China Chapter 19

Well, we are now in Hong Kong. This is the last stop on our China adventure, and in all, it has been a wonderful trip despite the unplanned travel challenges. Hell, it gave a lot of fodder for this blog.

Anyhow, the Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hotel in Hong Kong is wonderful. The service is wonderful. The location is wonderful. And it's wonderful that the Empress and Dim Sum are nowhere near our room. We woke up early this morning, had breakfast, and then had to meet our tour guide Natalie in the lobby at 8:30 a.m. We got to the bus, and lo and behold, there were 8 other people on it that were going to be sharing the city tours. Now why couldn't this have happened all the way through our trip whenever possible? After all, at every stop through China, there was always another Pacific Delights Tour group there touring the same places and eating at the same restaurants. It would have made much more sense for us to be included with another group given the small numbers in ours.

Oh well.

Anyhow, we traveled by bus to Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Bay (as we are in Kowloon). We then took a funicular up the mountainside, and were able to take stunning pictures from Victoria Peak. Looking down at Hong Kong, it was absolutely breath-taking. It's also no wonder that Hong Kong has one of the highest population densities in the world, and there are certainly a bazillion skyscrapers all along the bay.

From there, we went along Repulse Bay (which, if I had a billion dollars, I would love to live on it), and then to Stanley Market. Stanley Market was cool, with small shops all along Stanley Bay. I was able to buy cool Christmas items for my staff at work, as well as a beautiful wedding gift for another friend of mine who's wedding reception is this coming Friday (the day after I get back to the U.S.). It was finally fun to do some retail therapy, and it looks like my mom and I will be doing more of it tomorrow.

Anyhow, after Stanley Market, we ventured our way to Aberdeen, where we took a sampan ride through the water village in the bay at Aberdeen. It was truly incredible, and it was a sunny day, with a nice breeze, and not too hot. it was wonderful. After the sampan ride, we were then taken back to our hotel.

I know that many of you readers out there would probably think that there was a long, ceremonious "good bye" between the Empress and To Wong Fu and my mom and I. However, I think all we said was, it was fun, we had a great time, and then were whisked off the bus first (as of course they had a ton of shit they bought at the Stanley Market, including more luggage).

And then it hit me: we were free.

So we went out shopping. The Empress was saying how it was a must to go to Nathan Road shopping in Hong Kong. So mom and I decided to check it out during the day.

Well, Nathan Road is again completely forgettable, except for the fact that there were a lot of Pakistani and Indian men hawking massages and free nights (or days) stays at a hotel (probably of the "no tell" motel variety). It was kind of icky. I think it was the Suzy Wong District of Hong Kong. The Empress MUST have a different retail taste than mine.

Anyhow, we then decided we were done shopping, so we went to go find a pub to have a couple of pints of ale. Well, after all, Hong Kong WAS a British Colony at one point, so why the hell not?

We chose the Bulldog Bar. It looked British, it had the Union Jack, a great view of Victoria Harbor, and all of about 7 patrons. Well, it was 3:30 p.m. And, after getting our 2 pints of beer 20 minutes later (I was thinking that they were freshly brewing it for us as well), we got up and left. The only thing quick about that establishment was how fast they made change. And that's not saying much.

We made it back to the hotel, and will be going out for probably a Cantonese dinner (hopefully very edible, and without chicken feet) and then to see the light show over Victoria Harbor. We are planning our itinerary for tomorrow, and then on Thursday, it's back to the States.

Hong Kong is a great place, and one I would love to visit with a group of friends that want to party and have a great time. While not cheap by any means, it still has it's unique British colony charm that reminds me of Gibraltar, only on a much grander scale.

More to come from Hong Kong!!!