5/15/2014 - 24 Hours (Awake) in Hong Kong - Sightseeing

Oh boy - those 4 hours went by pretty quickly.  What are the odds our friends are going to meet us as planned, we both thought to each other with just a glance?  They were only an hour late, which we were OK with - gave us more time to drink coffee in the lounge and wake up.  Seemed reasonable after we had somehow only arrived in the city a few hours before and were now getting ready to head out and explore.

The best part so far about the trip - we had tour guides! Friends of our visiting sister, but after the trip, friends of ours now as well.  So much so, we'll all be reconvening in the Philippines for some fun in the sun soon. We have always enjoyed showing people around Singapore, but being on the flip side sure was possibly even better. First stop, the Star Ferry to head out into Victoria harbor and get a better view of the city.  Well that was the plan at least, but the rain and mist kept our heads tucked onboard and seated in our folding wooden chairs that were bolted to the deck.  Regardless, we exited, no longer on Hong Kong Island but on Kowloon instead.  The rain had let up so it was shopping time.  Two spots on the list - the ladies market and the jade market.  The ladies market had the normal variety of trinkets we have become accustomed with in our travels and nothing directly caught our eyes.  At the jade market, however, we were in search of an elusive little jade elephant.  Alas, even after multiple people went digging through their bins no one could unearth the appropriate color.  Some pearls were negotiated and procured though and with that success, it was lunch time.



Of course it was dim sum lunch, what else would you have in Hong Kong?  As the carts made their way around the room I'm sure they wondered who these fools were that kept ordering plate upon plate of dumplings, rice balls, pork buns, more tea and whatever else caught our fancy.  Sadly, they ran out of food before we ran out of an appetite, but its probably better they did.  With the drizzle beginning again, it was just a few subway stops to Lan Kwai Fung to pop in for a few drinks to wait it out.  A few pints and waaaaay too many peanuts, I guess we were still hungry, we were on the move again, back to Kowloon to settle in for the light show.  While looking past the statue of Bruce Lee I finally realized the magnitude that was Hong Kong.  Singapore is essentially Boston to Hong Kong's New York (my opinion after the trip). The light show certainly put our humble city state's show in its place.


With the Fitbit telling us we had taken 20k+ steps for the day, we closed down the night in a hawker centre that certainly made us feel at home.  A menu was placed in front of me and we started rolling down the list - deep fried squid, fried noodles, prawns, green leafy vegetables.  Its kind of odd that this type of food almost seems more familiar than the Western fare we have left behind.  Needless to say, when we all woke up the next morning we skipped breakfast as we were still full from the night before.

Before heading back to the airport, not sure how it was almost time already, Victoria Peak and the tram were the only must do's left on the list.  It was yet again a misty, rainy day.  Kind of amazing that we have only had bad weather on a few of our trips these past two years, but not enough to deter us this time.  After the tram climbed to the top of the hill, kind of like a roller coaster going to the top and then not having the big release at the end, we arrived to spectacular views, even with the fog.  Incredible that some people lived up here, talk about a view and certainly a relief from the heat in the summer. After soaking it all up and suddenly having a cloud come rolling in, totally obliterating the view, it was time to take the tram back down and ultimately the express train back to the airport.  I'm not sure if we we even were awake for 24 hours in HK, but we certainly saw enough to claim we were.