8/1 - Guangzhou then Hong Kong

Breakfast was decent, none have been as good as back in Beijing though.  Today our goal is to shop!  Due to sickness and expensive stores, we haven’t done much shopping and Shamain Island has been known for good deals.  We shop at Michaels, Helens, Amys, Jennys and A Gift From China (a Christian run non-profit store that helps orphans directly).  Shortly before 1 pm we head back to the hotel to check out and put our luggage in storage with the concierge.  We enjoy a western lunch of American fried chicken with fries & onion rings along with a quesadilla for Megs.  Kyle was excited to have ketchup!  After figuring out what money we still need for tips and taxis we need to exchange money.  The hotel rate wasn’t the best so we try the bank.  Now we have extra money so we shop a little bit more.  We stop into the White Swan Hotel and take a few pictures but we run out of time to find the famous Red Couch (and the girls are getting tired, one especially!)  On our way back to the hotel to meet our guide Kyle and the girls get an ice cream treat and some noodles for later tonight.

We get to the train station which is crazy busy again and find our gate.  Our guide gives us a little info about the fact that this isn’t a bullet train and what to expect.  It is NOT a bullet train and I can feel every sway and movement and end up getting a motion sick head & stomach-ache.  Not fun. We make it to Hong Kong and now need to get to our hotel which is at the airport.

The information desk tells us the best way to get there is by train.  A taxi would cost us about $700 Hong Kong dollars and we don’t have that much.  Kyle does exchange some money and we decide to try the train.  We have 2 stops and then have to buy another set of tickets.  It was a little stressful but the girls were a big help in navigating.  We arrive at the airport find the information desk and head in the direction of our hotel.  At check in they gave us a room with 2 queens instead of the king we had booked which turned out to be great!  The girls ate their noodles while I repacked everything for our flights home.