Day One
Hey Colts Nation! Today is the day we head to Hong Kong! I was in Group 2, so we got to the airport at 10:15am and left at 12:45pm. Then when we got to Chicago, we met up with the rest of the team and immediately boarded the Cathay Pacific airline!
Since it was my birthday, my BP Lauren, got me a Happy Birthday sign that she hung up over my seat! We had about a 14.5 hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong. I was able to sleep for about half the plane ride and then was able to watch some movies. Finally we made it to Hong Kong, which was 8pm on Saturday (so we basically lost a whole day because of the time change!). Once we got all our stuff, we got on our bus and headed to our hotel! Everyone was exhausted and we have an early day tomorrow, so we ate some food and headed to bed!
Hong Kong selected the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders to represent the U.S. at the 21st annual Cathay Pacific Lunar New Year Celebrations.
Day Two
Today we had to be up and ready early. Our morning started out with a rehearsal for the Cathay Pacific Chinese New Year Night Parade. We went to the Hong Kong Cultural Center, which is where the parade starts. We got to watch some other amazing performers practice, there were performers on stilts, awesome costumes and some adorable young ballerinas from Hong Kong. Then it was time for us to practice our opening performance that we do for the Parade!
Hong Kong selected the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders to represent the U.S. at the 21st annual Cathay Pacific Lunar New Year Celebrations.
Once that was complete, we got to take some pictures with the beautiful Harbour in the background. After that, we got to walk around and check out Hong Kong a bit. We split up into smaller groups and ate lunch first. Then my group walked around, took lots of pictures and got some Hong Kong souvenirs. We had a little more time left for our break, so we went back and got a quick nap in (jet lag has hit us)! We got ready again and it was time to go back to the Hong Kong Cultural Center and have another rehearsal for the parade, but with ALL the performers! It was so amazing to see all the people from different parts of the world. Back to the hotel to get some rest before the parade tomorrow! Oh and we have to watch the Super Bowl Monday at 7:30am because that is when it is on here! Crazy huh?!
Day Three
Today is parade day! But it's a night parade so there was some free time in the morning to explore. A group of us ate breakfast and tried to follow along with the Super Bowl, remember it was on at 7:30am! Big congrats to Peyton Manning for another Super Bowl Championship! After getting ready, a small group headed over to the Nan Lian Gardens. It was absolutely beautiful. There were lots of unique trees and flowers everywhere. Also, there was lots of Chinese architecture, which was awesome to see. We took tons of pictures and bought some souvenirs, like Chinese fans!
Once we headed back, we got changed and met in the lobby to go to the Hong Kong Cultural Center to get ready for the parade. We had to get there early, because they shut down the streets for the parade. We had a chance to eat and relax for a few hours. We got pictures with lots of the other performers and also got to see them practice their routines! Lots of amazing performers, like the Hong Kong jump roping team. Some of my favorites performers were the children who danced. They were absolutely adorable!
Then it was time to line up and get ready for the Cathay Pacific Lunar New Year Night Parade! We were the 3rd performing group, so we were up at the front. First thing we did was a huge performance that was shown live around the world!!
It was so much fun and everyone was so welcoming of the "American cheerleaders"! Next, we did another performance back to back. They we split in two groups. My group, continued on walking in the parade. There were so many people lining the streets, that the energy was unreal! We passed out Colts goodies and did some dancing while walking. We also had two more smaller performances on the parade route. Then, it was over so fast!
My group went back inside and waited for the 2nd group of cheerleaders, who were walking with the finale group. Once everyone was finished, we got all our stuff together and headed back to the bus. We had to wait a bit outside, since they were unblocking the streets. While outside, we actually met 3 guys from the States! Two were Green Bay fans and the other was a Giants fan. They said they were so excited to see us in the parade! Then our bus came and took us back to our hotel. As I got ready for bed, I reflected on the day. The parade was definitely one of the most amazing things I have every experienced and it was definitely a moment I will always remember! Off to bed, because I was very tired!
Hong Kong selected the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders to represent the U.S. at the 21st annual Cathay Pacific Lunar New Year Celebrations.
Day Four
Today a large group of us got up and ready to go see the World's longest escalator. We got to ride the Hong Kong subway, which was a cool experience. The escalator was really neat. It was different levels and stops, but it definitely was very long!
Hong Kong selected the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders to represent the U.S. at the 21st annual Cathay Pacific Lunar New Year Celebrations.
Then once we got off the escalator, we walked around some of the side streets. That was awesome because down every alley there were little markets. It was cool to see all the different types of foods being sold. We then caught cabs back to our hotel because we had to get ready for a performance. We took the bus to Lee Tung Avenue. It was a cute street shopping area that was beautifully decorated. We got to walk around for a bit to check out the area.
Then it was time to change and get ready for our performances. We did two shows, back to back, right in the street area. There where so many people there watching. There were so many cameras taking pictures that it made us feel like movie stars! The performances went wonderfully.
We had to quickly change to make sure we made it to our spot to see the fireworks! Hong Kong has the 2nd best fireworks in the world. They are set off in the Harbour with the city skyline in the background. They were definitely the most impressive fireworks I have ever seen! The videos and pictures I took just didn't do it justice. After the 30 min show, we split up into groups to grab dinner. We then caught cabs to head back to the hotel. I am loving my time in Hong Kong and can't believe it's almost time to head back home!
Day Five
We didn't have to be up super early today, which was nice. We had a show at the Pentahotel that we are staying at, which didn't start until 11am. It was lots of fun. So many people taking pictures that we felt like celebrities again! We did an amazing job for our last performance as the 2015-2016 Colts Cheerleading squad!
Once we finished, we had to get changed quickly because we had lots of site seeing on the agenda for the remainder of the day! We got into the bus and headed to the Harbour. We got on a Sampan, which is similar to a taxi, but in boat form. It took us to the Jumbo, which is the largest floating restaurant in the world. We had a Dim Sum lunch, which consisted of lots of dishes that were shared around the table. The food was amazing! Before we left, we dressed up in traditional Chinese attire and took some pictures. Then we had to get back onto the bus and off to our next stop.
The next place we went was Aberdeen Jewelry Factory. We got to take a "behind the scenes" of their factory and see how all the jewelry is made. We also got to see the amazing showroom, so many beautiful pieces of jewelry! We then headed to a little market to get plenty of souvenirs! I got lots of really neat things that were very authentic and will be a great way to remember my trip! Then we headed up to Victoria Peak, which is up on the mountain and overlooks the city and the harbour. The view was breathtaking and I got lots of amazing pictures!
We couldn't stay long because we had to catch the ferry to our dinner location. We took a ferry to Llama Island, which was a 40 min boat ride from the city. We ate at The Rainbow, which was in a cute market. The dinner was amazing, with lots of seafood and authentic Chinese dishes. We headed back to the hotel and unfortunately had to pack, since we leave tomorrow. Hong Kong has been an amazing experience, I will cherish these memories forever!
Hong Kong selected the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders to represent the U.S. at the 21st annual Cathay Pacific Lunar New Year Celebrations.
