Hong Kong

Hong Kong is beautiful. And hot. And humid. The traffic is worse than LA, and everyone takes cabs. We are staying with some of Rob's relatives, who have been amazing. They have taken us around for the last 2 days and shown us all different sides of Hong Kong, from downtown Hong Kong markets where live chickens, fish, and turtles are slaughtered :-( to the beautiful South side of Hong Kong where there are lush forests and beautiful views of the water and nearby islands.

On our first full day here we went to city hall for dim sum, where we ran into two friends from law school, jon ames and roger steinbeck (small world!). They had also come for dim sum, so they joined us and we had a great meal. It was especially fun looking at the interesting food options such as fish heads and chicken feet, which Rob actually attempted to eat and then wimped out (see picture). Other than the latter, the food was really good. After dim sum we took the tram up to Victoria Peak, a beautiful point above Hong Kong, with a nature trail that had views of the entire city and bay. The Tram literally felt like it was climbing vertically up in the air and was going to break at any point, where we would then go flying backwards. Some jackass behind us was telling everyone how the rails were flimsy and how the tram could easily break and we would all go flying backwards and die. It was a lovely experience. Anyway, once we got up there, we took in the beautiful view and walked up part of the trail before we decided we'd had enough after about 7 mosquito bites. We then went to the marketplace where everyone sells fresh fruit, produce, meat, fish, etc. It was really sad to see fish flopping around (some long eel looking fish literally leapt out of their basins and were flopping on the concrete) and seeing live chickens in cages. Plus, there were whole geese and pigs hanging around. joy! the people were really friendly and a lovely man gave me some delicious dried mango candy (the mango here is soooo good - better than the mexican mangos in the states). That night Rob's Uncle took us to a great dinner at the American Club in downtown Hong Kong, a country club started by American expats, that has an amazing view of the harbor and Kowloon (city across from Hong Kong Harbor). We then took a ferry over to Kowloon to the night market in Tsim Sha Tsing. It was a serious spectacle. They were selling designer knockoff bags like crazy. I think our hosts were shocked when we were not interested in buying anything - particularly fake bags (I prefer the real thing, oh and fyi my bday is September 18...just sayin'). They have catalogs of designer bags and then they run upstairs and get you the bag (apparently there are raids on this stuff because is is illegal). Everyone yells out "copybags" when you walk by their stalls. Today was a loooong day. And fyi the bugs are huge, here.

On our second day we (meaning Leah) didn't wake up until about 11. We went to the branch of the American Club that is located on the southern, less developed side of Hong Kong. We had lunch there and then went to Stanley Market which is a huge collection of people selling things out of stalls (like the night market in Kowloon but with less knock-offs). Again, we didn't buy anything, and our hosts joked that we weren't injecting any money into the Hong Kong economy...little did they know that Leah would have to visit the emergency room which, of course, necessitated a donation to the Hong Kong economy. Leah was worried that her sore throat may have been strep throat because she was exposed to it before leaving. However, the medical system in Hong Kong was incredibly efficient and cheap compared to that in the U.S. It took a total of 30 minutes and $130 U.S. to get in and out with antibiotics. Then we ate a last dinner with my family and now we are writing this blog for all of you to enjoy. Next stop, Bangkok.

Notes: Everyone and their child wears crocs, owns a pomeranian, and you can find pork stuffed into just about any type of dumpling/bun you can imagine. Oh, still haven't seen a monkey.

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