Hong Konged

After the spot of trouble at the airport on day one, we worked through and eventually Larissa and I boarded the flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong together. Now I could start in on my description of China's former British colony but it would come out sounding like a Tourism Hong Kong advertisement.

"Cutting through the jutting mountains with patches of green on a wildly entertaining double decker bus ride we moved steadily toward the metropolis. From the expanse of the Tsing Ma suspension bridge the port's cranes could be seen sticking out at odd angles, like a dart board littered by an inept player. Beyond these, apartments shoot up from the water's edge, tall as they are perched atop hills of their own..."

But I digress. We hit the most popular tourist spots during our shortened stay of 5 full days. A highlight was the Ocean Amusement Park, which in addition to seals, sharks and salt water fish, had cliffside coasters, a gorgeous ride on the peak to peak gondola, a nervous-giggle-inducing "drop zone"esque tower and a totally pathetic "snow" tubing slide (minus the snow, or any of the thrill of real tubing). Another enjoyable day was tramming up at a ridiculous angle to view the vertical city face to face, before hiking through the forested mountainside around to the south. Finally, the museums were so engaging that the History, and Science, took up an entire day (which after 4 months of museums is saying something). To sum Hong Kong up - it's like a very user-friendly (with awesome public transit) and interesting, clean (obvious efforts are made to distance themselves from the worst of mainland China's dirty habits), friendly, big city and yet it still has an authentic Asian feel so it is FUN to explore.

The regular sightseeing was great and all, but the best part of the trip was the hospitality we were shown. My good friend Alvin pulled some strings and generously set us up with much more than a place to stay. From the airport we were shown an authentic, Hong Kong-ese apartment that we stayed in for the entire stay. Although it was small, as most accommodation in HK is, it suited us just fine and had some superb views. These were only outmatched by the skyline from his grandparent's HUGE balcony off their exquisite apartment. Larissa and I were lucky enough to visit for not only one, but two absolutely delicious authentic Chinese meals - vegetarian no less, which is a feat in China. Hard to pick my favourite foods, not only because they are hard to describe but because there were so many. The "fresh pickles" - essentially fresh cucumbers with vinegar and plenty of garlic would top Larissa's list, while I really enjoyed the splendidly done tofu dish and fried corn and veg patty. Tasted better than I can put into mere words. Language differences made communication next to impossible but I feel we were able to communicate our gratefulness, and their generosity definitely shone through!