So what you’re saying is – being quarantined in Hong Kong would be better than living in China?
By Chanda
This past weekend, we did another quick trip with the Beijing crew (Lisa, Mark, Jeremy) to Hong Kong. This would also serve as the perfect opportunity to renew our visas for another 60 days.
Richard and I left at 6am in order to catch our 9am flight, and a short two hours later, we were at the Hong Kong International Airport. Immigration was a breeze, and we were supposed to take a shuttle called Hotelink to Hotel Jen. Lisa, Mark and Jeremy were supposed to arrive at 10:45, so we assumed they had taken an earlier shuttle; however, when we got to the Hotelink desk, they informed us that no Lisa had taken the shuttle yet. Interesting, we thought. And as responsible as we are, we never even exchanged flight information. Even more responsible, we didn’t have phone access. Flash forward two hours of sitting in the airport, which included fighting with Hotelink staff to give us Lisa’s cell phone number, pacing around the airport, and trying to contact Chase to get my ATM card to work in HK (oh – btw- nobody at Chase works past 7pm in the US – awesome), we were able to capture a week internet signal and Skype the hotel. Turns out, the Hotelink staff had completely lied, and Lisa, Mark and Jeremy had arrived at their scheduled time, and had taken Hotelink to the Hotel.
Wrenchy, wrenchy morning – I hate you Hotelink. ANYWAY, we then did the right thing as planners, and took public transit to Central, walked a few miles to our hotel and FINALLY began our vacation.
We LOVED Hong Kong. I think China is getting to us a little – the pushing, the shoving, the spitting, the staring – and Hong Kong was – well – it wasn’t any of those things. As I was describing our first day in HK to Sweetie, he asked me that question. I guess I wouldn’t go THAT far – we’ve had some awesome times in China – but I’d definitely choose HK to live in long-term over Shanghai.
Our first day, we took a tram up to Victoria Peak for some amazing city views
Took a ride on the longest set of escalators in the world
Saw a cool mosque (where I heard Urdu for the first time in a very long time – weird, and I miss you mom!)
And had some amazing happy hour deals and (outrageously expensive, but we were drunk and didn’t care) Lebanese food for dinner.
Central has a ton of unique eateries and shops down short alleys, and we just couldn’t get enough of it.
On Sunday, we hiked up 260 stairs to the world’s largest, outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha (enough caveats for you?) where we did some more choreographed photos. We also took a gondola back to Hong Kong Island that offered great views of the valley – plus – it was incredibly efficient transportation. The gondola drops you off right at a subway stop! I think Jeremy said, “Maybe we should have a gondola from downtown LA to the airport!” Although we laughed about it, I would totally support that ballot measure. SO fun!
We found an LP recommended Indian restaurant, and decided to head there for quick lunch. When we got to the address, it turned out to be a massive warehouse with a lot of Indian people selling all sorts of crap – food, DVDs, cell phones – it was weird and kind of scary. Too many Indian people in one place is always frightening.
We ended up vetoing the recommended joint, a stall right next door. A few beers, samosas, and naans later, Lisa, Jeremy and I felt just drunk enough to head to the Ladies Market at Mong Kok; Richard and Mark felt just drunk enough to head back to Hotel Jen and lay by the pool.
Mong Kok is total chaos.
We did manage to buy some more crap that we probably didn’t need (pashmina anyone?) at low, low prices.
After all that shopping and hiking – we all needed some R&R, food and drinks. We kind of, sort of did that, and if anyone wants to hear a fun drunk Richard story, email me and I’ll give you the details =)
interrupt THIS, China! 