Finally, the Photos

Hong Kong Rules, and here's why.









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The Friendliest City

I can't believe we "already" are leaving Hong Kong (having been here for two weeks, somehow!) Time has just flown, and even though we've been here for fourteen days, we still feel like we could be here another week.

It's true that time flies when you're having fun, and it's also true that having friendly faces around goes a long way in contributing to said fun. The first week we were here, we did the normal tourist things -- museums, tourist traps, and bus tours -- but we also did a lot of early morning, late morning, early evening, and very very late evening chatting and laughing with friends. We ate gigantic, delicious, communal meals, and we even sang karaoke! We met with some old friends, and most happily, we met many new ones as well.

Our second week started off most auspiciously with a hike on the west side of Kowloon and a fresher-than-fresh seafood meal at a seaside restaurant. The giant seawater tanks that front the restaurants contained scores of fish, crabs, lobsters, clams, geoducks, snails, squid, and prawns that were scooped out of their crowded homes and cooked on the spot for a belly-filling, finger-licking, garlic-doused meal. The hike was gorgeous -- I never expected the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong to be so green and mountainous. There were even campsites!

We also discovered a gorgeous little island just 20 minutes away by ferry. This island, called Lamma, can be walked in a day, and has it all: quaint villages, beautiful beaches, and wonderful walking paths weaving their way through lush greenery and forests. Again, we were amazed at how much natural beauty exists only a few kilometres away from the teeming masses and concrete jungle of the city. We sat on the beach, sipped gourmet coffee, and again, ended our day with a fresh seafood dinner. Ancient fishing boats bobbed in the water next to us, and the lights of the skyscrapers could be seen across the harbour. Surreal doesn't even begin to describe it.

In the past fourteen days we've consumed: a massive hotpot dinner, two giant seafood dinners, conveyor belt sushi, endless Korean barbeque, tropical fruit, crazy Asian snacks, ice cream, Portuguese custard tarts, sweet buns, and many, many Starbucks coffees. It's been delicious, but as I said earlier, the best part of all was that we did much of this consumption with friends.

Experiencing Hong Kong

The fact that I've been lax with the blogging and the journal writing is evidence that we are having a grand old time in Hong Kong. For the past few days we've been doing some administrative stuff, like applying for visas to go to China and Vietnam (although at this pace we may never leave!) However, Hong Kong has NOT been all work, no sir! We've done some of the tourist things in classic "BG & Val" way, like visiting Victoria Peak. Most people take the tram line up to the top, like normal people. Not us. We walked most of the way up, thinking it was going to be good "exercise", which it would have been, if not for the constant backtracking and standing around scrutinizing our map due to being endlessly lost. One would think it's hard to get lost climbing to the top of a hill, as all you do is point yourself in the direction that's hardest to go, but we managed to do it.

The view from the top was lovely, looking down onto Hong Kong Harbour and the rest of the city. Pity about the smog. We'd been warned that Victoria Peak was really "touristy", but were still somehow unprepared for the hawkers, souvenirs, and ultra-luxury mall with associated and equally luxurious coffee shops and restaurants. Of course we took advantage of the luxury coffee shops and restaurants and spent a lovely afternoon at the Peak.

Our feet have been aching from all of the walking we've done over the past eight weeks, so we treated ourselves one night to authentic Chinese acupressure foot massages -- painful, yet hilarious experiences. BG finished his off with a session of "cupping", hence the back.



Recently we tackled a bus tour of the New Territories of Hong Kong, which are the suburbs. What were we thinking? Let's take a bus tour of the suburbs, that should be fun. In retrospect, this is akin to a tourist to Toronto taking a bus tour to Mississauga, Pickering, and Oshawa. We saw a Buddhist monastery, which actually was interesting, but only served to confuse me further about Buddhism. This place was like the exact opposite of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery or temple -- where the Tibetan ones are chaotic, dark, and smell of yak butter, the one we saw was bright, clean, and completely empty. We also visited a lookout point where we could see the Chinese border city of Shenzhen (whee.), an ancient walled village that was more a senior citizens enclave than a living town, a wishing tree that is diseased and riddled with termites so it can't be approached, and as a grand finale, a jewellery factory where gold and diamond jewellery is made by hand.

Ok, so the last place was fun (Yay for diamonds!), but not so fun that we actually bought anything. (Boo for budgets.)

One thing that we have bought here in Hong Kong is a brand spankin' new laptop. I can't tell you anything about it except that it's here and I'm using it. BG gets mad, insane props for doing the research, the legwork, the decision making, and the purchasing -- and he in turn gives mad props to some local friends who helped him do the negotiations. This was a quest of epic proportions, as he bought from the Wan Chai computer mall, which is comprised of two floors of an office tower full of rows and rows of computer stores. He secretly loved it, though. I can tell. This should, in theory, help us keep our photos more organized and online more regularly, help us keep our (ahem) budget more organized and in check, and help us waste more time online than we were already doing.

Another Hong Kong Experience was a salon haircut for me. I was made an appointment with a man who was lauded as "The Best Stylist in Hong Kong", and I was treated to a decadent shampooing, a scaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalp massaaaaaaaaaaaaaage, and a really, really great cut. I no longer have an Asian mullet!

Our meals here have also been truly great. One night we had "clay pot" rice, where rice is boiled with some tasty (and truly scary) toppings in terra cotta pots, but that experience positively pales in comparison to the Chinese hot pot dinner that we shared with some new friends here -- two cauldrons of flavoured both in which you dump food of all species -- animal, vegetable, and more animal. The highlight of the evening for many of us was the consumption of chicken balls (and I really mean the balls.) Don't ask.

I'm sad today, though. My friend Ian is going back to Toronto today, and I've really loved hanging out with him. Hong Kong won't be the same without him. The next four days we plan on staying here seem to stretch before us now, even though I suspect we're now going to get more of the doing done and less of the lounging done.

Glitz and Glam, Sparkle and Shine

Last week we left the arid desert and returned to the land of the living -- the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai, for starters. Mumbai is India's most urban, most sophisticated, and most chaotic city in many ways; it's a snake charmer dressed in a three piece suit, and a belly dancer wearing a turtleneck sweater. The most opulent hotels I've ever seen are kitty corner to the gritty Salvation Army hostel (that's where we stayed.) It's more tropical than Delhi, more financially driven than Delhi, and more exotic than Delhi in a lot of ways. Delhi belongs to India, and Mumbai belongs to the world.

We visited the Gateway of India and were offered giant balloons the size of a toddler; we strolled down Marine Drive and walked past the swank Hilton and Oberoi Hotels, cuddled puppies in Crawford Market (but not the chickens) and indulged in tropical fruit and roasted peanuts, and toured around Nariman Point. One morning we watched the action unfold at Sassoon Dock, where all the fishermen bring their catch in the morning to be auctioned off. There, we saw shrimp being shelled by the thousands, fish being carried off by the handcart and on baskets being carried on heads, and fishing nets being mended -- they seemed miles long.

One of the highlights of Mumbai for me was the screening of "Om Shanti Om" that we saw. It was delightful: three hours of melodramatic acting, sexy shimmying, shirtless male leads, wet sari contests, and song, song, song. In Hindi! Figuring out what the heck was going on was half the adventure. The popcorn was pretty good too.

In Mumbai we were reacquainted with a wonderful couple that we'd met in Delhi; James and Christina live in Mumbai and were kind enough to invite us into their home for dinner two nights in a row. They also took us to a local music festival in Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai, where we listened to jazzy vocals by three sisters in saris as the Indian Ocean crashed on the shore below us.

From Mumbai we said goodbye to India. I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm not relieved. India was interesting, crazy, and chaotic. It was an adventure, and it was exhausting. We'll be telling "This one time in India..." stories for years. We are now in Hong Kong, where we've been reintroduced to my three favourite "S" things: shoes, sushi, Starbucks. The airport in Hong Kong was air-conditioned to a fault; everything had signs, and announcements were made in an almost-constant circuit (in contrast to Mumbai's airport, which was hot and sticky, had no signs, and zero announcements to tell us our flight was an hour delayed.) We stopped at the bank machine and withdrew money without a problem; I bought a coffee, and we got on the high-speed train to downtown Hong Kong without a single hitch (in twenty-three smooth, blissful minutes.)

We're staying in a supposedly "seedy" part of Hong Kong, but it's luxurious as far as I'm concerned. We're staying with an old, wonderful friend of mine named Ian, and reminiscing and hanging out has been fantastic. Yesterday we walked around Wan Chai and some of the shopping areas of Hong Kong and then met another friend for sushi. He took us to some extremely posh clubs for drinks and atmosphere, and got home later than we've been out in weeks and weeks. Today we had an amazing dim sum lunch, took the Hong Kong harbour ferry, and walked around the chaotic area of Mon Kok, which is a shopper's paradise (especially if you want men's underwear with elephant trunks and such other practical items.)

And -- I've had my Starbucks every day. I love Hong Kong.