Travel To Wellness Inc.

The winner of our Trip to Hong Kong is Shannon McDowell from Chatham, ON

Here's what Shannon has to say about her "once in a lifetime" trip

Photo above: L-R Travis Snelling (Trip Atlas) our winner Shannon McDowell, Anne Dimon (TTW) and Michael Lim (HKTB)

Shannon on her trip to Hong Kong

So I have been back from Hong Kong for just over a month - Sorry this took so long, but I have only just organized my pictures and experiences into a photo book that will be printed soon.

My sister and I had a fantastic time! Although it was the end of the rainy season, we only had a few days of rain, which didn't impact our
trip at all. Our last two days were actually remarkably clear and our pictures show beautiful blue skies, which I was assured was rare for Hong Kong. It was quite hot of course, but we were well prepared.

The hotels were quite luxurious - neither of us had stayed in a five star hotel before - with great service. The Grand Hyatt was the most
convenient to the sites we had planned on seeing, and although the Hyatt Regency was over 30 minutes MTR trip away from the harbour,
exploring Sha Tin led us to areas that we would never have encountered otherwise.

The staff at both hotels were very helpful,
and we quite enjoyed amazing one of the young porters when we asked for help wrapping an antique sword found in one of the markets for
transporting on the plane. I think we became the coolest girls in his eyes. :)

The Hong Kong Island tour was great for an overview of the island, just as the Lantau tour gave a fantastic perspective of that island
and all the nature there. I wish we had had more time to do some hiking or biking. We were fortunate enough to see several pink
dolphins on our trip out to sea, and even videos of them surfacing.

As well, I was able to meet up with friends from Hong Kong who showed us the best shopping areas and hidden gem restaurants - although my
sister found that Cantonese food doesn't necessarily agree with her, the food was still very tasty.

I actually was craving the new foods we had tried a few weeks ago and made my own attempt at pork-filled sweet buns and a cantonese stirfry - not nearly the same as in Hong Kong, but probably the best I can get in Chatham.

We also were very impressed by the two hotel spas, and enjoyed the massages. They were definitely something to look forward to during a
busy week.

Overall, there was quite a lot of shopping, at markets and malls, lots of sightseeing and picture-taking, and just enjoying ourselves.
I was glad for the chance to explore Hong Kong much more in depth than I was able to in my past trip, and I know my sister was amazed by her first experience overseas and the vibrant, moving place that Hong Kong is.

We both wanted to thank every one of you involved in organizing this trip. It was obviously a great deal of work and effort, and it definitely didn't go to waste.

This was a once in a lifetime experience and I know that we will never forget it. We could never have done this on our own, and it was a remarkable opportunity to explore and try new things that we would never have the chance to
otherwise.

Thanks again!

Shannon (and Caitlin) McDowell

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For more information on Hong Kong

For more information on Hong Kong