Hong Kong

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We've finally sorted ourselves out and figured out how to get our pictures off our camera and on to our memory drive ... so we thought it was high time we update our blog with our first entry.

Cathay Pacific gives a free stop over on it's flights which connect in Hong Kong. We never intended to go to Hong Kong, but since it was a free for us we thought we'd take advantage. We've never heard anyone talk about what a fantastic city Hong Kong is - and we cannot figure out why. We are so glad we stayed over for three days. Everyone should visit here at least once.

Hong Kong seems focussed on shopping. Now that we are budget travellers we had to walk right past the great shopping (even though it hurt my heart to do so - no loss for Chris, though). Stores like Dior, Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Coach, Chanel and other high-end shops lined many of the streets. All was not lost, though, because if you do keep walking you can find some incredible places.

We mainly walked around town and sampled food and people watched. Lots of sights and smells - the entire city smells of cooking oil - a smell, in the end, we decided we didn't really like. Our favourite section of the city was in Hong Kong Island. There were lots of tight little streets lined with market stalls and street food. These streets were situated in the middle of the higher end shopping streets. We spent one evening eating and drinking in the Lan Quai Fung area - a very popular area with the expat community. There were lots of bars and restaurants which spilled out onto the street. We sat and people watched there for a long time and chatted about how easy it would be to live there. Tonnes of young professional expats from all over the world. It was a very international and multi-cultural mix of people. We ended out the night sipping vodka in the freezer room of a Russian bar ... fur coats were complimentary. (Thanks for the tip Andrei!)

Our last night in Hong Kong we spent in Kowloon (the other side of Hong Kong) drinking wine at the Intercontinental Hotel bar. They have these huge incredible windows overlooking Hong Kong Island. The smog and humidity had lifted that day, so it was the perfect time to relax and take in the enormity of the city. Each night the city puts on a "laser show" where alot of the buildings light up with neon lights and laser beams are shot out in all directions. The view was spectacular - even without the lasers and neon lights.

Once the show was over we headed back to our hotel to pack up for Bangkok. We really loved Hong Kong - I've never been to a city so dense and exciting and interesting. We both HIGHLY recommend it. And if you have some money to spend and like to shop, well this city is for you. We think we'll do another free stopover on our way home. Good incentive to save my pennies so that I can actually participate in Hong Kong's favorite passtime - shopping!!

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Comments

[Matt Bernstein]

Great pics...
Keep the photos coming! They're super fun to look at. I'm glad you two kids are having fun. -MB