Thanks Mum and Dad!

Hurah hurrah, I'm back in the southern hemisphere where it is 'hot and boring' as my cousin dearest said.

I'm overjoyed that I'm finally back at home and surrounded by friends and family. I missed them all so much I wished could have packed them into my overweight luggage!!

That being said, now that I'm at home I also miss Beijing and HK.

My A Class

Beijing was a great experience, I had a taste of going on exchange and being an international student, living in dorms, meeting people from many different countries, communicating with people whose first language wasn't English, living in a country where I only had basic knowledge of the language, exploring a city I had only previously spent 3 days in many years ago, many nights of drinking, my first clubbing experience and much more. AND I got to know my cousin, Candice, a lot better.

Even if I went back again, I don't think I'd be able to replicate the experience.

From Central with Tsim Sha Tsui behind us.

Then came HK. Now, THAT was a lot of fun. We got to go all around HK shopping, eating and drinking whatever we wanted. Shopping in HK is great because they have such a large retail industry that they can cater towards all markets.

I'm a poor uni student so I like to go for the fashionable but affordable pieces. Thankfully there are more of them in HK than in Sydney!

Our 'Tuen Lien' dinner. (End of year dinner. Before CNY)

In addition to the shopping, it was good to see all of my parents' HK friends again. I don't have any direct relatives in HK but I consider all of them as pseudo relatives. They were all so nice to us! They didn't try to be our parents and just let us do whatever we want (within good reason). They were even offering extra cash if Ky and I ran out!

Shoutout to my cousin, Sharon, who stayed with us in HK for a few days before flying off for her 6 month co-op exchange in Manchester! It was a shame that you got sick whilst you were in HK but it was really good to see a familiar face after 6 weeks in Beijing.

We had a lot of fun in The Venetian in Macau too!

As you can tell from all my blog posts, FB statuses, photos (which I have yet to upload onto FB) and youtube videos, I had a greatgreat time on my trip. It was the first trip I went on without parents and now that I'm back, I'm itching to go again.

As much as they weren't there in person, they were very much there in every other sense. Thank you to my parents for letting me go on this trip. And for financing it!

Now I've just got to get a job and sell my soul so that I can pay them back for all my expenses.

Btw, I've still got videos from the last few days in Beijing that I haven't had a chance to convert and upload yet but you can watch all the ones I've already uploaded here. (Or alternatively, you can go to youtube and type in 'Beijing Adventures' or 'xxMangoAvocadoxx') I'll be uploading them all soon so keep an eye out!