Hong Kong

At the end of February, we had 4 days off for the semester change, and Mashadi and I  decided that we were going to go to Hong Kong for a mini-vacation. We went from February 27th-March 2nd. We spent the 27th heading to the airport on the bus, and then flying from Incheon to Shanghai and from Shanghai to Hong Kong. We got to Hong Kong around 7pm and were immediately hit in the airport by humidity. It was soo hot. Which was a bummer for me as I had bought all winter clothes with me, sweaters and long sleeved shirts. We picked up some travel brochures, and headed to the bus. We took the bus to the area where our host was living. I guess now's as good a time as any to come clean, we couch surfed for the 3 nights that we were there. There is a website that hooks you up with people who can host, and you literally stay on their couch (or in our case, mattresses on the floor) for free. Sometimes, the host will take you to different places where you are traveling, and other times (like in our case) they are too busy going about their normal lives and working to take you around, so you just do it on your own. It was an interesting experience to say the least, but I wouldn't want to do it alone. Mashadi had done it when she went to China during the summer and was really hell bent on doing it again, so I went along to give it a try. Carey, our host, was a decent enough guy, and he gave us some tips about getting around and told us some good places to go. 

That first night we trucked off to find a place to have dinner and a couple of drinks in the Soho area, which is the drinking and restaurant area. We found a restaurant that served both Western and Chinese food and had dinner there. After dinner, we took the Central-Midlevels Escalator into the Soho nightlife area. The Central- Midlevels Escalator is the longest covered outdoor people-mover at 800 meters. We found a little bar that served wine, and had a quick drink before we headed back to Carey's for the night. 

The next day we were up bright and early and we headed out. There's a 7/11 on just about every street, so we made our way there to get some cheap breakfast foods and to buy tickets for the Big Bus Tours. The Big Bus Tour is a city tour, you get on a red double decker bus and it takes you around the city. There are three different routes and as you're on the bus, you can listen to a commentary about all of the buildings that you are seeing and the history of Hong Kong. Along each routes are different sight-seeing things that the bus stops at. If you are interested in staying longer, you get off of the bus, see what you want to see, and then you can get on the next bus that comes along. They give you a map with everything marked on it so that you can kind of plan in advance what you want to see the most and where you need to get off at. The bus tour was about 75.00 Hong Kong dollars ($10.00 Can) for two days. We also got a lot of free stuff with it, a ferry ride to and from Kowloon, and a night time harbor tour, to name a couple. 

We spent the day going around Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. We saw a lot of different things and we also got off the bus and did some wandering around, whenever we found streets that appeared to be markets, or souvenir type things. We had a curry for lunch and then later made our way back to the same restaurant for dinner. The next day we did the Aberdeen and Stanley Beach area and it was fantastic. Stanley Beach has a Market that is dedicated to tourists so there are a lot of souvenir type things to buy there. We spent the day hanging out there, and enjoying the sun, the beach and the ocean. We took some photos and I had a wonderful fruit and ice-cream cup, and a not so wonderful coconut milk drink in a coconut. We were approached by some high-school girls who had to interview foreigners for homework and after we got back on the bus we got lost looking for other things to do that was part of the tour. We were supposed to go on a floating boat restaurant, but I got the stops mixed up and we ended up lost, and frustrated at Repulse Bay Beach, where there was a wedding going on. Once we managed to find a bus, we got off at another stop for Sampon rides. A Sampon is a little traditional fishing boat. It was a quick 10 minute tour, and we were part of the last group to go. When we got back on land and were just about to catch the bus, Mashadi realized that she had left her camera on the boat which had already left. The lady who was organizing the tour meeting point and getting on and off of the boats, sent another boat after our boat to get the camera and told me to tell the bus driver that it would only be 5 minutes to get the camera. I went and told the bus driver that my friend had left her camera on the boat and it would only we 5 minutes, but he got angry and said that he had a lot of people waiting (those who were already on the bus) on him and that he couldn't stay. He was actually quite rude about it, but I got off and went and told Mashadi. Apparently, the bus driver got off the bus after me and spoke to the woman running the thing, because the bus stayed until Mashadi got her camera, and he had a smoke while waiting for us. We headed back to the Central area and got off of the bus to go up Victoria Peak.

We took a tram up Victoria Peak, which was packed with people, as it was the weekend and the peak is a popular romantic location. We had left it until night-time in hopes of getting some good photos of the Hong Kong skyline at night but it was so hard to do with tons of people all doing the same thing. We had to spend an hour in the line-up to wait for the tram back down the mountain. When we got down, we went on a hunt for a restaurant that had Peking duck, something that Mashadi had really wanted to eat. We found a restaurant that served it, and the gentleman that served us was really kind and helpful. We ate dinner and then headed back to Soho to have a good last night out in Hong Kong. We did some bar hopping, and then around midnight, Mashadi started feeling unwell. So we went back to Carey's and headed to bed. The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed out to the airport. We flew home, and Mashadi spent the day feeling unwell. When we got back to Korea, she ended up getting sick, and figured that the duck had given her food poisoning. I felt fine until Tuesday. I got sick that night and spent the rest of the week feeling incredibly unwell. Mashadi felt back to her usual self about 4 days later, but my food poisoning decided to hang on a bit longer. Friday night, I threw up again and then after that I was on the mend. I wasn't very hungry for a while after, but now I'm back to my usual eating habits. 

Overall Hong Kong was an amazing trip. The city is very bustling with Chinese and foreigners alike. Hong Kong seems to be the place to go for people with jobs in business, economics and finance. Everyone is well dressed, early 30's and look like they have money to spend. All of the stores are incredibly high-end and well out of my price range. Hong Kong is, as Mashadi said, very cosmopolitan. English is spoken often and well there, and there are many restaurants offering many different types of food to eat. It was quite the experience to say the least. The weather was grey and rainy the first day, but sunny and warm the second day. I think that I wouldn't mind going back maybe one day, but I don't think I would want to live and teach there. It's an interesting city but just too busy for me.