Not my best and brightest write up, but it gives you the highlights:
After a quick coffee on Sunday morning the group was off with maps in tow. We first headed towards the convention centre. Deb found a great place to go for Dim Sum in travel book and it was just blocks from the hotel. Honkers was hot and humid, even warmer than in Cebu. We trekked around the bay and found an entrance to my first Hong Kong dim sum experience.
Upon entering we were all surprised to be the only ones in the restaurant. It was already eleven o clock and I thought that on a Sunday the place would be hopping. Nonetheless, we sat at a large circular table and waited for the carts to start appearing. To my surprise, this particular restaurant did not utilize the familiar a la cart technique which I was used to back home. Instead we had to rely on menus; a Dim Sum practice which was not completely foreign to me. I was, however, surprised that a fair number of my group were Dim Sum virgins. This meant I was responsible for a majority of the ordering; the group was in good hands.
The food was good but the waves of food were rather sparse. I certainly was not disappointed with the quality, but I could easily compare it to some of my favorite haunts in Edmonton. BBQ port buns, dumpling, chicken feet, etc…the usual suspects were all accounted for. One special find was a mini soup dumpling. It was fun and tasty but I completely burnt the top of my mouth.
Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping on the waterfront and decided we would attempt to walk to a rail tram which would take us to “the peak”. The walk looked easy enough. I mean, it was only a few inches on the tourist map.
WRONG! I lost about 10 pounds on that walk alone. Combine the muggy heat, me wearing a black shirt, no water, an aching neck, with hot pavement and you get one crabby SOB. After about an hour of walking I gave up completely. I did not quite throw a hissy fit but I’m still not proud of my reaction to my present circumstance. I simply told the group that I would meet them back at the hotel. I was tired, delirious from the heat, in pain, and thought, “isn’t this my vacation”? I was just looking for the next available cab and I was out.
Typically, at this time I was only about 50 feet from our destination. Slightly embarrassed I told the group that I would continue, but I would NEVER admit to enjoying the view. ;)
We went up the tram which was on quite and angle and reached the peak. It housed a building with about 6-8 flights of escalators with loads of shops and restaurants. The view was stunning, albeit a bit hazy. Char asked me if I was glad that I kept going. Me being stubborn, I merely advised that it was very nice but I would still never admit to having a good time. By this time air conditioning and about 2 litres of water assisted in bringing back from the edges of sanity, but it also dried me off into a big salty mess. Far from a shower or change of clothes there was no other course of action open to me. BEER TIME!
After a few beers I did feel better, although still salty. The team convinced me that instead of heading to the hotel for a shower we might as well make our way to Kowloon. I agreed and the group split in half to get into taxis. One group arrived at the destination; my group. The other group…well…we waited for about 20 minutes and decided to hop on a fairy (I think some are still a little bitter about this).
Unbeknownst to us there was an anime festival in town. We quickly figured this out as we entered the boat and suddenly found ourselves surrounded by people wearing hats or carrying fake samurai swords. We even saw a few people in cosplay (a preview for Japan, I guess). While we were on the boat, I noticed that the second group pulled up to the ferry port. They were too late; we were on the way but we made sure to wait for them on the other side.
We had a few hours to kill before it got dark so we headed over to the bay mall; a large shopping centre with many international stores. Tyler and I lasted about 10 minutes in the crowd before heading up to the patio for a beverage. Afterwards, all of the rest of them joined us for a drink as the sun went down.
Just before 8pm we headed to the waterfront of Kowloon to watch the light show. All of the large skyscrapers on Hong Kong island had elaborate lights which were turned on at 8pm. The city worked with the owners of these buildings to sync the lights into a 20 minute show every night. It was like neon Christmas 3099. I loved the entire package…the cheesy synth music, the brightly lit buildings, the patterns of light, the vacant expression on the crowd’s faces as everyone frantically took pictures.
After the show, we all went to Temple Street Night Market. This was my kind of place. A narrow street packed with people, stalls and venders. The constant shouting by the patrons in Cantonese, the shop keeps beckoning in broken English, the washing hanging out of windows like flags. As you walked down the congested road your senses were accosted by the bright colors and the smell of roasted animal bits in the air.
By now I had sharpened my bartering skills and was ready to put them to the test. Again, the group took two cabs and again, we got separated. Apparently both groups got dropped off at either sides of the market so we conveniently met back up in the middle. After some shopping a few of us sat down for, yet again, a bit of beer before taking the last ferry back to Hong Kong.
After an entire day and evening walking and gawking we finally arrived back at the hotel. Although we were tired, we were all determined to go out even on Sunday night. I stopped into a 7/11 and picked up a random energy drink which came in a small vial and promised to enrich me with Amino Acids. I don’t know what was in it but it kept me buzzing for the rest of the night. We went down the main strip of bars in Wan Chai and went into The Dog House. It was pretty quiet but we didn’t mind. It gets kind of blurry from there.
After a quick coffee on Sunday morning the group was off with maps in tow. We first headed towards the convention centre. Deb found a great place to go for Dim Sum in travel book and it was just blocks from the hotel. Honkers was hot and humid, even warmer than in Cebu. We trekked around the bay and found an entrance to my first Hong Kong dim sum experience.
Upon entering we were all surprised to be the only ones in the restaurant. It was already eleven o clock and I thought that on a Sunday the place would be hopping. Nonetheless, we sat at a large circular table and waited for the carts to start appearing. To my surprise, this particular restaurant did not utilize the familiar a la cart technique which I was used to back home. Instead we had to rely on menus; a Dim Sum practice which was not completely foreign to me. I was, however, surprised that a fair number of my group were Dim Sum virgins. This meant I was responsible for a majority of the ordering; the group was in good hands.
The food was good but the waves of food were rather sparse. I certainly was not disappointed with the quality, but I could easily compare it to some of my favorite haunts in Edmonton. BBQ port buns, dumpling, chicken feet, etc…the usual suspects were all accounted for. One special find was a mini soup dumpling. It was fun and tasty but I completely burnt the top of my mouth.
Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping on the waterfront and decided we would attempt to walk to a rail tram which would take us to “the peak”. The walk looked easy enough. I mean, it was only a few inches on the tourist map.
WRONG! I lost about 10 pounds on that walk alone. Combine the muggy heat, me wearing a black shirt, no water, an aching neck, with hot pavement and you get one crabby SOB. After about an hour of walking I gave up completely. I did not quite throw a hissy fit but I’m still not proud of my reaction to my present circumstance. I simply told the group that I would meet them back at the hotel. I was tired, delirious from the heat, in pain, and thought, “isn’t this my vacation”? I was just looking for the next available cab and I was out.
Typically, at this time I was only about 50 feet from our destination. Slightly embarrassed I told the group that I would continue, but I would NEVER admit to enjoying the view. ;)
We went up the tram which was on quite and angle and reached the peak. It housed a building with about 6-8 flights of escalators with loads of shops and restaurants. The view was stunning, albeit a bit hazy. Char asked me if I was glad that I kept going. Me being stubborn, I merely advised that it was very nice but I would still never admit to having a good time. By this time air conditioning and about 2 litres of water assisted in bringing back from the edges of sanity, but it also dried me off into a big salty mess. Far from a shower or change of clothes there was no other course of action open to me. BEER TIME!
After a few beers I did feel better, although still salty. The team convinced me that instead of heading to the hotel for a shower we might as well make our way to Kowloon. I agreed and the group split in half to get into taxis. One group arrived at the destination; my group. The other group…well…we waited for about 20 minutes and decided to hop on a fairy (I think some are still a little bitter about this).
Unbeknownst to us there was an anime festival in town. We quickly figured this out as we entered the boat and suddenly found ourselves surrounded by people wearing hats or carrying fake samurai swords. We even saw a few people in cosplay (a preview for Japan, I guess). While we were on the boat, I noticed that the second group pulled up to the ferry port. They were too late; we were on the way but we made sure to wait for them on the other side.
We had a few hours to kill before it got dark so we headed over to the bay mall; a large shopping centre with many international stores. Tyler and I lasted about 10 minutes in the crowd before heading up to the patio for a beverage. Afterwards, all of the rest of them joined us for a drink as the sun went down.
Just before 8pm we headed to the waterfront of Kowloon to watch the light show. All of the large skyscrapers on Hong Kong island had elaborate lights which were turned on at 8pm. The city worked with the owners of these buildings to sync the lights into a 20 minute show every night. It was like neon Christmas 3099. I loved the entire package…the cheesy synth music, the brightly lit buildings, the patterns of light, the vacant expression on the crowd’s faces as everyone frantically took pictures.
After the show, we all went to Temple Street Night Market. This was my kind of place. A narrow street packed with people, stalls and venders. The constant shouting by the patrons in Cantonese, the shop keeps beckoning in broken English, the washing hanging out of windows like flags. As you walked down the congested road your senses were accosted by the bright colors and the smell of roasted animal bits in the air.
By now I had sharpened my bartering skills and was ready to put them to the test. Again, the group took two cabs and again, we got separated. Apparently both groups got dropped off at either sides of the market so we conveniently met back up in the middle. After some shopping a few of us sat down for, yet again, a bit of beer before taking the last ferry back to Hong Kong.
After an entire day and evening walking and gawking we finally arrived back at the hotel. Although we were tired, we were all determined to go out even on Sunday night. I stopped into a 7/11 and picked up a random energy drink which came in a small vial and promised to enrich me with Amino Acids. I don’t know what was in it but it kept me buzzing for the rest of the night. We went down the main strip of bars in Wan Chai and went into The Dog House. It was pretty quiet but we didn’t mind. It gets kind of blurry from there.
