Hong Kong was such an adrenaline rush. You’ll get a little of the drift if you read up on my initial thoughts. During the day, Hong Kong was hot and humid, almost unbearable at noon to be quite honest. I’d be lying if I told you that it wasn’t so bad. Admittedly, it was, but it was so exciting that I could care less because no one else seemed to mind it either.
If you think you were tough for crossing the streets with 3 seconds left at the light, you'll be envious of Hong Kong grandmas for pushing their loaded trollies and carts through mid traffic with no f*cks given. They'll run you over too, believe that. Hong Kong didn't discriminate. It doesn't matter if you're old, or young, rich or poor, from the area or abroad -- Hong Kong just needed you to keep it moving.
In a place where the streets are so dirty but the metro is so clean, it made me constantly question why and how this was even possible.
I watched a lot of TVBs, so the red and white cabs stood out right away. But then I learned that there are also blue ones, which reminds me, not everything you learn via a screen is a complete truth. I asked everyone I met what happened when one of the elevators in the masses of high-rise went out of service, and all of the responses I've gotten were chuckles. So I still don't have a clear answer for that. But I just can't imagine taking the stairs to the 30th floor being an option... right?
When I'm traveling, I'm often captivated by what's fantastical about a place. Like watching the sunset from a canal in Venice. But Hong Kong was far, far from that. It was raw, unfiltered and undisguised. It felt so real that it made me forget common norms. Even while I had to wash my own plates in a porcelain bowl of water right at the communal dim sum table, I was fascinated and grinning of excitement just because it was something I never had to do before (visit Lin Hueng if you want to experience this too).
The milk teas in Hong Kong lived up to all of my expectations and more (get your fix at Lan Fong Yuen). I even almost missed my flight back to Tokyo trying to sneak some on the plane (yes, that happened). I had some of the best food which happened to be 100x more appetizing than how Instagrammable they look -- in fact, they made cute pig baos and pineapple filled cookies that are served in a cage at the infamous Yum Cha in Central not even worthy.
Every city changes itself when it turns from day to night, but Hong Kong was an exception. It pretty much stayed the same, except the lights were some of the best I've seen. They weren't fluorescent but they were neon and still as bright in my mind as I can recall (you'll see). I had only 72 hours to spend in Hong Kong but it felt like I've known it for years waking up to a panoramic harbor view from the EAST Hotel for two mornings. I have a feeling I'll find myself back there very soon.
If you think you were tough for crossing the streets with 3 seconds left at the light, you'll be envious of Hong Kong grandmas for pushing their loaded trollies and carts through mid traffic with no f*cks given. They'll run you over too, believe that. Hong Kong didn't discriminate. It doesn't matter if you're old, or young, rich or poor, from the area or abroad -- Hong Kong just needed you to keep it moving.
In a place where the streets are so dirty but the metro is so clean, it made me constantly question why and how this was even possible.
I watched a lot of TVBs, so the red and white cabs stood out right away. But then I learned that there are also blue ones, which reminds me, not everything you learn via a screen is a complete truth. I asked everyone I met what happened when one of the elevators in the masses of high-rise went out of service, and all of the responses I've gotten were chuckles. So I still don't have a clear answer for that. But I just can't imagine taking the stairs to the 30th floor being an option... right?
When I'm traveling, I'm often captivated by what's fantastical about a place. Like watching the sunset from a canal in Venice. But Hong Kong was far, far from that. It was raw, unfiltered and undisguised. It felt so real that it made me forget common norms. Even while I had to wash my own plates in a porcelain bowl of water right at the communal dim sum table, I was fascinated and grinning of excitement just because it was something I never had to do before (visit Lin Hueng if you want to experience this too).
The milk teas in Hong Kong lived up to all of my expectations and more (get your fix at Lan Fong Yuen). I even almost missed my flight back to Tokyo trying to sneak some on the plane (yes, that happened). I had some of the best food which happened to be 100x more appetizing than how Instagrammable they look -- in fact, they made cute pig baos and pineapple filled cookies that are served in a cage at the infamous Yum Cha in Central not even worthy.
Every city changes itself when it turns from day to night, but Hong Kong was an exception. It pretty much stayed the same, except the lights were some of the best I've seen. They weren't fluorescent but they were neon and still as bright in my mind as I can recall (you'll see). I had only 72 hours to spend in Hong Kong but it felt like I've known it for years waking up to a panoramic harbor view from the EAST Hotel for two mornings. I have a feeling I'll find myself back there very soon.
