Hong Kong

For dumb tourists like us...

Tramway

City view from the Peak with Victoria Harbor and Kowloon in the distance

Happy couple

Yum!

Hong Kong Island from the harbor cruise- there is a nightly light show.

 

 

We have loved Hong Kong! It has been a nice transition back into the modern, developed world. Things are so easy and orderly here. We rented a really sweet little studio apartment in a great neighborhood on Hong Kong Island using Airbnb.com- will totally do that again.

 

A few reasons we love Hong Kong.

 

Transportation is so easy and cheap. We took the metro, ferries and tramways all over. The trams were our favorite because they are double-deckers and it's a great way to see the city. A ride on the tram is only $2.30HKD (30 cents) one way.

 

Great food! Lots of noodle shops for Mike (I'm a little noodled out) and other choices for me. We ate lots of sushi. We also found a great grocery just a few steps from our apartment. It's one of those places where everything is so beautiful you keep going back to just wander around and admire the food (at least you do if you're grocery deprived like us.) We found some foods there we hadn't had in months (aged white cheddar cheese!) Also you can go to a shop and point at a beautiful piece of  crispy pork belly hanging in the window and a guy will chop it up for you, wrap it in paper and give it to you for $35HKD ($4.50USD.)

 

For a very overpopulated small space it seems really mellow. There are always tons of people on the street and traffic is crazy but everything is really quiet and orderly. No car horns, nobody shoving to get past. No cars, buses, scooters will run you down if you move too slow. No hawkers. Very civilized.

 

No hellholes to fall in. The sidewalks are intact everywhere- no loose tiles or gaping holes. In fact, they even paint which way to look when crossing the street for stupid tourists like us who aren't used to the whole driving on the left side thing (although there is really no excuse for why it has taken us so long to get the hang of looking right after 6 months- hopefully we'll remember which side to drive on when we get home.)

So this is it. Our last day and we're very excited about going home. It will only take us 22 hours of travel to get back to the states then a 5 hour bus ride from Chicago to East Lansing to get back to Michigan. We'll visit the kids and other family, pick up Charlie and finally be home by early July.