Advertisement
Published: August 12th 2015
Edit Blog Post
One of the perks of doing a PhD, is definitely that you get to travel for conferences . This was a trip of many firsts: my first trip to Asia, my first trip alone, my first international conference etc..The interesting thing to note here, is that I am a vegetarian. To confess my food orientation is a lil more complex. I am not a vegan (hell no), but I ain't a vegetarian in the true sense too. I eat eggs. I also have a liking towards chicken but only if they are done the Indian way which, like Kim Kardashian's butt, no longer looks real. It has got to be spicy and non-meaty. So you can imagine my horror of going all by myself to the seafood capital of the world when I can't stand the smell of underwater. Can't stand fake meat either. I should say however, it wasn't bad. I did get vegetarian dishes (essentially vermicelli noodles with turmeric powder and soy sauce) and cheese twisters. The fact that the hawker food in every street seemed tempting to a vegetarian speaks volumes of HongKong's food scene.
I stayed in Kowloon, where you get better bang for your buck
than the mainland. A warning to everybody travelling to HongKong, unless you pay an average of $250 AUD per night, your room is going to be tiny. So tiny that some of you may feel claustrophobic. Once the conference was over (who are we kidding, post my presentation I was never there again), I visited the Lantau island with a group of tourists to see the giant Budda (see pic). The statue is an eastern equivalent of Christ the Redeemer. Since its ginormous, the best way to see the statue is by taking a cable car from the island up the hill. This way to get to witness the magnificence and the aura of the statue set against the hills backdrop. The place has a vegetarian restaurant (Yipee) and they served yummy delicacies such as spring rolls, tofu rolls and samosas (I know right).
After seeing Lantau Budda, we went to Tao fishing village, the last of preserved fishing villages in HongKong. The fishing village in itself was picturesque had my nose been chopped off. It was a fishing village indeed as advertised and the narrow cobbled laneways were full of street vendors selling various fresh and dried produce
from the sea. You had everything from your salt water fishes to anchovies to dried up fish gall bladder chips (gall bladder whaaat?) I thanked my common sense to bring fragrant kleenex tissues and pretended to have caught the flu.
The next day I joined Gabi from walk HongKong for a trekking trip to Dragon's Back mountain. It is amazing that a half an hour's trip from the bustling city takes you to a serene hill which is straight out of a book. We had a lovely time and I was constantly amazed at the stark contrast of possibly the world's most bustling city to the tranquil settings of the mountains.
Walking in Central is an experience for everyone, there are English influences at every corner and quaint cafes and pubs are a must to explore. I also visited the Man Mo temple which had spirals of incense sticks hung from them. The temple is about 500 years old and it has a very strong vibe to it. Evenings can also be spent in visiting the Victoria's Peak. This can be reached via Bus from Central. The way to the peak, called cantonment, had some of the nicest
british homes you will ever see in HongKong as it was where the British lived while it was still under their rule (until about 20 years ago). The peak at night is a sight to see as it is the ultimate urban canvas. The Tsing Ma bridge is the Asia's answer to the Golden Gate bridge. It is a must visit if you are into architecture and construction. A ferry ride from Kowloon to Victoria harbour in mainland doesn't hurt your eyes either.
The one thing I absolutely loved about HongKong is shopping. And shopping I did. Almost every day shops are open till 11 PM every day. A shoppers ultimate paradise, HongKong was very safe and not once did I feel uncomfortable or alarmed for the entire 7 days that I was there.
I finished my trip with a visit to Branto Indian restaurant at Tsim Tsa Shui because no trip is complete without eating rice and sambar for an Indian girl
Hope you enjoyed my very first travel blog
Many more exciting new adventures to come..
Kay Bye
Advertisement
Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0399s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb