Hong Kong- The City that Comes Alive at Night
After my frantic leaving a day early to avoid a snowstorm where I am from, and then 16 hour flight from JFK, my Gumby-esque self (thanks small prescription pills!) shuffled off the plane in Hong Kong to be met by the W Hong Kong private car service (public transportation what?)
When traveling long distances such as this, I have a routine that has been refined and developed. Private car. Hotel Check-In. Large Meal. Spa. Screw with this at your peril. Accordingly, I removed my myself to the Bliss Spa for a few life renewing treatments. Their 90 minute Fully Loaded Facial is everything.
Our hotel was attached to a high end mall with all my favorite designers, some beautiful suede Louis Vuitton boots made the trip home with me..
However, I made the interesting discovery that nothing really gets going in Hong Kong before 11am. It seems to really be a night town. Here are a few of my favorite things things we did on our three days there:
1) The Peak This was my favorite thing in Hong Kong. This will also be the most crowded thing in Hong Kong. First you take the tram to the top of the mountain Peak, and from there you can see the whole city. The views are incredible. We took way too many pictures, now that I think about it, this might be a theme with me. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants up there are well, allow plenty of time to walk around, and the lines to get back down can get really long.
2) Temple Street Night Market This was really fun to walk around all the stalls with the bright lights and bold colors. Every restaurant had a sidewalk cafe feel and you could be as adventurous as you wanted to be with food! There was plenty of places to buy great souvenirs, but mostly it was a sensory experience in itself to walk around and take it all in.
3) Hong Kong Dolphin Watch I had been reading for months about these legendary pink dolphins that supposedly only lived around Hong Kong. I was absolutely determined to see them. I boarded the sunset cruise and plastered myself against the side. Damned if they weren’t actually pink! I mean really pepto bismol pink!!!! Who-knew! They were really fast though, and it was almost like they knew I was trying to take their picture and had flown a world a way to do it, and were laughing at me. Being on the water was great, and I was happy to finally see them.
4) Jade Market Ok, so fair warning this place is pretty touristy, but guess what, all of China is. It’s like one giant EPCOT, only less clean. There is endless amounts of Jade, Jadeite, and fake Jade. Haggling is expected. DO NOT pay asking price! My friends kept doing this and the shopkeepers would shake their head and laugh as they walked away. Literally. Every female in my family got jade jewelry that year for Christmas.
5) Kowloon- It was a great area to walk around a get a flavor of the city. Lots of shops and restaurants, pretty safe too. Have tea at the Pennisula Hotel, or at least walk around.
*Honorable Mention- Star Ferry- very convenient, can see everything
*for the win- take a junk boat sunset cruise
*for the ambitious- Hong Kong Disney- not as great as Walt Disney Orlando, but for true lovers still really fun.
