Hong Kong

Our trip to Hong Kong was one of pleasure and necessity. Our visas have to be renewed every 59 days here in the Philippines, and Friday, October 16th was the last day we could legally stay in the country. We went to the immigration office earlier that week on a Tuesday to go ahead and renew our visas. The lady at the desk told us it was going to cost 2,000 pesos more this time than it did last time. Upon learning this, we thought this is money we could spend on a trip and just get our normal visas when we return. So after some internet searches, Hong Kong here we come. The night before we leave, I get an email from our airline stating that my debit card could not be verified and our reservation is canceled. If we wish to keep this itinerary, show up at the airport and pay for our tickets at the counter. Seems easy enough. We finally arrive at the Kalibo Airport after a 2hr ride in the airlines complimentary shuttle because, not only do we not live on the same island as the airport, its a boat ride and then a van trip. We get to the airport in plenty of time, go to the counter, get ready to pay for our tickets, and the lady says, "We only take cash." What???!!! Now, within the next 3hrs, we have to find an ATM because there sure isn't one in the airport. So a 45min pedicab ride to 3 different banks and no luck. Just because it says VISA on the ATM doesn't mean it's going to take your VISA. Finally, we find a bank that takes my card. Now back to the airport. Eventually we get our tickets and onto the plane we go. Luckily, no other problems arose and we arrived in Hong Kong on time and safely. We have numerous videos of our trip that will be coming up shortly...within the next couple days.

Picture of us at the Hong Kong International Airport

Cool picture inside of the airport

The Hong Kong International Airport is 30 minutes from Hong Kong Island and the downtown area. This is our bus pulling up to take us to Nathan Road, Kowloon District

View from the back of the bus on our way into town

A picture of the Hong Kong dollar

Our first meal at Macau Restaurant after we got to our hostel and got settled in...minced pork and baby oysters with cabbage in egg noodles.

This is our street food vendor located almost directly across the street from where we stayed. We ate breakfast here almost every morning. The language barrier in Hong Kong was a little more obvious than here in the Philippines, but we just used the trusted method of point and nod to order. We are still not completely sure all the things we ate, but it was all very good. Once you order your food, they would place it either on the metal tins you see on the counter, or in a wax paper bag. At that point, just find a place to get out of the way and start eating. If you would prefer mustard, chili oil, or sweet/sour sauce, just pour some on from the bottles atop the counter, and enjoy..

Deep fried squid for breakfast...can't beat it, all for around a $1. Most of the street food vendors serve the purpose of a cheap, quick, in between meal snack for the locals. Not us. Sara and I would stand around and make a meal of it...4 or 5 skewers, some dumplings, maybe some noodles too. If only there were something comparable here on the island..

Sara's turn..

My turn..

One of my favorite things...right beside our street food vendor is a fresh juice bar. From carrot juice, to orange, sugarcane, coconut, mango and ginger. From the ones we tried, carrot juice was the best and believe it or not, sugarcane the worst. Tasted more of the cane and less of the sugar. Huge disappointment for Sara - she had been looking forward to this for quite some time.

Fresh carrot juice...

This is a pic of the another street vendor behind our hostel. These places were open late with all the food on display. The crowded one is the one you want to go to....usually the best. And as we figured out, just stand around for a bit and see what the locals get, and then follow suit.

Freshly cooked duck on display. This was common throughout Hong Kong for local restaurants to showcase items they offered in the windows of their establishments. The guys behind the window, right before this picture, continued to motion for us to come inside.

One of the coolest things about the city. On our way in on the bus, we must have passed at least a half dozen outdoor sport complexes with everything from full length basketball courts, to soccer fields, tennis courts, etc. In a city where real estate is at a premium, I was surprised to see so many recreational facilities. We arrived around 9pm and almost all of the courts/fields were packed full of people. This picture below is on Nathan Road, the busiest road in the Kowloon district. The aquatic center below is located only a few blocks away in the park.

The aquatic park...this picture really doesn't do justice to the size. The building in the background with the bright light atop is another full size, indoor swimming facility. The outdoor pool also continues around to the right of the lighted walkway you see at the bottom right of the picture. Sara and I walked through here around 7:30-8 and people were still coming into the park to swim. Very cool..

Sunday afternoon around 3pm in the middle of the Mong Kok Street Market. This area comprised outdoor markets selling everything from beach towels to rolex's. This is Sara standing in the middle of all that energy. Getting out and into the mix with all the people was an awesome experience in and of itself. This is also around the area of Fa Yuen Street, also called "sneaker street", where shoe stores abound. A separate post will be made consisting of nothing but sneakers. Stay tuned.

This is a picture of me walking through the middle of the markets. Personal space is not an issue! If you have a problem with someone stepping on your heels and someone being practically nose to nose with you at the same time, this is not the place for you. For that matter, much of Hong Kong will not be pleasant. We learned this real quick.

Sara and I enjoying our Bubble Teas. These things are incredible, if you get the right one. I ordered the taro root tea and it was delicious. Sara ventured out and tried some mango/passion fruit concoction, not so much. Taro Root is the way to go. After this, on every street corner we were looking for another bubble tea stand.

This is Pottinger Street, named after Hong Kong's first Governor, Henry Pottinger. The street is made up of granite slabs which serve as small steps to hike through the Central district of Hong Kong Island.

Hong Kong Island has some serious hills to climb just to get from one side to the other. Below is a 1/2 mile escalator, I believe the longest in the world. It will take you from the bottom of the Central district up to the top. Along the way there are numerous shops and bars on both sides, just hop on and off the escalator. To go from top to bottom takes about 25 minutes. The only problem is, it will take you up but it won't bring you back down.

The MTR subway system...clean, efficient, smelled nice all the time, timely, etc, etc. I can't say enough about the mass transit system here...just superb. Although everyone was in a rush, everyone was polite. The longest we ever waited was 4 mins. on the subway, and the doors of the previous train shut right as we were about to enter. For the amount of people that rely on this subway everyday, it really is a credit to the residents of Hong Kong. They have a state of the art system and they appreciate it. People gladly relenquish there seats to others, obey the rules of eating and drinking, no trash anywhere. I could go on and on about this for a while, I was just impressed by it all. Neither one of us have been to New York to compare, but we've both been to Chicago..

Hong Kong provided us with much more than a pretty skyline and good food...a little taste of home. Some things are just not accessible here on the island that we could find with regularity in the big city. This particular pub on this particular day was outstanding, "The Wheel". We ordered 2 Guiness, which we haven't even seen in Boracay, much less been able to partake. They were ice cold and accompanied by complimentary peanuts and rice crackers. And to top it all off, they were playing old Michael Jackson music videos on the 50' TV directly in front of us with volume coming from the restaurants entertainment center. Needless to say, we didn't leave until the music stopped.

Another pub located in Hong Kong's SOHO district. A posh area of town on Hong Kong Island where most businessmen/women come for happy hour after leaving work in the financial district, which is right up the street. Please note the banner at the top right for all our NC followers.

This is the Lin Heung Tea House & Bakery. This is a picture of the inside of the restaurant.

We got fried squid topped with shrimp chips, and bean curd with spicy meat sauce. The squid/shrimp combo were a little salty, and we didn't know they were going to be fried, but they were still good. But the bean curd was phenomenal. Our entrees came with steamed rice and green tea. I am not too big on tea, but yet I haven't had to many varieties. This was a loose leaf green tea and it was really good. We drank the whole pot.

A picture of a park on Hong Kong Island. This is just an example of the many parks throughout the city. We hung out here and rested our feet for a bit and took a few pictures after a day of walking all over the city.

In the upcoming pictures of the skyline, the building directly behind us with the zig-zagged white lights is easily visible from "The Peak"

We ran into 2 American guys while getting off the plane in Hong Kong. Both of them were studying abroad and had been there for a while. We picked their brain momentarily to find out what are some good places to see, where to eat, any tips they could give us to make our trip a little better. They said the tourist attraction that is a must see is the Big Buddha (which is below), and that 7-Eleven's here pretty much have everthing you need. Hong Kong is a very expensive city, so alot of locals and college kids just grab a beer and sit outside the 7-11's, which sometimes turns into a little party itself. So, since its legal in Hong Kong to have a beer on the street, the following picture is Sara and I having a beer and hanging out with some other 7-11 patrons before heading back across the harbor to our hostel. More 7-11 pics coming up..

This is the beginning of our Big Buddha adventure. There are two ways to get there, an 1hr 30min bus ride, or a 25min cable car ride across the South China Sea and up the mountains. I was originally excited about this, but as the trip progressed, I began to change my mind. In retrospect, I should have opted for the bus when the lady at the front desk where we purchased our tickets said, "It is a little windy today. The cable car may sway a little bit. Is that ok?" I respond with, "Oh sure...thats cool." Please look at the photo below and keep in mind how tall the buildings in the background appear (50-60) stories easy.

This is our ride up, crossing over the sea. To the right of the bridge at the top right of the picture is where we began our journey. Please keep in mind, from the terminal you are not able to see the extent of the trip you are about to take.

This is at the top of our cable car ride. From here, it is back down the other side to Ngong Ping terminal on the Big Buddha side of the mountain. The statue of the Big Buddha is in the background. The statue stands ~105ft tall and on clear days visibility stretches all the way to Macau, another island only accessible by plane or ferry from Hong Kong.

A view from the bottom of steps before walking up to the Big Buddha

A picture from the steps in front of the Big Buddha. Sara and I both took a picture in front of the statue to provide some idea of the vast size of Buddha.

Sara giving Big Buddha some love...high five to you too Sara Bost..

A picture from inside the Po Lin Monastery. This monastery was started by 3 monks on a pilgrimage from Jiangsu to Ngong Ping. They established this monastery over 1oo years ago and since the completion of the Buddhist statue, this has become a sanctuary for individuals of the Buddhist faith throughout Hong Kong and beyond.

A picture from the doorway of the monastery onto the veranda with views of the Big Buddha in the background.

Oh shit...here we go...back down the mountain. Now mind you the wind has picked up exponentially at this point and the cable cars are swaying back and forth. You can see how high we are in comparison to those buildings we passed in the beginning. Those are the same buildings that are barely visable to your bottom right. Now I understand that this cable car is capable of carrying 17 people at a time, and ours only had 3 people in it. That it can support 1000's of pounds of weight, and we may only have 350 lbs. Furthermore, there have been no incidents resulting in any injuries since the inception of this thing, but let me tell you what....that provides you with zero comfort as you dangle above nothing but cliffs and water as the wind rips through this little glass box several thousand feet above the ground. Now with only 3 of us in the cable car, I wouldn't let Sara sit beside me. With only 3 people, we can't all sit on the same side, we've got to balance the weight. It's Sara, me, and another girl that weighs maybe 50lbs. One of us has got to get to the other side ASAP. Now I understand how this sounds, but so be it. Sara didn't seem to mind the swaying back and forth. She spent most of her time smiling and laughing, asking "You alright?" And to think, for only a few more dollars, they had cable cars that had glass floors in them that would allow you to see where you would end up should your cable car decide to plummet during your ride - F#*k that!!! I barely made it as it was. Now looking back, it was an unforgettable experience. I don't know that I would do it again, but I am certain if there is any wind at all, bus ticket here I come.

Snake Bile Wine, literally...we didnt try this, but I may bring some home just for kicks.

Sara and I had some time to kill between now and when we were planning on heading to the Temple Street Night Markets for some food. So we proceeded to pick up a bottle of wine at the 7-11 (surprisingly pretty good), and people watch in the middle of downtown Hong Kong. We got some strange looks, but we didn't care..

Temple Street Night Market's restaurant area. There are dozens of restaurants and the street is lined with plastic tables and chairs. You can not tell where one restaurant starts and the other stops. Behind Sara are hanging some of the meats that are cooked daily.

Deep fried duck breast with a sweet dipping sauce and bamboo clams with garlic and rice noodles. We are not sure, but we believe the clams are referred to as 'bamboo clams' for their shell color. The shells are white and brown, similar to bamboo, as opposed to the gray color we are used to. The were also similar in shape to our traditional mussels as opposed to littleneck clams.

We just couldn't leave without trying as much different stuff as possible, and the spicy snails looked to good to pass up. As we were ordering the snails, our waitress tried to communicate to us that this was a very spicy dish. She looked at us as if to say, "Ok, I warned you." She was right. We had to get 2 orders of steamed rice.

The number of chiles in our small pot of snails, 9. The heat on the dish was extreme, but edible. It was not a manufactured heat that tasted bad or ruined the taste of the snails. It was very good. Hot, but good.

Another pic of the snails when they arrived. Sara has developed an affinity for all things spicy. Believe it or not, she actually sipped on the broth after all the snails were gone. She ended up drinking the whole pot of hot broth that remained. She said her belly felt unusually warm, but otherwise, she was fine. She said, "It's just so good, I can't stop." This was a really good time.

At the end of the Temple Night Markets, we ran into a couple dozen palm readers/fortune tellers. Sara couldn't pass up the opportunity to have her palm read. It was actually pretty cool. You will have to ask Sara to divulge all of the fortune-teller's prophecies...

This is the beginning of our trip up to "The Peak" to see the skyline of Hong Kong Island overlooking Victoria Harbor and the Kowloon District.

This is the crowd waiting behind us to catch the next tram

The closest skyline is Hong Kong Island, separated by the harbor, and then the Kowloon district on the otherside of the water where our hostel was located.

On the adjacent side of the observation deck you could see the opposite side of Hong Kong Island. This is a picture of Sara at sunset with the South China sea in the distance.

The skyline at twilight..

And the city at night. This was a great experience. As night began to fall, it became colder and colder, the haze started to lift a little bit, really spectacular. In the background (top left), the building with the "Y" shape is within a few blocks of where we stayed while in Hong Kong.

This is a picture out of the tram window on our way back down to the tram station. The incline was so steep that Sara and I were able to lean back, almost at a 45 degree angle, on our way down without falling. It was a Matrix moment.