We left Friday morning and maximized our time away by not arriving back in Singapore until late Sunday night. After a 3 1/2-hour flight, we checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Causeway Bay and set out to see the city.
Immediately I was struck by the energy and liveliness of the city. The high-rise buildings were just about the only similarity between Singapore and Hong Kong. Of course, Hong Kong is larger, more Chinese, dirtier, more foreign and crowded. It reminded me of New York City as we walked along the streets, except that it had hills like San Francisco.
Central District
We took the Star Ferry across the Victoria Harbour to Kowloon and visited the Ladies' Market Friday night. The market consisted of a series of stalls in between buildings that stretched further than I thought imaginable. The goods reminded me of the Beijing market but unfortunately the vendors were not quite as willing to negotiate price. I came away with a few pieces of jewelry and a wallet but didn't want to buy too much because it was early in the weekend.
Ladies' Market
After a short ferry ride back to Hong Kong Island, we headed to Lan Kwai Fong, a popular area for nightlife among expats. Our taxi driver dropped us off at a central street in the area and we were amazed by the atmosphere. The street was closed off for pedestrians and it was packed with professionals who were still enjoying happy hour late into Friday night. It looked like a street party. Katy and I enjoyed a few drinks and some bar food while discussing that Hong Kong nightlife made Singapore look like a boring suburb.
Saturday morning we were eager to hit Stanley Market because numerous people had recommended it for good shopping. We took a mini-bus to the south side of the island and it looked starkly different than the city. The mountains and shoreline provided beautiful views that almost made me wish we had hired a taxi instead so we could stop and take a few pictures. But that would have taken precious cash from our retail budget. :)
Coastline at Stanley Market
When we ended up buying jewelry at the very first stall we encountered at Stanley Market, we had a feeling it was going to be a fruitful trip. We had so much fun shopping that we forgot to eat lunch until about 4pm and finally called it a day when we figured nothing else would fit in our suitcases.
Unlike the ladies' market that was full of knock-offs, Stanley Market had a nice blend of fakes and genuine, one of a kind products. I bought jewelry, wood products, a painting, purses (most are gifts), a wallet and jewelry for Megan, adorable Croc flip-flops for Emily, a sweet ballerina tutu for Elizabeth and a cool set of chopsticks for Brian. It was a great day of shopping and even when I bought authentic items like the Crocs, they were cheaper than they are in Singapore.
Fruitful Trip to Stanley Market
After dropping our bags back at the hotel, we went to the SoHo district for dinner at a Thai restaurant. By that point, our bodies were feeling the effects of the long shopping excursion and it was great to spend the evening sitting somewhere! SoHo was a cool area with architecture and shops that looked European to me. Where Singapore is flashy, modern and sometimes too clean, Hong Kong offered a charming atmosphere within a huge city.
We devoted Sunday to touring the city center. When we woke up, we saw patches of blue sky and decided to take advantage of that weather to do the Peak Tram. It's essentially a trolley car (think San Francisco again) that runs up the side of the mountain. On a clear day, it offers amazing views of the area. We rode up the mountain and saw nothing but clouds. Don't waste your money on the tram if it isn't a sunny day! Like Beijing, I could never really figure out the weather. It was overcast almost the entire time we were there but it never rained. So, I'm not sure if the clouds were natural, pollution or some combination.
After the tourist trap tram ride, we walked around the Central District and visited the meat and vegetable markets that reminded us that we were indeed in a Chinese city. If I wanted to buy animal hearts and spinal cords, it was the perfect spot. On a brighter note, the vegetables and flowers were beautiful.
Katy on a Market Street
Now THIS Looks Like China...
The skies cleared up in the afternoon so we took the ferry across Victoria Harbour again, just to take some pictures of the city. I'm so glad we made that brief side trip because the weather was beautiful.
If we were feeling like we had done a great job as two women touring Hong Kong, we failed miserably at the end of our travels. We arrived at the airport to discover our flight was delayed 30 minutes, so we had a couple hours to kill before our flight. We ate dinner, browsed through the book store and attempted to spend the remainder of our Hong Kong Dollars while committing the ultimate travel sin of not locating our gate first. So, with about 25 minutes until our flight, we walked to the end of the hall where we expected to find the gates. Oh no, we had to ride a train to get to our gate. How had we forgotten this part of the process when we arrived? We had to wait almost 5 minutes for the next train and truly feared we were going to miss our flight after being at the airport the last 2 hours. How embarrassing. Thank goodness our flight was more delayed than anticipated and we easily made the flight.
So, I finally made it home at 2am Monday morning and aside from feeling not quite human yesterday, it was a great weekend getaway. Katy moves back to the States next month and it's too bad I won't get more opportunities to travel with her because I really enjoyed her company.
Hong Kong was not exactly what I expected. It was gritty, overwhelming in size and a little more challenging with regards to the language barrier, but overall, it was a surprisingly easy city to navigate and I found myself enjoying the lively atmosphere. I also wasn't expecting such mountainous terrain that added a charming twist to the city streets. It would definitely be a more exciting post for expats without children, but I can't imagine living there with 3 small children because most areas were not stroller-friendly and there was very little green space near the city center. I'm also partial to our little island where I can brush my teeth with tap water. I haven't been anywhere else in Asia where I can do that.
I'm thankful I had the opportunity to do a girls' shopping trip to Hong Kong so that when our family travels there at some point, we can focus on places like Disneyland instead. And I've heard there's a great outlet mall on the way to the airport, if I dare try it next time...
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