Hong Kong - Short But Sweet

Wow!  Breathtaking skyline, ultra modern skyscrapers, vertical living, crowded, shopping mecca, efficient mass transport system......welcome to Hong Kong!

So, arrived at the airport and of course looked for an ATM to pick up some local currency to take public transport downtown to our hotel.  Well, although we notified our bank as to our would-be locations, we were denied cash.  Called the international number but realized with the time zones, it was the middle of the night in the States so we would have to wait several hours untill we could get our fraud alert cleared and our account opened again.  Soooo, we called for an Uber and got an amazing driver.  We told him what had happened and as we drove to our hotel, he gave us a quick sightseeing tour of the city, explained which neighborhoods were not safe and to avoid, and as we arrived at our hotel, he handed us some local money (equivalent to about US $10) until we could resolve our banking dilemma.  Hungry, we ate (for the first and only time on our trip) at a McDonald's near our hotel since they accepted credit cards.  By the way, we sent in our Uber review (5 stars!) of the driver and tipped him back the money he gave us!  A few hours later, we were able to withdraw cash from a nearby ATM!

Hong Kong was to be a gateway for us into China, and in particular, Guilin, since it was not an easy destination to get to from Vietnam.  However, if we were already here, might as well stay a few days and explore this world-class city.  We also kept in touch with Daniel and Ami, a lovely couple living in Hong Kong that we met in our cooking class in Chiang Mai, Thailand, who asked us to reach out if we were ever to visit.

View from Victoria Peak

After a late start (sleeping in is just sometimes necessary!) we headed out for brunch at a nearby French cafe and met James, a local businessman on his lunch hour.  We spent the next hour and a half discussing politics, global finance, local real estate (can you believe it costs $400,000 US to purchase a permanent parking space in Hong Kong!), and sights to take in during our visit.  He then walked us through the Avenue of the Stars (statues of famous Asian movie stars) on his way back to work and towards the ferry for us.  We then boarded the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island, rode a local bus through lovely and clearly very expensive residential neighborhoods up to Victoria Peak.  We hiked a few kilometers around the peak, and went up to the observation tower

(which is at the top of a multi-story shopping mall on the peak) to view the skyline at dusk.   We traveled the historic tram down the mountain, and walked again through several more high-end shopping malls on way back to ferry.  Notice a theme here????

Next day we met up with Daniel and Ami (four months pregnant- congrats!) for brunch at a very local, Michelin-ranked dim sum restaurant in one of the neighborhoods just outside the central business district of Hong Kong.  Best dim sum ever!  We then headed over to Hong Kong Island to a trendy new area for coffee at one of the local cafes, met up with Daniel’s brother, through more shopping malls, and then ramen at a local Japanese noodle shop.  After a wonderful day together, we parted ways hoping to meet up with them again in the future on our side of the world and headed to board our evening Harbour Cruise to view the Hong Kong skyline and laser light show.  

It was a fitting way to say farewell to this bustling metropolis.....

Evening Cruise on Victoria Harbour

Cheers!  

Yes, a double-decker light rail trolley!

Nathan on Nathan