Highlights
- - Hong Kong is expensive, so if you have to choose between shopping for Xmas gifts in main land China or in HK, choose the mainland, no matter how much negotiating you need to do.
- - HK is also a gorgeous city with modern luxuries and traditional life, so if you must choose one city to visit in China (if you consider HK to be part of China), choose this place. It has it all.
- - 30-something professionals shouldn’t feel bad about reaping the benefits of their hard work and enjoying the finer things in life during a 5 month holiday. We deserve it (even though it may mean the vacation needs to be cut short by a week or two).
The “I need something to do while Tania disappears into Twilight land” version
Wow! What a city this is! Even though it’s some sort of relative to China (answer depends on who you ask), and even though it has many of the same traits as larger Chinese cities (crowded, plethora of temples, crazy drivers, a outwardly public communal people), it feels like a complete detachment as soon as you’re walking the streets. This is primarily due to the European influence that drove the city for many years, but it also has to do, HAS to, with this region of people realizing they need to evolve a bit if they’re going to live harmoniously with the outside world.
We spent the first night in the city, and the last night with our tour group, on the mainland area of town called Kowloon. Tania and I walked from our hotel all the way down Nelson Ave. to the pier so we could catch the stunning sunset concluding across the water and over the shoulder of Hong Kong proper. As we made our way through town, we passed through the park where several Far East Asia Games (local Olympics if you may) events had just taken place. There was also an aviary and plenty of people doing exercises and chatting. Even though it’s in the center of a bustling city, the park made for a quiet refuge and stroll.
That night the boys and girls split up for a last hurrah. For some reason, all of the girls wanted a night away from Michael, Tim, Frank, and me. I have no idea why they’d ever want that. Unfortunately for them, the selection of bars in Kowloon is small and we all ended up at the same crappy watering hole. Knowing none of us were going to find much better, we smiled and had a drink together before the women headed out the door, leaving us guys to play trivia (even Australians know a lot about Saved By The Bell, but not as much as this American!) for another round of drinks. Then it was back to the hotel for a bit so the guys could teach Frank about modern music beyond anything Eric Clapton has been a part of in the last 30 years. Tania and the girls went out for a little dancing before heading back to the hotel. We all knew Hong Kong proper had much more to offer, so none of us were too driven to push it in Kowloon.
The next morning Tania and I packed our stuff and rode the subway over to Hong Kong. To say that Tania was ecstatic with our hotel in HK would be doing it no justice. Our hotel was modern, in the heart of the city, was spacious, and had the vibe like we hadn’t seen in months. She was in heaven, and I too was loving the fact that our budget tour was over and we could finally enjoy housing that matched the lifestyle we’d become used to, which is light years away from the hostel bouncing we loved 10 years earlier.
After a quick bite of Thai food for dinner in order to prepare ourselves for the next phase of our journey, we met up with Michael, Tim, and Linda at Joe Bananas, a famous theme bar next to our hotel. Apparently, the sisters Susie and Ali wanted to meet their trip’s primary objective (they had only planned on going to HK to shop for a few days, then decided to go all out with the 3 week tour) alone, and Indra was off doing whatever Indra does. After a few drinks and gabbing with other Ausies, the group caught a cab and headed over to Lan Kwai Fong, a raucously slanted area of town full of street bars and drunk ex pats. Think Bourbon St. meets Oktoberfest. We did our best to enjoy the setting and partake in the fun, but we were so exhausted from the previous 3 weeks and couldn’t give it the due energy, we only had a drink and a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cone, then headed back to our luxurious hotel for a good night sleep.
It was the last time we’d see Michael, Tim, and Linda, which was very sad for us. The two guys, although from a completely different generation and with a totally different view of the world, we loved spending our time in China with them because of their passion for politics, their endless stock of energy, and the fact that they were two good people that had shared an important part of this trip with us. We were just as sad to see Linda go for many of the same reasons, but also because she’s our same age, and she makes our travel itinerary look like a long weekend instead of a very extended honeymoon. She’s seen so much of the world and looks at those adventures with such zeal and insight that we loved sharing our time in China with such a curious soul. Tania really connected with her, and I’m sure we’ll stay in touch with her, the guys, and the sisters for a time to come. They all were definitely a highlight of our Chinese journey.
Back to Hong Kong…
The city is dissected by a double-decker trolley that runs from one end to the next. Our hotel lay dead in the middle of the route, so on Sunday we rode jumped on the trolley, climbed up to the front of the upper deck, and rode west until the car was empty and the conductor kicked us off. From there we pleasantly got lost on the docks and wandered around watching people fish from the pier and others stroll around this barren corner of town. It made for beautifully candid shots and a chance to see the city from a different vantage point not described in Lonely Planet.
Making our way back into the metropolitan area of HK, we passed through the local SoHo and its adorrrrrable (can you hear Tania say it?) boutique shops, through the crowd of women (I mean at least 2000 women) picnicking in the middle of the streets and park (did the husbands just get off of work and they all congregate here to wind down?), and past the inevitable selection of luxury brand stores. We then headed over to HK’s time square for dinner.
HK is a vertical city, meaning that shops and restaurants are just as likely to be on the 13th floor of a building then they are to be on street level. Luckily we knew this and were able to find our dinner spot on the 13th floor of the department store in times square. The selection was infinite and we were able to quench all of our tastes. I had okonomiyake (which I fell in love with in Japan), she had Korean BBQ type beef on a personal grill, I had sushi, and overall we had one of the best meals of the trip so far. Incredible!
The next day we explored the central and upper part of town. HK houses the world’s longest stretch of escalators that climb from sea level up to the highest cusp of the commercial district. It doesn’t reach the top of the mountain, though, because that duty is left up to the famous peak tram. One can also hike up to the top of the mountain from the top of the escalators (app. 1-2 hour walk up – vertically – to the peak), but since we wanted to experience the tram (ahem), we opted to not hike to the top.
The view from up there was spectacular even though it was obstructed by the cloud cover. It’s very much a site to be seen due to the magnificent array of high rises and architecture lining the edge of this island, but it would have been nice to have a clear day so we could see off into the distance. Not to complain, though, since we knew what we’d be getting weather-wise by coming on this trip during winter.
We had an incredible late lunch up on the peak, not only incredible due to the gorgeous views and setting, but also because I got to have buffalo wings for the first time in ages. Just because the sauce was more of a marinara and they weren’t fried enough doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the effort, but there’s something about buffalo wings in the good ol’ US of A that will never be matched in this corner of the world. Even though I’d love to prove myself wrong some time, or many times, on this trip.
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