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Published: March 12th 2012
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We were staying at the W Hong Kong on the Kowloon side of
Hong Kong, which offered fantastic views of the harbor and famous Hong Kong skyline (thank you Starwood points).This hotel, like much of Hong Kong was high rise, modern, and a lot of glamour.
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). Originally confined to Hong Kong Island, the colony's boundaries were extended in stages to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China resumed sovereignty.
Hong Kong is about the same size as New
York, and when we arrived we were amazed at the infrastructure (excellent subway system – the MTR, that was spotless, air conditioned, with free wifi underground). We were also impressed that the airport had ‘in town check-in’ and a high speed train directly from our hotel’s stop (as well as Hong Kong’s main MTR). We were also taken aback at the number of shopping malls with all high-end labels.
We met up with Steve Lee and his girlfriend Ryuko on our first night in the big city. Steve is good friends from Cornell with Suzi’s sister Linda, and has been living in Hong Kong for 12 years. It was fantastic to catch up and get a local perspective right from the beginning. They took us out to a delicious southern Chinese dinner and gave us some great recommendations on how best to experience the city. It turned out that Kostek and Steve share the passion for mobile gaming business, Steve is working in the field, so a lot of the dinner conversation revolved about the mobile revolution.
The city was massive and impressive, but hadn’t seen the sun in weeks. We were lucky to get a partially sunny
morning on Friday, so we rushed to
The Peak, Hong Kong’s most known viewing point.
Victoria Peak (known as The Peak) is a mountain in Hong Kong. The mountain is located in the western half of Hong Kong Island. With an altitude of 552 m (1,811 ft), it is the highest mountain on the island proper, but not in the entirety of Hong Kong, an honor which belongs to Tai Mo Shan.
We rode the classic cable car up to the top, and caught glimpses of the city below from amongst the clouds.
After The Peak we met with Brendan and Irene in Central for an amazing dim sum lunch. Afterwards we walked the city and took the Star Ferry to Kowloon and walked the promenade. The views from the ferry as well as the promenade were truly amazing, especially that the clouds have cleared up in the afternoon.
That evening, we joined Irene and Niina for the waterfront light show, where all the famous skyscrapers light up with music. We then went to the FCC – Foreign Correspondents Club, for dinner. As opposed to the FCC we went to with Nicolette in Phnom Penh,
this FCC had strict entry requirements. Only registered legitimate reporters and corporate members could enter the club, along with their guests. As Irene works for Thomson Reuters, she got us into the club. It was unfortunate they did not permit photos; it was a really interesting space. There were quiet rooms for private conversations, Bloomberg kiosks, and an impressive dark paneled wood bar with framed famous pictures from history, as well as newspaper front pages from notable days in history.
Steve and Ryuko met us at FCC and after dinner they took us out for a Friday night on the town. The LKF is a walking street lined completely with bars and live music venues. The street was absolutely filled with locals and tourists taking in the night. It was as though it was one huge street party. Steve took us out to a great lounge, then up to Tazmania, who has had a lot of headliners come by and play. Steve sang a capella when we were in school, and we couldn’t resist his offer to go out for karaoke. It was great to re-live karaoke a few years ago in New York, this time in Hong Kong.
Ryuko and her friend Mae showed us how to play a dice game, and we sung the night away.
On Saturday, Niina and I took to Hollywood street and NoHo and SoHo neighborhoods (North and South of Hollywood) for some shopping. It was great to walk the windy streets and take in the markets, food stalls, and interesting shops. We had a low-key Saturday night. Irene cooked us a very delicious dinner and we ended up playing a board game called Agricola (probably will become our new favorite in addition to Catan!) at their apartment.
On Sunday morning we went with Brendan and Irene out for a brunch of Taiwanese delicacies, soup dumplings. They were really out of this world; we had a fantastic gastronomic experience! We spent the remaining few hours window shopping and getting a few classic Hong Kong gifts.
We bid Brendan and Irene goodbye, and a big thank you to them and Steve and Ryuko for showing us such a fantastic time in their city!
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Ariel Lurye
non-member comment
What a joy to read!
Suzi and Kostek, you two are bringing so my joy to us by your reporting! Places you visit, things you do - it's all so-o-o fascinating and your both describe it so well, plus the photos - it 's like watching a movie, but much better than Hollywood! To be able to visit with friends in these far-away lands must feel very special. Be safe on your trip and write more!