Once into Hong Kong, Jason and I went on a rat race to find the most American food we possibly could after experiencing close starvation on the trip. Finally we settled in at Dan’s Chicago Grill that had a message at the bottom of the menu saying “WARNING: WE SERVE AMERICAN PORTIONS!”. Oh I was happy to be home. We spent $70 on bacon cheeseburgers, fries, and nachos, money was no object at this time (sorry mom and dad!), and it was perhaps the most delicious meal I have ever had. Twenty minutes later though when I couldn’t move and I descended into food coma, I may have regretted my overindulgence.
In Hong Kong we were ported in an enormous five story mall. They had every designer store imaginable, with tons of delicious restaurants. Across the bay we cou ld see the amazing city of Hong Kong. If I thought New York, Tokyo, or Shanghai was impressive, Hong Kong was miles above. That night, Jason and I went to Victoria’s Peak, a very famous sight seeing tower in Hong Kong. The trolley that took us up there was at a 45 degree angle the entire time. Once there, the view of the city was astonishing. Millions of lights from the buildings reflected off the bay, and the huge mountains in the distance set a stunning background for the hundreds of skyscrapers.
Port:
Night view:
We enjoyed a glass of wine at the top of the tower:
Afterwards, we walked to the bar district, where I could swear we were just in a more Asian populated New York. English advertisements were everywhere and there were tons of white men in business suits having a beer at the various bars. The Virginia Tech game was playing on a bar TV, and every person seemed to speak fluent English. The restaurants and pubs were decorated very modernly and each place had very fancy drink selections. From that point forward I officially decided I was taking Chinese and working in Hong Kong after I graduate.
The next day we spent walking around the city. For lunch, we decided to stick with American while we still had the option, so we went to California Pizza Kitchen. Then we set off for The Hong Kong Science Museum. Although Jason and I were the only ones above 10, other than parents, it was so much fun. Afterwards, we walked around the city, stopped in at a Starbucks, and took in the view of the harbor at a pier near our port.
Me laying on a bed of nails at the museum:
Our boat was leaving the port at 8pm, which was the perfect time for all of us to witness the Hong Kong light show. Every night at 8pm Hong Kong puts on a phenomenal light show that is the Guinness Book of World Records largest light show in the world. As our boat sailed away, we could see the array of lights. It was quite a nice farewell.
Annecdote:
2/23/10: So Jason and I learned the hard way not to ever trust taxi drivers. The night we went out we attempted to go home via taxi. The driver first took us to the wrong stop and then sped off taking a large proportion of what we had left in Hong Kong dollars. We got another taxi, and when we had reached our limit in dollars we told him we had to get out. He didn’t stop, and when he finally did Jason showed him the money we had left, which was about 2 dollars short. He didn’t speak any English and all he said was “POLICIA”. Jason threw the only money he had left which was a $100 American bill at him and stormed out. Little did we know until we talked to a local the next day that all taxi drivers are required to be bilingual and if he had even called the police they would’ve paid the rest or taken us to an ATM. Oh we naive Americans.
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