I have been away from this blog for too long! I have a few unfinished posts, but I want to write about my trips before I forget them. Not that they're forgettable, it's just that I have a horrible memory.
It started in the middle of March on the 19th. The following Monday would be a substitute holiday for Vernal Equinox Day, so it was a three-day weekend. That Friday a couple of my friends and I took a half day from work and then headed over to Kansai Airport by train. Destination: Hong Kong.
Hong Kong (March 19-22)
The first night in Hong Kong was somewhat eventful considering we got in around 10pm, took the Airport Express shuttle, and checked in to our hostel by 11:30pm. After dropping off our luggage we headed to Lan Kwai Fong to check out the party scene.
Bars, bars, foreigners, trash everywhere, and Thai restaurants. We took a quick look around and started at the Thai restaurants for late night eats. It was a mix of Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian food. My friends had pho, coconut seafood fried rice, and I had garlic fried chicken wings. My mouth is watering at the thought of all that good food. We toasted to the first night in Hong Kong and then we headed over to the bars for some dancing.
To be honest the music kept fluctuating between decent and ridiculous, but we stayed for a good hour or more at one bar. Then we tried another bar that had great music, but we got tired and it was a little too crowded anyway. We hit the sack around 4am.
Day 1
That same morning, four hours later, we got up and got ready for our daytime adventures. Our first meal was dim sum. It took us a while to find a place. You would think that Tsim Sha Tsui, where we were staying, would have tons of places. We were probably just unobservant. Anyway, dim sum was amazing. I missed real Chinese food! I would trade a million kaiten sushi meals for a good Chinese lunch and dinner. I guess I sort of did because we paid to travel to Hong Kong for just three days.
Rolling ourselves out of the restaurant, we got on the MTR over to the Giant Buddha and temple. We were able to bypass the one hour line by paying a little extra and taking the crystal cabin of the Ngong Ping 360, a gondola lift with a see-through bottom. We were planning on taking it anyway and it gave us an advantage. I've been to the Big Buddha before, but it is so much more enjoyable when it isn't in hundred degree weather with sweat soaking my clothing. The weekend was a borderline hot 70 degrees Fahrenheit that would have been perfect if there wasn't humidity, but I was definitely not complaining since I had just come from freezing Ishikawa. We took a lot of photos, including a lot of those poster stands where you put your face in the hole. What are those called??? If anyone knows the official term, please let me know, because it is bothering me.
The next part of our journey was a bit more challenging. We went up a steep hill for the Ten Thousand Buddhas monastery. The golden buddhas lined both sides of the uphill path and it seemed never ending--the buddhas and the road. At least we got to take a quick break when some wild monkeys appeared and started playing while on the statues. We were lucky that we got to the monastery right before closing time and we got a lot of exercise from the walk. Double win!
Dinner and quick shopping followed in Mon Kok. We had some Chinese food, of course, and hit up some places before heading back to Tsim Sha Tsui. We didn't have a lot of time to shop because we wanted to see the Symphony of Lights show at the harbor, so we headed back afterward to do a few more hours of shopping.
Day 2
The next morning started off early again and we grabbed some breakfast at Cafe de Coral. The first on our list of things-to-do was to check out the view at Victoria Peak. We took the tram up and took numerous photos up there. That weekend there was a fundraiser for a non-profit working against child abuse. I think it was a marathon. I have some video clips of the performances because it reminded me of the events back home in the States.
The rest of the day was pretty chill as we walked around Hong Kong taking photos of the skyscrapers, went to a shopping mall and had a great lunch at the food court, and then took the Star Ferry over to Wan Chai. I was so excited to go to my first film festival outside of San Diego! We got to the convention center early and got our tickets. I was so excited that I went to go line up in case there was a large queue. My friends went to a cafe downstairs instead. When I got to the line, I realized that it was for the sold out show and that my line consisted of only me. So I headed back downstairs and ate my friend's leftovers. The movie we watched was "Like a Dream," starring Daniel Wu. It was beautifully filmed and I appreciated how everything was well connected.
Day 3
We had a scare at the airport when one of my friends found out his airplane ticket was not reserved. There was a huge possibility that he wouldn't make it on the flight, but luckily we all made it on the plane together. We all had work the next day.
We got back to Japan around 2:30pm and headed on the train back to Ishikawa.
Great trip. Great food.
