Four Nights in Hong Kong

The view from Victoria Peak

One flight, a wrong shuttle bus, followed by the wrong hotel drop-off and one cab ride later, we finally made it to our hotel in Hong Kong on Friday evening!

Hong Kong is a chaotic, densely packed and humid city. There's really no point in showering at the beginning of the day because the moment you step outside, your skin instantly becomes damp and sticky.

Our first day here was pretty rough (hot & humid weather makes me cranky), but I think we've slowly become more acclimated to the climate.

A few notes:

Hong Kong's crosswalk system is a little kooky.

It takes a little more time to compute their currency. $8 HKD is equal to $1 USD.

Lemon water does not mean water with a slice of lemon in it. It's water with slushy ice and what seems like a cup of sugar added to it.

Hong Kong's famous Pineapple Buns actually don't contain pineapple. They're made from sugary dough, the top part a little crunchy and golden brown, with the bottom half all dough. Kiel enjoyed it, but honestly I didn't think it was anything special.

There were a lot of Indian men on the street in one of the shopping districts trying to get Kiel to buy a suit or watch.

Things I would usually considered rude is just normal behavior here and probably not considered impolite. 

Public transportation and most of the food is pretty affordable/cheap. 

View from our Hotel room at the Dorsett Wan Chai

Having our own beds is great every now and then!

Cool hotel bar

Our first night we had dinner at Din Tai Fung for Xiaolongbao, delicious soup dumplings. (Even though it's a chain restaurant!)

Making the dumplings!

Dinner was 👌

Hong Kong's city streets are lined with a range of old apartments and historic buildings, to more modern and futuristic looking structures. It's a really interesting and neat contrast..

The Blue House close to our hotel

On Saturday we hiked through a lush tropical forest to the Peak Garden at Victoria Peak which offered tons of open greenery, pretty flowers and extensive birdlife and butterflies.

Caught a butterfly fluttering around

Don't we look tired and hot?!

First check off of Kiel's food list: Egg Waffle

After the hike we spent a little over two hours in the Hong Kong Museum of History , which actually gave us a better understanding of Hong Kong's historical and cultural heritage.

We eventually made our way to the Harbor in Tsim Sha Tsui for a great panoramic view of Hong Kong Island. We hung around to watch the sunset and then took the evening ferry back to Wan Chai. A warm shower and a cool air conditioned hotel room never felt better!

On Sunday (Full day 2) we took a bus, then subway, and cable car up to Lantau Island to see the Tian Tan Buddha.

Back in the city, we noticed that there were thousands of women set up all along the streets, on staircases, or under bridges and public buildings and what looked like homeless encampments. But whether they were eating, playing cards, or just talking, they all seemed to be having a good time. Quite bewildered, we finally, we asked someone on the street and learned that Sunday is considered "Maids Day" in Hong Kong. 

All of the 300,000+ female domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia are expected to work twenty-four hours, six days a week, but they have Sunday's off and gather in Statue Square to relax with their friends. It was a unique, eye-opening experience and once I researched more about it , very concerning. 

We pretty much wandered around the city for the rest of the day. We had a loss of appetite from heat, but I was still craving something other than meat or noodles, so I ordered a slice of "NY" cheese pizza and it was amazing. 

We had dinner at a place called Kam Kee Cafe, which was not so great. I got beef with noodles (so much for that😑) and Kiel ordered an egg with ham and rice. And so after another long, humid day we went back to the hotel to just relax.

Unfortunately today (Monday) it rained for most of the day so we decided to forgo a trip to Lamma Island or Macau and just hit up one of the malls.

Another check: Pineapple bread.

And finally, on our third attempt here (this time during lunch), we were able to get into Kam's Roast Goose so Kiel could get his duck. I tried a piece, but of course I was content with my tofu and noodles. 

Kiel at the end of the line

This evening we were looking forward to checking out a curry place for our last dinner here. After hailing a cab and getting rejected twice (for some reason both drivers didn't want to take us where we wanted to go and refused to turn on their meters, trying to charge us an overpriced flat rate), we walked to the restaurant in the rain. However when we got there, the place was closed (even though it's supposed to be opened on Monday), so we decided to go back to Din Tai Fung, but they were closed too. We were thinking it was because of the typhoon warning, even though the only weather we experienced today was more humidity and a little rain. 

We ended up at some random restaurant for tapas, and when that didn't suffice, we went to 7-Eleven for cookies and chips. 😶

Hong Kong has some lovely views and a pretty awesome skyline, however I don't think we feel the need to come back anytime soon. 

Tomorrow, on to rainy Vietnam!