Hong Kong Travel Blog: Life Well Travelled

Parfums De Voyage

Hi friends! A few weeks ago @cathaypacfic invited me and a few friends to explore Hong Kong for a week. We had a blast, exploring all the different parts of Hong Kong, from the city all the way up to the mountains. It was a pretty hectic but fun week.

Upon our arrival back in Sydney, the Cathay team had then prepared a bespoke, one of a kind perfume for me. It was custom made from the experiences I posted to social media whilst on the trip! Pretty cool right?! It even came with a hand illustrated one of a kind box. It was the perfect way to wrap off 2017 - Hong Kong ticked off my list (for now at least) and a fresh unique fragrance that is my own.

You can check out the bespoke perfume, hand illusrated box & my Hong Kong travel kit here.

To find out more about Cathay Pacific's #parfumsdevoyage bespoke fragrance click the button below:

I will definitely return to Hong Kong. I don't think I saw everything that I wanted to in just a week and definitely need to go back to hunt better sunrise & sunsets and street photos. Enough stalling, here is my Hong Kong photo set:

HIGHER GROUNDS

Hong Kong is a small but beautiful city. It is surrounded by many mountains and hill tops with the sea separating the mainland from Hong Kong island. It's skyline and city is full of densely packed skyscrapers and high rise apartment blocks so a high vantage point gives you a unique and incredible view. For this reason, I feel Hong Kong has cemented itself as a world destination for land/cityscape photographers. From one of the many mountain lookouts you'll be able to get incredible views. I'd recommend Victoria Peak (Lugard Road), Kowloon Peak & Tai Mo Shan Mountain (we didn't make it to the last spot but check out @pat_kay's photos).

Come follow me on Instagram @itchban

A post shared by Benjamin Lee • Syd, Australia. (@itchban) on Dec 17, 2017 at 1:55am PST

A post shared by Benjamin Lee • Syd, Australia. (@itchban) on Dec 27, 2017 at 2:08am PST

Neon nights

The streets of Hong Kong truly come alive at night. We spent a good amount of time around the Mong Kok, Jordan & Kowloon areas just wandering the streets. In Sydney, we don't have many bright & colourful lights at night. Comparatively, it is dimly light and definitely less vibrant than the streets of Hong Kong. I think this was why I was so excited to shoot all the neon signs and vibrant streets. 

There is something about that radiating neon glow that feels so retro-futuristic. The neon glow of the signs bounce off the surrounding buildings and mix with the yellow street lamps - every street was aesthetic af. It is a shame that the neon signs are slowly dissapearing and being taken down in Hong Kong. I can only imagine how it looked when the streets were lined with glowing neon signs. Even more reason to visit Hong Kong before they all get taken down and switched to LED signs.

Street Classics

You must have known I'd be shooting a lot of street photography in Hong Kong. It is such a great city to shoot street! There is always so much going on, the streets and backdrop have so much character, and it is the hometown of one of my favorite street photographers (the late Fan Ho). Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to have copped any good light, at least nothing close to what he was able to capture but I did get a few shots I'm pretty happy with.

*follow @street.classics for more quality street photography. It's a street photography feature account & community I run with a few friends.

A post shared by Benjamin Lee • Syd, Australia. (@itchban) on Dec 19, 2017 at 2:08am PST

Red Taxis & B roll

Like every world class city, Hong Kong has these cool looking & iconic red taxis. I really wish Sydney would push through legislation to have our taxis look the same. It makes it easier for everyone to spot them, rather than having 15 different types of taxis. Also, here are some other pics I like that I'm not sure how to categorise:

A post shared by Benjamin Lee • Syd, Australia. (@itchban) on Dec 18, 2017 at 2:04am PST

Thanks for getting this far in my Hong Kong photo set! I'd like to give a huge shoutout to Cathay Pacific for sponsoring this post and my trip! Hong Kong was awesome! @cathaypacific #parfumsdevoyage #lifewelltravelled

I'd love to know what you think about it. Drop a comment in the comment box below.

Have you been to Hong Kong? Are you planning to go? Where would you like to see me go next?

come follow me on Instagram @itchban

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