We spent our last days in Hong Kong wandering the streets, visiting the Big Buddha and filling our own big buddha bellies with delicious food throughout Sheung Wan. 

Big Buddha
One day, we took a break from this wonderful madness:

...and to see something a bit more low key:

To get to the Big Buddha, we took the train out to Ngong Ping on Lantau Island to see the Po Lin monastery and the massive Tian Tan Buddha on top of the peak.  Part of the fun of this trip is the journey to reach the Buddha.  When you get off the subway, you board a cable car that brings you on a 7km ride across the harbor, the airport and several mountain peaks before arriving at the park about 25 minutes later.  Some of the cable cars have glass bottoms, which cost extra.   We happened to be visiting on a day when a typhoon was skirting Hong Kong on its way to China, occasionally resulting in some very strong wind gusts!  Chris, who is not a fan of cable cars to begin with, could have done without being rocked back and forth by the wind.

From a distance the Big Buddha appears to be some ancient wonder of the world, but it was actually built in the early 90’s near the monastery, which is a major Buddhism center in Hong Kong.  When you arrive, there is a small street lined with tourist-oriented shops on the way from the cable car to the monastery and Buddha. Once you pass the little village and enter the monastery grounds it's a lot less commercial and much more peaceful (save a few ice cream kiosks here and there). We climbed up 200+ steps to the massive statue to survey the views.

We walked around the monastery and grounds for a bit before making our way back via the same gondola ride.  The wind had picked up even more for the ride back!

Good Eats in Sheung Wan
One night, we met up with my brother’s friend, Dan, and his girlfriend, Steph, who both live in Hong Kong.  We tried out a new Issan Thai restaurant called Chachawan, known for its spicy dishes and cool atmosphere.  Chris was psyched for spicy Thai and luckily for me, most of the spiciness was in the sauce which was usually served on the side.  The food was fantastic! The four of us shared a bunch of  Thai specialties including a spicy papaya salad and an entire salt encrusted sea bass. My favorite dish here was the Kanom Dtom which was - no surprises here - a dessert.  It consisted of  gooey coconut rice dumplings served in a bowl of coconut milk and was absolutely amazing! 

Next we went to an tiki style bar called Honi Honi Bar, where we enjoyed tasty fruit infused cocktails on the bamboo covered outdoor terrace.

After our drink at Honi Honi,  Dan & Steph led us down to a little back alley bar called Brick House. It was very colorful, casual and featured some fantastic ink artwork by one of Dan's friends named Marc Allante.  Check out his work here - it's good stuff.   We had a really nice time getting to know Dan and Steph and it was great to try out some more local spots with them!

Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, our passports and visas were ready to be picked up for our departure to Beijing the next morning.  That night we said goodbye to Hong Kong with dinner at Le Contache, a French-inspired hipster restaurant in Sheung Wan.  We were greeted in French and attempted to respond likewise, which the waiter kindly acknowledged and then immediately switched to English :) We shared a cheese platter and  a variety of French/Laotian fusion dishes accompanied by a fantastic Syrah.  Le Contache has a throwback vibe with décor reminiscent of the 90’s and a mix of American and French funk and old school hip-hop playing in the background.  We had a great time here and highly recommend checking it out!  

Speaking of French places, as a side note, it turns out there’s been a huge influx of French people into Hong Kong of late, resulting in lots of French-oriented bars and restaurants popping up around town.  According to a NYTimes article last year the French community in Hong Kong has grown more than 60 percent since 2006.  French luxury companies (ie clothing, dining, wine, banking) want French nationals on their local teams and since much of their growth is occurring in Asia, particularly in China, they are relocating their people.  So this probably explains why we were the only people in Le Cantoche that were not native French speakers! 

This concludes our wonderful week in Hong Kong.  Special thanks goes to Dan and Steph for their great company and for showing us around the local food & bar scene! 

Next stop...Beijing! 

On our third day in Hong Kong, we decided to take advantage of the clear day and ventured up to Victoria Peak, which is situated on Mount Austin in the western half of Hong Kong island. Locals simply call it The Peak.

We had three options to reach The Peak - 1) take the subway to a tram that climbs the mountain 2) take the escalators up the hills to the mid levels and then walk a bit back downhill to the tram 3) climb the mountain by foot.  We went with option #2 on the way there and option #1 on the way back.  Had we more time in Hong Kong, we would have considered climbing the mountain, but we didn't want to spend all day here.  Plus it was really hot! 

Hong Kong Escalators
I'm a huge fan of the public transportation system in Hong Kong and the escalators are no exception.  Since much of the city is vertical, the escalators make it easy to ascend to the higher neighborhoods without breaking a sweat.

Zoological & Botanical Gardens
We rode the escalators up from our hotel to the mid levels then cut across toward the tram to the peak via the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, where our path took us past a variety of flora and fauna.  The most interesting aspect of this park is how it was built into the hillside of HK Island amongst a slew of skyscrapers, but from inside you feel like you're in a tropical forest.  

Victoria Peak
Continuing our walk eastward from the gardens, we reached the base of the peak tram.  It's a bit of a wait to board the tram - an old cable car chugging its way up the mountain - but while you wait you can view displays about the history of the peak and how tourists and residents reached the summit in the old days.  Back in the 19th century, Victoria Peak attracted many Europeans because of its view and cooler temperatures.  Wealthy Europeans purchased property up here and before the tram funicular was built in 1888, they reached the peak by sedan chairs which were carried by locals up and down the steep slope.  Victoria Peak remains an exclusive residential neighborhood and is the home of Hong Kong's most expensive properties. 

Kowloon Night Out
That night, we took the subway over to Kowloon watch the sunset over the city and scope out the beautiful night views of HK Island.  We grabbed a promenade-front table at Deck N' Beer, strangely one of the only outdoor bars on the water in Hong Kong, and had some drinks while taking in the nighttime views across the water.  The night view was spectacular, as if a giant computer chip emerged from the water.   I've never seen a skyline covered in so many branded electronic billboards.  Imagine Times Square New York times 100. That is the Hong Kong skyline.  As a marketing person, I found myself calculating the cost of a logo in lights on the skyline.  Good old Samsung didn't stop at a giant electric billboard.  At 8pm, Samsung sponsored a short but entertaining show, where different buildings on the HK side light up and shoot lasers to music played on the Kowloon side.  When it came to brand presence, Samsung was definitely the king of Kong. 

We had another fantastic day in HK and were looking forward to the rest of our time there which included a giant Buddha, meeting new friends and more great eats! 

We left Kuala Lumpur early in the morning and flew 3 hours to Hong Kong, where we would stay for the next 5 nights.  Hong Kong might have the best public transportation system we've seen thus far and it was very easy to get from the airport to our hotel in Sheung Wan by subway.   The only caveat about the Hong Kong subway system is that it can get very crowded and if you are really tall, it could be tight at rush hour:

Holiday Inn Express
When visiting Hong Kong as a tourist, it's convenient to stay in the central areas - Sheung Wan, Wanchai, Causway Bay on the Hong Kong side or Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side.  It's very easy and inexpensive to cross the harbor by subway or ferry.  Hotels are very expensive in these areas (and in HK in general) but we got lucky and found a great deal at the Holiday Inn Express in Sheung Wan/SOHO.  The location was perfect - steps away from the subway stop and lots of shopping, dining and places to go out.  The hotel was clean and comfortable with decent sized rooms, excellent wi-fi and a great breakfast.  It doesn't have the spectacular views that you'd get from a hotel on the harbor in Kowloon, but those rooms would require you to dig deep into your pockets.  We figured we'd head over to Kowloon at night to get the views anyway.

Chinese Visa
Our first order of business was to get visas for China.  Americans are required to get visas before they visit China.  You can't simply purchase one upon arrival at the airport. The fee is $130 per person and you have to send your passport away to the Chinese consulate.  We didn't have enough time to do this before we left, and since our visit to China was towards the end of our trip our visa would have expired by the time we arrived. 

Luckily, there are services in Hong Kong (which is considered a Semi-Autonomous Region of China and doesn't require visas for entry) that expedite the visa. We used China Travel Services (CTS) as it was recommended to us by a friend and received tons of positive reviews online.  We were a little nervous about handing over our passports for a few days while abroad, but it worked out well.  We arrived at the office, waited about a half hour, filled out a form, had our pictures taken and paid ~$200 to get our visas processed in 3 business days.  Although expensive, it was a smooth and efficient process.  


With our first day's housekeeping item out of the way, we had a healthy dinner at O Green Cafe in Sheung Wan.

Kowloon
The next morning we took a ferry across the harbor to Kowloon.  While it's faster to take the subway to Kowloon, we wanted to give the ferry a try so we could see the skyline in both directions. It was a really quick ride and the wooden interior of the boat was pretty cool, and a throwback to an earlier time.  The view of the city was a little hazy. 

Custom Suit Fail
Our next order of business was to find Chris a custom made suit. Hong Kong is known for it's speedy tailors that can turn around a custom made suit in just a few days for a reasonable price.  For those of you who don't know Chris, he is very tall and thin and therefore has difficulty finding clothes that fit him properly.  Chris had a list of tailors to visit and we ended up visiting three.  Unfortunately, the price of a custom made suit has risen quite a bit in the last year or two, and all three tailors quoted him prices much higher than expected.  For a little more money, he could have a suit made back home without the rush.  He decided to pass on the suit for now.  There are lots more shops in HK where you can still get a custom suit cranked out for very little money, but we were advised to skip those as they can sometimes churn out unwearable garments!  Oh well.

Antiquity & Modernity working in Harmony
After striking out in the suit department, we took the subway to Diamond Hill to check out the Nan Lian Gardens and Chi Lin Nunnery.  This tranquil park is nestled among high rise apartments along the side of Kowloon's giant hills.  Upon exiting the subway, we were in between a mall (shocker) and a highway overpass.  After crossing the street under the highway, we passed through the garden's gate and boom - we entered an oasis of trees, ponds and beautiful wooden architecture painted in rich warm colors that contrasted perfectly with green surroundings. 

Everything in this park was built with purpose. It was built in the style of the Tang dynasty and every inch of the garden, pond, rocks and wooden structures was situated according to specific rules and methods.  Here, we found an exhibition about Chinese timber architecture which was quite impressive as they don't use nails or other metal fixtures. 

From the park we wandered up the stairs to see the Chi Lin Nunnery, which is a Buddhist complex established in the 1930s, and renovated in the style of the Tang dynasty in the 1990s.  It's a very serene place with lotus ponds, bonsai trees and altars to Buddha and his disciples.  We saw several people praying, meditating and giving offerings to Buddha.

After our garden outing, we made a quick stop at the Hollywood Plaza mall for some dumplings.  Here we finally found a place that had Chris' contact lenses in stock (he had miscalculated how many he'd need for the trip and we'd been searching for an extra box since Melbourne) and I picked up a light jacket on the dressier side because (a) people here dress a little more formally and (b) every indoor establishment blasts their air conditioner.  So even if it's 80 degrees outside, it's freezing indoors!

That night we went to Noodlemi - a tiny restaurant in Sheung Wan (maybe 5 tables).  This place happened to have lots of gluten free options so it's a good spot if you suffer from Celiacs.  Neither of us have Celiacs but we have several friends who do, so we thought it was worth a mention.

So far, we'd had amazing weather.  Thankfully, the sunshine would last for our trip up to Victoria Peak the next day!