For those of you who haven’t experienced it, the approach into the Hong Kong airport on a clear day is one of the most impressive I have ever seen. It may not be the (in)famous approach through the city to the old airport (now closed), but the views of the islands, the mountains, and the city itself is stunning as you bank into the new airport.
The approach to the old airport (clearly not one of our pictures):
At various points over the last week we had played with several ideas about where to stay upon arriving in Hong Kong – use more Sheraton points, stay at Mike’s former manager’s apartment, someone even told us that the YMCA was cheap and outfitted like a fancy hotel. So as per usual when faced with too many options our indecisive natures roared to the forefront and we made no decision. Instead we exercised the ultimate backup and showed up at Jen’s super fancy hotel (since her time with us in Cambodia, my sister has been in Hong Kong for work). Feeling quite comfortable in Jen’s hotel room, Mike and I decided to stay… I’m not sure if we were actually invited or whether we invited ourselves, but either way we made ourselves at home.
Parked in front of the hotel - red for Mike, black for Jen, and yellow for me:
We tried to catch the hotel changing the elevator mats, but they were too sneaky for us:
In the “same, same, but different,” post we mentioned the knock-off merchandise pervasive in Asian markets. Most of the stuff you find isn’t very good and doesn’t actually bear much of a resemblance to the original… but if you know the right people, you can arrange meetings to see some things that are quite good and do bear a striking resemblance to the real thing. We, of course, want nothing to do with such shady undertakings and would have no part of it. But hypothetically speaking, had we been interested, and if someone we know who spends a good amount of time in this neck of the woods had known such a person, we could have arranged such a meeting, could have been very impressed with the quality of the goods offered, and could have made a purchase or two.
The city of Hong Kong is split in half – the Kowloon side and the island side. Each night the buildings in the city put on an elaborate light show, so after picking up one of Jen’s colleagues at another hotel, we wandered along the Kowloon side river bank enjoying the spectacle. A short ferry ride took us over to the island side, and then a tram ride up to the Peak for dinner.
View from the peak:
After dinner we headed to Lan Kwai Fong, home of Hong Kong’s bar/club scene. The highlight of the evening was the Filipino cover-band (same, same, but Filipino?) playing at a bar called Insomnia. Perfect impressions of Shakira and Cranberries, and very impressive renditions of Green Day, Fugees, and much more had the whole club going crazy – and led Mike to commit to booking them for his wedding (pending the approval of the future Mrs of course).
Cover band at Insomnia:
Matt (Jen’s colleague), Jen, and me on the street after the band:
Just in case you were wondering where Jen got that ice cream:
After ice cream I headed home and the rest of the crew partied the night away…
We knew that we couldn’t end our trip without at least one more set of temples/statues; so on Sunday Jen, Mike, and I headed to Lantau Island to see the “Big Buddha” (that’s really what it’s called…okay, well technically it’s the Tian Tan Buddha, but it is referred to everywhere as the Big Buddha). While it was only constructed 1993, it was still pretty impressive sitting at the top of a mountain looking out over the water (you might start picking up on the fact that Hong Kong has lots of mountains and water).
The Tian Tan “Big Buddha” (the world’s tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha):
Monastery next to the Big Buddha:
Having checked the sightseeing/culture box for the day, we headed back to the city and settled in for an evening of wandering the streets/markets and going to see Superman Returns at a local mall.
Nathan Road:
Late night scene outside the movie theater/mall:
As Monday rolled around, Jen headed off to China with one of her vendors to visit a “wash house.” (We wanted to go with her to see what a Chinese factory was really like, but ran into that whole visa issue…even though they are the same country…sort of…) Limited to more ordinary tourist fare, Mike and I jumped on a bus across the island to Stanley Market. Having wandered around the market for a while and spent the rest of the day hanging out and relaxing.
Hong Kong has really become the first step in our “decompression” from our 45-day Asian experience. Just as the decidedly Western feel of Singapore helped ease us into the the trip, Hong Kong’s vibe is helping to transition us out. And just as well since tomorrow we fly to Tokyo for a quick stopover before heading home on Wednesday.
-sjp
