So far, my favorite areas in the city include Mong Kok, Causeway Bay, and the trail to Victory Peak. On Day 5, I took the air tram with a group up to the top, and due to long lines waiting to get back down, I decided to take a lighted path that curves down the jungle to the city. The Victoria Peak tram, one of Hong Kong’s major sights, is also crowded with tourists, and heavily commercialized. It dumps everyone off in a gift shop, with “American” style restaurants. I resorted to eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp, Co. (with excellent views though). If you go, I recommend hiking the trail instead. It is steep, but so much better than the tram.
June 24, 2011
Prayer Walking
For my friends, you know my faith in Jesus. I often pray as I walk. While in Hong Kong, God directs me to visit certain areas, encourage someone on the street, and to pray for the hurting, lost, and poor, in this beautiful, yet broken city.
June 24, 2011
Observations of Hong Kong
Observations of Hong Kong:
Food; besides the typical fish soup and dumplings, I stumbled across a local favorite, Hui Lau Shan (healthy dessert), this is a chain that serves DELICIOUS desserts made of fruits and lightly sweetened drinks. Coconut ice cream, fresh mango, tapioca bubbles and more. It is a hit with locals (everything is printed in chinese, so the tourists don’t go there, but you can simply look and point to the menu pictures for ordering). I had the best fruit sorbet drink for real cheap. Popular with young people.
Now I know why many of my international friends from these kind of cities do not know how to cook . . . there are so many cheap restaurants and food stops everywhere. Satay, curry shops, soup restaurants, corner markets, fish fries and more.
Fashion and shopping: I purposely lost myself in a 7 storey mall called New Town Mall in Mok Mong district. It was full of tiny clothing and accessory shops, music micro stores, boba tea shops, loaded with teens and twenty-somethings, all on a tuesday afternoon. Imagine a friday night. It is cheap, fun, and convenient. Cool hang-out place for people after school. I could see this concept a hit in that closed department store building by the river in downtown Reno.
City warnings: Nearly every corner contains street hawkers (usually expats from Indian subcontinent) trying to get you to see their fake rolex or tailor-made suits. Don’t carry a map in view or look lost, or else these hawkers will offer to “help” you in exchange for a trip to their store.
Transportation: double decker busses, subways on nearly every major street, and a dual use card you can use for travel anywhere in the city (Octopus card), Hong Kong has one of the most efficient, fast and cost effective public transportation systems I’ve seen.
June 23, 2011
Hong Kong arrival
My first impressions: Green, warm and humid. Densely populated city. So far, it matches my expectations.
June 22, 2011
Airports
What is the longest you’ve waited in an airport? Today, I’m in LAX for 5 hours, waiting for my flight to Hong Kong.
East Asia Trip 2011 