've ever imagined would be in Disney.

Playing the drums

She was scared of the statues. =(

On the Safari

You couldn't wipe the smile off my face that day.

And so I must concluded it here as my internet is now playing up again. Disneyland will have a few parts in the blog as it was my favourite place in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!!!

Hong Kong continued...

Soooo, I accidentally started to ramble on about meeting my niece for the first time. But how could I not, how precious is she! Anyway back to Hong Kong adventures.

Where do I start... hmmm! Oh The Peak. So I think it was my 3rd day in Hong Kong and I had looked up things to do in Hong Kong (via internet) and The Peak was a must do. The Peak is the highest point in Hong Kong, where you can over look the city. So I asked my SIL if she wanted to go to The Peak. But oh did we not know how much of a trip it was going to be. When i had looked directions to get there, 1 person told me that all we had to do was catch the escalators all the way to the top then catch a cab the rest of the way. We did just that, however unfortunately we got a cab driver who could not speak english. Ugh! So after we explained to him we want to go all the way to the top (mind you, we tried to say it in broken english) he persisted to take us anyway. As we enjoyed the ride we came to these set of apartments at the end of the road. Not sure where but we did. Cab driver turned to us and said 'Peak'
As weird as it was we just jumped out anyway, he didn't know a word of english so we didn't want to argue (As I can be a little hot headed at times) We got out and asked those valet people standing in front of the building the cabbie dropped us off in front of, how do we get to the peak. And his reply 'no cab, walk up that way' and pointed us into the direction of a walking road. So off we ventured...

So we walked up the road to find an abandoned road, which was the trail hike up to the peak. We had seen the peak from where we were standing so we started to walk up. Half way up the first steep slope, not gonna lie, I wanted to give up. But no, I wanted to actually do something so I ignored my laziness and push forward. So halfway up that first slope, we had seen these old ladies (not too old, but old enough for me to say old) were walking down. We stopped them and asked them how long does it take to get up there, they said 30 min hike. I was like thats kool, if you old ladies can do i'm sure my SIL and I can too.

An hour later.... Not sure how far we had come but it felt as tho we were going to die. I especially felt bad for my SIL as she was carrying my niece in a sling kind of thing and I just had a backpack with my laptop in it. So of course we stopped and took pics as it was both of our first time to The Peak.

Putting on a smile, but really wanting to die inside. 

SIL and my niece 

Almost there... I think

After pictures we continued on... 1hr and 45mins later, we conquered The Peak hike. And guess what we found????! A tram that comes up! (After seeing that tram, I was stabbing the valet man a thousand times in my head!!!) What was meant to be a 30 min hike ended up being a almost 2 hour hike. Anyway so we got to The Peak and found a mall, it was like its own little suburb up there. But overall in that month we ended up going to The Peak a few times.

 The Trail we walked

 The Peak during the day

 My brothers first time to the Peak

A family photo on The Peak

 The view from the back of The Peak

 The Peak at night

 I prefer going at night, its amazing. 

My niece and I at The Peak

HONG KONG, the real concrete jungle.

As previously said on my recent post, I explained that I would write about Hong Kong.

Why Hong Kong? Well, for most of 2011 I lived in Hong Kong. And must I tell you, what a culture shock that was!

But why Hong Kong of all places? Well, my Eldest brother had a working contract in Hong Kong and so thats where my adventure started.

HONG KONG SARs.
Hong Kong is situated in the south coast of China. And is a special administrative region (SARs) meaning that is still apart if China but..... I'm not sure what the real difference is. LOL!

Exact location of Hong Kong

Overview of Hong Kong from The Peak

My first trip to Hong Kong was November 2010 and WOW! was I amazed. I spent the month of November there, and it being November there alot of festivals happening so I had variety of things to do. I can't really quite remember what I did on my first day. Even coming of the plane was a shock for me. Sydney International airport is big and I thought that airports were roughly about the same size. Oh no, not Hong Kong. As soon as  I got out of the plane, I had to catch a train, yes a train inside the airport. Approximately a 2-3 (maybe shorter) minute train ride where I would get off and line up to go immigration. As soon I was cleared through immigration I walked out to find my Sister in-law waiting for me. Oh boy was I happy to see her as this was the first time I was travelling internationally by myself. This was also the first I was seeing my SIL (sister in law) since the wedding back in 2008. Also the very first time meeting my niece seeing as she was born in the US. So finally seeing familiar faces, I was happy, not long after seeing her, walked over my brother and his beauty of a daughter. And oh did she ignore me. LOL! But I don't blame her as she was not familiar with my face and she was only 9 months old and this was the very first time I was meeting this precious little girl. If you read my previous entry, you would of have seen that she was my only niece. So having nephews for a long time, it was nice to have a girl around.

So after grabbing some dinner, we headed home. On the train of course, And more amazement hit me as we caught the train home. Hong Kong has a airport train link, where we could just catch the train from the main stations and it would take us straight to the airport in about, say 30 mins maybe. Anyway didn't see much of the country as the train system is mainly underground, but even if we weren't underground it was too dark to see anything. OK, so we got off at central, and caught a cab home. Central is where we lived, and its the heart of the city. We lived in SOHO where all the restaurants were so from central station Soho was about a 5 min drive up. As soon as we got home, I pulled out my laptop and phone and guess who wanted to be my best friend. YES, my niece. She LOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEDDDD the music that was coming out of my laptop and also loved looking at herself when I would pull up the camera on my laptop.

The very first picture of my niece

This is where her obsession with herself began. Not only did she love looking at herself in the camera, she also loved the music. My favourite found her dancing shoes.

Her very first dance

The video is not the same night, but another night. She was obsessed with the Korean Band 2PM's commercial for Korean Tourism, so I decided to find it on youtube and played it for her, she loved it!

OMGEEEE I was ment to be talking about my first experience in Hong Kong and I found myself rambling on about my niece. But how can I not when it was my first time meeting her (also the first one in family to meet her) However, little did I know how much of an impact this little girl would have on me.

Anyway I don't like making blog entries long as it may bore people so I will leave it here and blog my adventures tomorrow.

Its official, I have started blogging. :)

As I sit here and wonder what I am going to ramble on about, it came to me that maybe I should first introduce myself and give you a little bit of background about myself.

Well, first off I would start with my name, although you see it as Theresa I prefer to be called Lisa.

I was born in Auckland, New Zealand but raised in Sydney, Australia. I am of Samoan decent with a hint of Niuean in there somewhere.

YEP! that is Samoa

Yep, that tiny little island there in the pacific, is where I call home. Some know where Samoa is, however, there is a vast majority that don't. Anyway I will give you an insight into that country another time, as I have to finish talking about myself. Hehehe!

So with my parents being from that tiny island of Samoa, We somehow ended up with a big family. 8 children to be exact. 4 boys & 4 girls ages ranging from 32-16. My 5 siblings before me where all born in Samoa, my parents then made the move to New Zealand, with the dream of making it to Australia to make their children's future a brighter 1. In the Land of the long white cloud, was born a 6th child, named Theresa, Samoan pronunciation LISA. No, just kidding, not sure where Lisa came from but it has stuck with me since I can remember! Anyway 1994, we made the move Down under, where another 2 girls were born into the family.

My Amazingly beautiful Parents

The Eldest 

Sorry about the picture, he is a professional boxer and this is the most up-to-date picture.

The rest of the Brothers picture was taken '07' maybe

And finally the Sisters

With yours truly with the white scarf.

Ok so with that big family, we grew up with not much but we most probably enjoy the same things. I grew into a family of Boxing and Rugby League. 2 of my brothers were Boxers, however, only 1 took it up professionally. And the other 2 played Rugby League, 1 was professional and the other did it for fun. The Sisters of the family would all just be sporty. Although, thanks to my dad, I Love Basketball! Anyway we grew up in the rough part of Sydney, the western suburbs, or Mt Druitt if you really want to know.

So the years flew by and guess what happened??! Our family expanded. By 2 little heart throbs.

Eldest nephew at 4 yrs old

2nd nephew at 1 yrs

And so a couple more years later, it grew some more.

2008 We welcomed a new Sister.

January 2010 another nephew

4 days later 2010 a GIRL!

August 2010 another Sister

And finally March 2012 a boy!

And finally that should conclude this entry of the blog. Things to look forward to in this would be the time I spent in Hong Kong (2011) and maybe some random things.