Hong Kong, Part 1

We found some cheap airfares to Hong Kong a few months back, and had been looking to plan something to do for Labor Day and wanting to spend a little more time in Asia. So we pulled the plug. I know everyone already thinks we’re crazy, but its about to get a little worse, because, yes, we flew all the way to Hong Kong to spend four days there. But it was an awesome, action packed four days. We made it worth it. And we had hotel points from my work travel, so all our accommodation was free.

We arrived late Friday night, and made our way to the hotel via public bus. We ended up taking the subway and buses pretty much everywhere, only once a taxi when we ended up stranded(ish) at a trail head. Admittedly, Hong Kong makes it easy on you, because all the signs are printed in both Chinese and English. But there’s something sort of freeing about going to a (very) foreign city and making your way around all by yourself on public transit. 

Anyways, Saturday morning we met family friends Rod & Cynthia for breakfast. They live in Wisconsin, I haven’t seen them in probably a decade, and they happened to be in Hong Kong at the same time as us, so we met up at their hotel. Good times reliving old stories.

 Dim  Sum delicious. Michelin starred Din Tai Fung

Then Matt and I went on our whirlwind tour of the town.

Kowloon Park:

tai chi class

Street scenes:

Not-clear-day

Mid-levels escalators

A series of escalators going up a steep hillside in Hong Kong that people commute on! The ride is about 20 minutes long, and the escalators go downhill in the morning (people going into the city) and uphill in the evenings (people going home). It was a pretty fun little diversion and a nice way to get a feel for the city (we were lazy and timed it so we rode up, walked down).

Later we took the cable car up to Victoria Peak for some city views. The city is on both sides of a big harbor, one side being the Hong Kong side, one the Kowloon side. We stayed a few nights on each side.

We had moved to the Intercontinental for two nights (our points splurge) which is pretty well known for its great views and awesome service. We had drinks in the hotel lounge that night, with a great view of the Hong Kong side of the city and watched the light show that skyscrapers across the city put on night after night.

I remember thinking this went we visited New York for the first time, and Hong Kong personifies this on an even larger scale: its not the tallness of the buildings that shock you, its how the tall buildings go on and on forever, there are just so many of them! It’s a really beautiful city, with lots of waterfront, and big, lush, green mountains all around. You just have to wait for the smog to clear. J