Hong Kong, Pearl of the orient

It has been at least 10 years since my last visit to Hong Kong. I still own a copy of Lonely Planet Hong Kong & Macau edition from that trip. It's been collecting dust on my shelf back in Taiwan for more than a decade! I didn't remember i had such backpacking spirit back then. I remember calling the hostels listed in the book at the airport, anxious and unsure. At the time I didn't know some ten years later, i would be owning many more editions of Lonely Planet and traveling like this half away around the globe!

Enough reminiscence, time to talk about this trip! :)It was my birthday the day we arrived in Hong Kong. After leaving the airport and taking the airport express straight to the city (HK int'l airport is about the most well organized and efficient airport I've ever been to!), I was taken to my b-day gift - two nights stay at a four star hotel in the heart of HK (picture below)!! After staying at all kinds of budget accommodation, i can't think of a better gift. thanks hon!

We then went out to have dinner, a busy typical HK style tea restaurant. It reminds me so much of the time in LA when everything else is closed at late night, my friends and I would go to this HK style cafe for snacks. good old times! The food is decent, however half way through dinner we heard a huge screaming, we turned around to see a lady jump off of her chair and a fast moving dark object on the floor...yew! We turned back to continue like nothing had happened and hoped that thing won't come our direction...

the next day we got Pascal's visa taken care of first thing in the morning, then went to Maxim's for dim sum (what's a visit to HK without having dim sum anyway?!), after lunch we took the cable car up to Victoria Peak, it has changed so much since my last visit, although the view remains magnificent, only it's not free anymore! There was a big open plaza for people to take in the city view, now it's replaced by a multi-purpose building and requires a separate entrance fee to go up the roof to enjoy the city view!

The skyline is spectacular, it's amazing the density of high rise buildings on this tiny island! Even more spectacular is the panoramic night view on Star Ferry looking back at the Victoria Harbour. HK is a good place to navigate on foot, especially with the pedestrian bridges that span between buildings. we hardly need to get down to street level anywhere from point A to point B within the central area, no waiting for traffic light, no inhaling smokes and competing for right of road with vehicles. wonderful!

night view of Victoria Harbour

very modern pedestrian bridge that connects downtown buildings
the next day we went to my all-time mecca - afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel. Although my improper backpacking attire took away a bit of elegance (if i have any), it's still very enjoyable!

3-tier afternoon tea tray at Peninsula Hotel

needlessly to say, HK is an expensive place. We didn't feel like lingering around for too long. After all, China is the main destination of the trip. We picked up Pascal's passport and headed straight to Shenzhen for a flight to Guilin (flying from HK would have cost more than twice the price!), where mountains, rivers and delicious Guilin rice noodles await us!