I Accidentally Stranded Myself in Hong Kong

I realize that some of my previous posts have been pretty long. To that, I say "Well too bad". However, for my own selfish reasons, I'll probably cut the material down to 10 minutes worth of reading. 

"Wait what. No Stuart, it's the Macau Interlude, not the Hong Kong Pit Stop. Stuart. Your job is in Macau! You live there now! What are you doing? Doesn't school start soon? Don't you have to be planning for the year and setting things up or something? GET BACK TO WORK!". Okay, easy there Brant chip. There's a simple explanation to the reasons that I am in Hong Kong right now, and not in Macau. The short version of it is this: I came back from my European vacation a little too early and the government wouldn't let me stay, so I have to be out of Macau for 30 full days to be able to return to Macau. So here I am. I'd like to give a shout out to the school & staff that turned a poopy situation into a not-poopy situation. Like the school paying for an apartment, a staff member covering and planning my classes while I'm away, plus my partner-in-crime, Hope (the other grade 4 teacher) who keeps my train on the tracks even when my train isn't even in the same country. Seriously, School of the Nations (& staff), you're 10/10 great. 

So here I am in Hong Kong. In case you don't know much about Hong Kong, here are a list of neat facts:
Population: Thrice as much as Turonno packed into an area a fraction of the size. Apartment sizes are very small and rent is NOT.
Food: Tons. A plethora of restaurants in a huge variety. I turned a corner and found half a dozen french eateries by sheer accident
Inhabitants: Mainly Cantonese, but lots of foreign migrant workers from Europe, Asia & N. America
What's Neat: Hong Kong has the longest life expectancy in the world, as long as you don't breathe the air

Both Macau and Hong Kong qualify as China-not-China (a term defined by me) but they share little in common beyond that.
Macau - The Portuguese weren't exactly experts in Empire-building, and as a result Macau didn't turn into the giant trade hub like its neighbour. Mind you, the Macanese enjoy lower taxes, a less restrictive government (arguably) and a generally more relaxed style of living (compared to the fast-paced business-intense environment of HK). However, Hong Kong has a leg up on Macau in other ways.

Hong Kong - The British built a chuffing excellent empire, and Hong Kong is a direct product (and last holdout) of that. It sports a wide selection of restaurants, bars & parks, an incredible arts scene, a comprehensive metro system, and is just generally a more developed and culturally diverse than Macau. Hong Kong became the major hub of Chinese trade with Europe a century and a half ago, meaning that it soon became an affluent city with plenty of opportunities for investment and business owners. The most obvious product of that is the fantastic HK skyline, which is always modernizing and upgrading. See for yourself. 

During my time here (almost two weeks), I've been able to scope out a few tasty restaurants, check out a really great jazz show, and find a few remnants of the old city that once occupied this spot (like this 100+ year old temple with air heavy and warm with incense).
The lively loud marketplaces are great to check out, I found a few colourful ties there, and you can usually find something neat (so long as you don't expect it to be the real deal).

Victoria Peak is the mountain on Hong Kong island. It was a heck of a climb, but I did it. I got to the top just before sunset, and was able to take pics of the city in daylight and at night time (note the smog...)

While space is tight, it doesn't stop all kinds of cool restaurants from popping up. Most places only last a year or two, but it affords some fantastic variety and a super-competitive environment where only the tastiest venues survive.

While Macau isn't the big, comprehensive metropolis of Hong Kong, I prefer it that way though, despite what I miss out on. It reminds me of the Hamilton vs Toronto arrangement I had for a while; Each place offered their own neat things, but splitting my time between the two was the best setup. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Right now, I'd really like to just be in Macau, planning my year and looking forwards to my kids arriving (Yes, they're mine now. I take possession of them, so I can have a class that belongs to me). I found a silly picture of my class & I taken at the end of the year and got plugged up with feels. So yeah, I'm excited to start the new year, once I get back that is... 

One last thing, if you'd like to be pen pals with me (because I found I quite like writing), don't be afraid to drop me a line! I've had some confusion over my Macau address (mostly because I messed up on my building's name), so if you ever would like to send me something, you can do it VIA the school at this address:

Stuart Feenstra

c/o School of the Nations

Rua de Minho

Taipa, Macau, S.A.R.

One day one of these might be sent your way! See you in a week's time

The European Finale: London

Today is the last day of the summer, and with it comes a post about my last stop in the expensive, crowded and neat continent that is Europe. London was originally a stopover for going back to Macau, but I decided to spend a day and a half to see a few things and spend even MORE money. London is like Toronto, in that it is a big city filled to the BRIM with things that need to be seen. Also like Toronto, things that are neat cost a pretty penny (or pound, in this case). While things in the U.K. tend to be pricey, things in London tend to be refinance-your-entire-estate-if-you-want-to-go-out-for-dinner expensive. I spent two nights and a full day in London, and it cost me as much money as my entire week in Ireland. YIKES. 

The Imperial War museum, known for having wars that the Empire fought and things from the wars stuffed inside. It was a pretty great museum, AND it was free. HOW GREAT IS THAT?!
(At this point in the trip, I put the camera away and just enjoyed the exhibits. It's a lot nicer when you aren't jostling for position for photos that won't turn out well anyways)

Notice the tank and the big guns. They're from a battleship (well, not the tank, that's from the U.S.S.R), and they are bloody massive. Britain's downsizing of it's military after WWII has sure left some neat trinkets just lying around the city. 

Not to mention neat buildings... At first, Westminster Palace wasn't that big of a deal to me, but realizing that this was the home of the ruling people of the biggest Empire the world has ever seen... well, that's worth a 'NEAT'. 

The tube is a bit smaller that I expected. Smaller than the TTC subway, smaller than the subways in Hong Kong or any other city I've been in. It's definitely got an English feel to it with it's homey-ish interior (I'm not kidding about that, there's something to it...) Buckingham Palace is on the right, but I couldn't be bothered to get any closer for a decent pic, because I wanted LUNCH. 

On my way to lunch, I accidentally stumbled onto Saville Row. Friends of mine who are hip and sleek chic know all about it, but for those of you who don't, here's the birds and the bees: When a man and a woman love design very very much, they go to Saville row and open up a studio. Usually, after nine months or so, fancy suits, hats, dresses, ties, shoes, shirts, pants and jewelry start to pop out of the shop. Eventually, lots of studios start to move together, and then a whole neat neighbourhood is born. It should also be mentioned that London as a whole is very fashion oriented (I mean outside of hipsters wanting to wear dirty pants and sad droopy hats), so there's a lot of support for the neat and fancy clothes on sale.
To the right is the place I got some lunch. It was an underground public toilet until recent times (a Victorian toilet, with porcelain facilities, mosaic floors and brass fixtures). Had myself some tasty lunch and WELP'd right out of there for a quick nap before the show. 

I was lucky enough to remember my parent's credit card information (thanks Mom & Dad) and book myself a ticket to see The Mousetrap, the longest running play in human history. It's a classic murder mystery, written by none other than Agatha Christie herself. The theatre and play also had a heavy dollop of antiquated Britain mixed into the atmosphere: The smell of old the curtains, the feel of the thickly-carpeted stairs under your shoes, and the sound of the sturdy-but-dated seats creaking and grumbling just before the lights dimmed. I can say I was a fan of the whole thing. I dressed myself up for the evening, because I was told that was a thing to do when going to a show, and it immersed me in an evening exactly what you'd expect if it was 1962. I see the appeal of London and I am behind it 100%. My wallet however is not, and will not be until it is fully rehydrated. You really do have to watch your spending in a city like this, it's like a wonderland in many ways. 

All said, done, seen and eaten, I had some anxieties during my trip. There were times where I realized I was travelling alone, without friends, and often without a direction of what I wanted to do next. There were times when I thought I didn't do or see enough and wasted my travel time, or that loneliness was waiting for me around the corner because I had nobody to talk/drink/share my time with. After facing these feelings (as well as challenges of ditched cars, money shortages, illness, etc), I realized that you alone have the power to make or break a trip: Be happy and have fun, or be sad and eat a cold panini in an alleyway while playing sad Charlie Brown music through your phone. The choice is yours, so make it a GOOD ONE. 

I was thinking of putting up a similar stats chart like the one in the first trip post I did last month, but I think it would be better to sum up the entire experience in another way. I think, after everything, I gained some really valuable things from this trip, and these things sum up why I love travelling so much.
 - Meeting & getting to know neat people who will actually like spending time with you, because they like making friends too [THESE PEOPLE ARE REAL PEOPLE THAT YOU SHARE THE PLANET WITH EVERY DAY]
 - Exploring places that actually exist and are neat even though they are far away and we imagine they're not that neat [THERE ARE ALSO REALLY NICE THINGS TO EAT]
 - Challenging your comfort zone and understanding the difference between doing things alone and being lonely [YOU CAN DO THINGS BY MYSELF AND I DON'T HAVE TO BE MOPEY]

Thanks for checking in, I'll have more for you later, but right now I'm going to rest. 

SWEEEEDEN

I have a deep affection for all things Swedish.  "But why Stuart, what does Sweden even have that makes it so special?" Well, if you just wait a hot minute I can tell you, as the purpose of this post is dedicated to! YA DINGUS!

So Sweden is the magical land where many things hip, dorky, healthy, unhealthy, old and new collide and mix into one polite and well-dressed world, called Sweden (or as I like to say, Sueden, because suede shoes are a neat thing there).

These were my preconceptions of Sweden (those proved reasonably to completely true have been denoted with a checkmark - ✔)
1) ✔ Volvos are everywhere 
2) ✔ Everyone is exceedingly beautiful/handsome
3) ✔ Everyone is exceedingly fashionable in one way or another
4) ✔ English is spoken well by all, but they still sound silly (pron. Seel-ie)
5) Everyone wears suede (sadly, only on their shoes)

Also, Swedish is a silly language. See for yourself 

The European Expedition: Ireland

Why has it taken me so long to post anything in a week that's been chalk full of NOTHING?! I have no reasons other than I do not care too much. I hope you don't care to much either. This blog is just for me to talk to the computer and say silly things. If anyone's entertained by proxy, that's a bonus. Welp, here's what happened since I left Scotland.

I spent a week in Ireland, reorganizing my trip after discovering I could not actually drive around the country as I pleased, silly car rental company (who later refunded me for the misunderstanding, so actually, polite car rental company).

    WARNING: HISTORY LESSONS AHEAD

The First Bit: Belfast

Belfast is well known as the place that all the bad things happened during the late 60's-late 90's. I take a big interest in this kind of thing because it's a big history/political/social mash of neat/crazy/sad things. It's not well known in N. America, but Northern Ireland has an entrenched history of turmoil coming from religious and cultural differences that go way back. This was also my first time staying in a hostel for the trip, which resulted in multiple frands being made. For me, that was a HUGE boost to my travel experience. During the first half of the trip which was filled with quality hangs with my parents, I had looming doubts about my satisfaction travelling semi-alone and what it would mean when my parents were gone. So that was CHUFFING EXCELLENT. 

<Svenja and Harri. They're Swiss, and very fun. Super friendly and didn't tire of me, which is an exceptional quality to have. 

Hasty Historical Backgroud: The British (English really) have been in and about Ireland for centuries, disputing control of the country with the native Irish (even this is complicated), until it won its independence after the civil war in the early 20th century, with the exception of Northern Ireland (Ulster), which had a protestant majority and therefore remained part of the United Kingdom (whether that was a good decision is another area of heated debate between the Irish, Northern Irish and British). The Catholics (calling themselves Republicans or Nationalists) in N. Ireland were generally treated poorly, while the Protestants (calling themselves Loyalists or Unionists) enjoyed favoritism where most things were concerned (positions of status, superior housing conditions, better access to skilled employment & education, etc). This eventually led to escalated protests in the 1960's that erupted into a long period of violence known as 'The Troubles'. As Catholics & Protestants assaulted, shot at, & bombed each other for the next three decades, violence spilling over into Dublin, London & other places in the British Isles. Many innocent civilians were killed (far more than people who fought on either side), and the Troubles were worsened by Military & Law Enforcement agents involved in the struggle (I.E. British soldiers & Northern Irish police officers would join these paramilitary groups, commit acts against suspected opponents, and enjoy relative freedom from the arms of law). Recently, the violence has calmed down through negotiations and treaties, but visiting Belfast first hand, you can still feel the tension between the two groups. Sorry if I talk about this so much, but like I said, this kind of stuff really interests me, especially how these situations are resolved, as it usually takes an exceptional person or group of people to bring an end to these kinds of conflicts, and I think it can provide some relativity so some of the problems we have at home between perceived groups of people. Anyways, here's some of the pictures. 

From the Royal Ulster Museum
(Interestingly, not called the Northern Irish Museum...)

  

We took a 'Black Cab Tour' of the areas affected by The Troubles. It was a REALLY great way to see the city (and pretty safe) and the history that involves both groups of peoples. 

 Murals are popular in Belfast. They pay homage to the people who protested during & brought to end the Troubles. 
What's super neat is that they also use that memory of tragedy to raise awareness for current issues, like the unrest in the Gaza Strip. +5 points Mural People!

 
Bobby Sands. A neat guy who went on a hunger strike who thought that winning meant happy kids instead of dead Protestants. WHAT A NEAT IDEA >

 

A memorial. They are big on those here (on both sides). Personally, while it's good to remember past sacrifices, it's more important to learn from that progress to build a better future (oh boy, the blog is getting political...)

 
> That's one of the Peace Walls. They were constructed between Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods to segregate people (this helped to maintain the level of violence and vandalism that would occur between groups). They sport large sets of gates that remain closed at night (sometimes as early as 6 pm). People who live next to the walls have had problems with their over-the-fence neighbours throwing rocks & bottles over the fences (what started with a 10 foot brick wall had to be extended multiple times for this reason), so they put the metal barriers you can see in the photo up to protect them from sharp objects & free flying pizza. Just now are they taking them down to see if they can live without a cage over their head. It's too bad people have to live like this (again, sorry for all the typing and the Debbie downer/History teacher attitude, but this is fucking neato for me).

BRACE YOURSELF: MORE TEXT AND OPINIONS AHEAD

On the day I was there, there happened to be some parades happening in Belfast. I don't mean cheery parades, I mean a kind of ethnic-pride sort of parade. These happen on the 13th/14th of July (whichever isn't a Sunday) every year, and celebrate the English Protestant victory over an English Catholic king over 300 years ago (see the Nine Years war. Or don't. Hey I read up this stuff on wikipedia like crazy LIKE IT SO SHUT UP). Because it's not really common to celebrate military victories of obscure wars hundreds of years ago, what I think it really is is just an opportunity for the Protestants to stick it to the Catholics and say "we beat u guise yur weak n dum". These parades were put on by (and largely attended by) heavily tatooed, scowly, drinking-while-smoking-while-cursing people. Did I mention that these parades are preceeded by huge bonfires (huge as in they burn 80-foot piles of wooden pallets with Irish flags on them), usually paired with lots of drinking and some friendly scuffing & vandalism? Despite all that, there was a sense of camaraderie & community between these people. Many people watching would call out marching friend's names, and I would never have expected a lanky pale Belfast-ian to be so proficient with a baton (and he through it darn high too). TL;DR: There are still a lot of people who need to let the whole US vs THEM struggle go. I know I didn't grow up with that in my life, so maybe I'm being a little biased, but that's my impression of it.  

That aside, the Titanic Museum (right) was one of my favourite museums in all of Europe. I was a huge Titanic buff when I was younger (and I still am to a large extent) so this was history-dork porn drugs NEAT CITY. Here's a video I took of a video (huhuh videoception) of the layout of the neat ship that was the Titanic. 

< Stories of the people who were heading to the New World for stuff N things

A history of Belfast  as a shipbuilding city>

< The Titanic was built on the left slipway. The Olympic (the Titanic's twin sister ship) was built on the right. Cement means death, grass means life. NEAT

 

The Second Bit: The Giant's Causeway 

The Giants' (Giant's? Giants? Gy-Aunts?) Causeway is a geological formation that happened because science and nature. The result of a volcano doing cool things is neat hexagonal shaped rocks that fit into each other like a puzzle. Not only that, but they come up in perfectly straight shafts from the ground. How did it happen? A mystery that only Bill Nye could uncover, but until that day, I will say NEAT and show you some pictures. It was our last day together, Harri and Svenja & I had a short stop at Belfast Castle, known for absolutely nothing, BUT THEY HAVE A CAT PATIO. HOW NEAT IS THAT!?

And then THIS happened. Brendan is a drummer from Humber college. I am a saxophone player from Humber college. We went to Humber college at the same time, for 5 years. To see him in Belfast leading tour groups at a place I had just happened to stop at kind of made me freeze. In this picture I was still laughing in disbelief that this actually happened. We didn't have much time to chat, and I was leaving the city afterwards, but WOW WAS THAT EVER NEAT.

Belfast was a neat city, I recommend it to people who graduated Humber and people who like neat things including the Titanic. 

AND A VIDEO

"Wow Stuart you are so generous with all the media. You sure a cool nice guy and I should definitely come to Asia and visit you because I would definitely have a good time and think the money was really well spent because I really need a trip to Asia to see good and fun friends"
Yup I think so too.

After that trip, I said goodbye to pals Harry and Svenja, and took the train back to Belfast for my last night there.

The Third Bit: Dublin

Dublin is a place known for alcohol, lively music, and alcohol. Unfortunately (as I found out later), most bars close at 11:30 (in the EVENING). How Un-Irish! This was made up in the fact that there is some fantastic live music. 

< The hostel I stayed at. A neat place by all means

< The Irish whiskey museum was a place. I went there and enjoyed the.... sights...
Dublin is a super neat in the fact that there are great restaurants and pubs almost everywhere. A super great city for eating out >
< I went to the Guiness Factory, and it was an enourmous tourist trap. The Guiness was... okay...

Yes. I went to the zoo. The Tigers were my favourite. 

Another great thing about Dublin was more hostel exposure. I made friends with a couple from the states (a really nice fun neat couple, who DIDN'T POST THE PICTURE I TOOK OF THEM ON FACEBOOK. RUUUUUUDE) and we went out drinking in the wonderful city of Dublin, where the beer flows and the music soars. When I say that, I mean the bars are PACKED with people holding drinks and singing along to all kinds of musicians who fill each and every pub with wonderful music.
Here you can get to know a little more about Whitney and Steve (who were on their honeymoon no less)
+ Points
>Fun
>Got the band to play Molly Malone in one of the bars we were at
>Talked about all the neat things
>Went to subway together (drunk) and got ourselves some nice subs and met some more people (they also shared their chocolate and whiskey)
>Were a really great hang
- Points
>Didn't post the picture I took of them that they said was 'really good'. I have aspirations as a professional photographer and I need some goddamn references
>Dropped a Leffe Blonde beer in the bar and wasted precious Leffe Blonde

Spending my last night pub hopping with friends in Dublin was a blast. I even taught a group of French, Mexican and Austrian travelers Dutch Blitz for a night of fun games before they started to get good and so I packed it in for a nap before my early flight to Scotland. 

Dublin was my last stop in Ireland before I departed for the mystical land of Sweden. Oooooooooohhhh Sweden. A very special place where even more special things happened.