Our Favorite Travel Photos: 10 bloggers share the stories behind their favorite travel photos

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Meagan & Dave | HappilyEverExpat.com

I’ve taken thousands of photos in really amazing places, but this one is my absolute favorite. I realized this as I was going through some of my photos and came to this one. As soon as I saw it, I filled with joy and pride and I could remember the exact moment that I took it.

Dave and I were on a trip with his parents in Kyoto. We split up with them for a bit because I wanted to head to Gion to see the geisha and maiko. We spotted this gorgeous maiko in an alley just behind the old famous geisha school in Gion. We had been perched there for ages, waiting patiently, as if we were stalking our prey. We spotted her from a ways back and tried to contain our excitement so that we could get a photo before the other tourists could block our shot. She walked expressionless and looked into my camera as I took her photo. Out of all of the places I have been, this moment and this photo is by far my favorite.

I got so inspired after seeing this photo that I decided to ask my blogger friends what their favorite travel photo is. Here are the results… Continue reading →

The Happiest Place in Hong Kong

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Meagan & Dave | HappilyEverExpat.com

After spending most of the afternoon hanging out with Big Buddha, we decided to go to Disneyland. We took the subway to the end of the line and waited for the Disney train to come. It was covered in Mickey heads!

I was really excited about going to Disneyland because I have never been to a Disney park back in the States.

Continue reading →

Who’s the most popular man in Hong Kong?

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Meagan & Dave | HappilyEverExpat.com

Big Buddha, of course!

One of the most famous sites in Hong Kong is a Big Buddha statue that is nestled so far up in the mountains that it takes a 25 minute cable car ride to get there! I was really apprehensive about going because I am scared of heights and cable cars really freak me out. I decided to suck it up because I don’t know if I’ll ever be back in Hong Kong.

If I could give one piece of advice for someone that wants to take the cable car to Big Buddha, it would definitely be to buy your tickets online in advance! When we went, the site was down so we couldn’t, but I really wish we could have. Because it was during the week of Chinese New Year, the line was many HOURS long (I’d guess at least 3-4)!

When we were in line, a woman asked us if we would like to buy a year pass and skip the line. Don’t even ask me how much that cost, but Dave said he’d rather do that than wait in line, so we did.

We could feel people staring us down as we were escorted straight up to the ticket counter. We just had to fill out a bit of paperwork, buy our passes and then wait in a much shorter line. I think the whole process took us about an hour.

The views from the cable car were truly amazing! And it was very sturdy so I handled the trip pretty well.

Once at the top, we had to walk past loads of shops and restaurants. We saw this cute little kitty.

And we also got to see another Lion Dance. This one was really impressive when you think about the fact that each lion only contains 2 guys and they have to be perfectly synched!

Then we headed through the massive gate…

And followed the signs to Big Buddha.

Almost there!

And then we hiked the 260 steps to the top!

It was pretty remarkable and I’m so glad I overcame my fear to see this!

Hong Kong – Where Lions Dance in the Street!

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Meagan & Dave | HappilyEverExpat.com

We decided to walk around Central, Hong Kong on the day of Chinese New Year.

It was pretty quiet, but we did happen across a lion dance, which was really fascinating.

We were really happy to find this cute little pottery shop. We bought a full tea set for just $20 (US)!

Next, we headed to Mong Kok to check out the sites.

This man is using sand to write his message.

I wonder where I can get some money exchanged??

It was really great day!

Chinese New Year in Hong Kong

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Meagan & Dave | HappilyEverExpat.com

I got to cross something off of my bucket list in February 2013. We went to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year!

As you can imagine, Hong Kong was packed and so were all of the tourist attractions. We had been to Hong Kong previously for a weekend getaway, but the weather was bad so we didn’t bother with The Peak or the Big Buddha because we knew the views would have been terrible. Fortunately, we had fantastic weather most days this time around!

Our first big outing was The Peak. There is a tram that takes you up the to the top, but we knew the line would be hours long and the tram would be cramped so we decided to take a taxi. It was the right decision!

There’s a mall at the top so we did a bit of browsing and then headed out to enjoy the views.