Finally getting around to posting our photos from Hong Kong. J. and I met in HK last week (Thanksgiving Week) - she arrived by ship and I by air. We're such jet-setters...
We had a great week exploring such a unique city that is totally vertical in every way. Tall, modern skyscrapers as far as the eye can see, Victoria's Peak rising behind the downtown core, a 2.5 km public 'up' escalator to get you where you need to go - and the ole "walking up hill, both ways" or at least it seems that way.
To me, HK feels like a chunk of London broke away in some seismic accident, floated around before landing in Asia (obviously that has a lot to do with its colonial past). The Soho area is more like a London neighborhood than some areas of London! Except more hills...
An old friend from DC, Chip, happened to be in HK for work last week while we were there so it was great to see him. He lived in the city as a kid so he was our unofficial navigator, tour guide and general answer man for much of the week - even when he just made things up as he went. I arrived late Monday night and J. pulled in Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday morning, my phone rings early and its Chip. He says, "Meet me at the escalator at 10AM and we'll hike up to top of Victoria's Peak." I oblige thinking this won't be too taxing. Well, I was wrong. To say the trails and roads to the top are steep is an understatement. There were times I think my kneecaps were touching the tips of my toes I was leaning so far forward going up the road. And I thought my cardio training had prepared me - not. But the views from the top were well worth it - as you'll see from the photos.
After Jill arrived, we spent the rest of the week eating great food at the many restaurants - Italian, Chinese, Egyptian, Spanish and a few ice cream stops too - in Soho, shopping a bit (and then some), being hosted for a great dinner by J.'s generous friends (and HK residents), Geoff and Lana, exploring the city, another trip up Victoria's Peak - this time on the funicular/tram - and venturing across the harbor to Kowloon which is "colorful" to say the least. Oh, and spending about 2 days looking for postcards which must be against the law because they are IMPOSSIBLE to find anywhere in the city.
Great week, great city and definitely worth a visit if you're ever in Asia.
(click on slideshow to see larger photos)
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