It was a scheduled stop over on our Cathay Pacific flight back to Toronto, so back when we booked our ticket we decided we would spend two days on a lay over. Boy am I glad we did... Hong Kong was a great city to end off our eight month journey, it encompassed all the things that Andrew and I enjoy in a city. We only had one full day to explore, but we made the most of it and know some day we will go back to see more.
When we booked our tickets to South America and Asia, Andrew thought we should book our hotel in Hong Kong as it was only a short stop and figured we would want to spend our last few nights in a nice hotel. I was hesitant, because I usually don't like to pre-book, but we looked on the Internet and found a good hotel. I am SO glad that we did that... our hotel was fabulous, it was a high rise, modern hotel right in a convenient location. After months and months of searching for rooms in hostels, guest houses and low budget hotels it was a relief to arrive in a city and walk right into a hotel. I was ecstatic about the hotels fluffy towels, clean bath mat, comfy bed, amazing bathroom and shower! The comforts that we sometimes sacrifice when we are on the road!
We arrived in Hong Kong around 8:00pm, we found the transit system was very easy to use so we decided to take a train and subway right to our hotel. We were pooped so it was an early night to bed.
Our day in Hong Kong... first stop DIM SUM:
We had planned for ages that we would eat Dim Sum in Hong Kong. We were really looking forward to trying it in the place where it comes from. On advice from the concierge at the hotel we found a Dim Sum restaurant located near by. Andrew and I are avid Dim Sum eaters, so we were not worried about going or what to order. Perhaps, we should have been....
I must admit on our first time there it was a bit confusing, NO one spoke English at all! Since I look Chinese, everyone was speaking to me in their language only to find out that I couldn't speak back. We expected to find trolleys carrying the food around, so it would be easy to chose and point at the dishes we wanted. Unfortunately this particular restaurant only had a menu and a small area to go up to and pick some dishes. After some sign language we eventually got an English menu that was only 1/4 the size of the Chinese menu. We wondered, what else was on the bigger menu? What were we missing out on???
The food was great, not too different than what is available at home. It was a relief to know that what we get at restaurants in Toronto is the real thing!
Second stop... SHOP:
With full bellies, we left the restaurant to wander down the area looking for a bus to take us to Stanley market. We took an hour bus ride through very windy roads to the market. We were surprised to see just how green this part of the city was. We ended up near the ocean and the view was spectacular. It literally couldn't have been a more perfect day, the sky was brilliant blue and the temperature was low 20's. It was fantastic!
We loved Stanley market... it is where you can buy souvenirs, paintings, jewelery, clothes etc. We wandered around for a few hours and did some last minute shopping. Prices were reasonable, not dirt cheap like in South East Asia, but definitely better than at home!
Third stop... Queen Victoria Peak:
Again we took the bus, which we found to be inexpensive and easy to use! We found our way to Victoria Peak, and rode a funicular that went up the side of the mountain to see a nice panoramic of the city and to go to a shopping area. It was great view, and we were able to snap a few nice pics of the city.
Fourth stop... light show at the Harbour
We had heard about the light show that happens every night at the Harbour. We arrived early to the area only to find tons of people waiting. We wondered, is it this busy every night? If so, then this light show must be really really good.
There were police and many many volunteers patrolling the area. We couldn't find an English speaking person to ask what was happening so we left to go get dinner. We ate at a great Chinese restaurant...
Note: Would Chinese food in Hong Kong simply be called "food?"
Since it goes without saying that it is Chinese...
Or is it still called "Chinese food?"
After dinner we went back to the Harbour to find it "packed" with Thousands and Thousands of people and the police had shut down the streets to cars. At this point we realized that something special was happening, and it was the opening ceremonies for the East Asian Games. We stayed for a while to see the fireworks and the beginning of the ceremony but there was so many people and we couldn't see very well. We decided to cut out early and head back to our hotel to watch it on the television. This was a very good decision on our part... and when we turned on the television we saw a very elaborate opening ceremony and we were lucky enough to see some of the fire works from our hotel window.
All in all our time in Hong Kong was amazing. We found it to be a modern, bustling city with a lot of amenities to offer. It was easy to navigate around and in our experience the people were friendly and helpful. For a city that was one that I had not really been looked forward to seeing... it certainly surprised me! I'm glad that this was the city we ended our eight month long adventure with!!!!
~Nicola
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