Hong Kong

I couldn't go to Asia without going to Hong Kong. The main reason for my visit was to see friends that I hadn't seen in 15 years!  My friends from Santa Catalina Rene and Angelina live in Hong Kong and were the most gracious hostesses. We talked like 15 years had never passed.  I love friends like that!   I am soooooooooo proud of all that they have accomplished both personally and professionally. They are truly amazing!

I left Bali on Monday am and flew directly to Hong Kong. It was only a 4.5 hour flight which after the long flights I have been on lately, seemed like nothing.

I was at my hotel by 4:30pm. I unpacked, went to the gym and met a friend from Tri Delta Kate Davis who lives in Hong Kong!  I adore Kate and it was so much fun to catch up.

Tuesday morning I set out to see the city. After getting lost so many times in Singapore, I was really nervous about navigating Hong Kong however, it wasn't that bad (until the last night, more on that later).  Hong Kong city is so small that it's nice because you can walk it in a pretty short period of time. Of course, it's 1800000 degrees with 100000% humidity so that does make it hard however, it's still cooler than Singapore.

Everyone told me I had to go up to the Peak. I thought I was going to take the tram there but when I got in the taxi to take me to the base of the tram, he ended up taking me to the top.  Slight communication issue. Opps.  The view from the top was amazing (and the air conditioned cab ride was lovely too).

I had issues "unplugging" in Asia due to the abundance of free wi-fi everywhere! I was really nice for communicating with my friends over there as I did not have a working phone.

After spending an hour at the top, I took the tram down. Going down you go backwards...quite the experience!

I spent the rest of the morning walking around Central. I went over to see the mid-level escalators. They were pretty cool. I wanted to take the them to the top but ran into some repairs and didn't feel like walking (due to heat..shocking!).

After this I walked around the stores in Central and around the Landmark mall (every store you could possible need/want is there). I grabbed a cup of coffee and read my book for an hour (don't you love vacation?)  Then I headed off to meet my friend Rene for dim sum. We forgot to take pictures. Such a bummer!

In the spirit of "I am on vacation" I headed off to a local Thai spa for a massage and manicure.  After that it was dinner at Cafe Gray. AMAZING VIEW and amazing food. A must do for anyone visiting Hong Kong!

Wednesday was my last full day in Asia. So sad!  I went to see Big Buddha, it's 34 meters high and amazing! You can even see it when you fly into Hong Kong!  To get there I decided to take the MTR. It was SO EASY. I loved all of the mass transportation in Asia. I wish the US had such nice, clean, easy to use systems!  After the MTR, I took a tram up to the top. I decided to be a real tourist and take the glass bottom tram.  Kind of freaky for someone who is afraid of heights.

At the top of the tram...one of my favorite pictures from my trip!

I stopped for lunch at a noodle house. Tough choice between that and Subway. NOT.

I walked through the village and then hiked up to see Big Buddha.  I live at altitude and exercise every day however, it was SO HOT and SO HUMID and SO STEEP. I burned off my calories from lunch in the first 5 minutes!

  The TOP!

At the bottom you have the option of paying 30 Hong Kong $s to go to the museum (about $4 US dollars). The museum is tiny and boring however, it has AC and it was a lifesaver. I needed 5 minutes to cool off!  Plus, they give you a bottle of water and an ice cream bar for free if you see the museum.  I'm all about ice cold water and ice cream bars...

Pictures from the walk down...

I took the tram down, hopped on the MTR and went back to my hotel to shower.  I was SO PROUD of myself for not getting lost, for navigating public transportation, etc etc...I thought "oh Hong Kong is easy, I can do this!"  Famous last words.

I was supposed to take a boat cruise around the harbor before dinner that night.  This was the boat coming towards the dock.

However, it never stopped. It just came and did a circle type thing.  Since I didn't have a phone, I couldn't call.

I was supposed to meet my friends Rene and Angelina across the harbor so this was a problem. I decided to take the MTR to meet them. I knew I had to meet on the "Kowloon side" so I took the MTR to the Kowloon stop.  WRONG. I needed to take it to Tsim Sha Tsui. 

One hour later...I arrived at the Penninsula Hotel for dinner. This was the one time during my trip I had wished I had a cell phone because I wanted to call my dear friends and tell them I was running late!

We had a wonderful dinner followed by drinks at Felix. It was a fantastic way to end a wonderful trip!