Hong Kong

Hong Kong is really going to be a quickie as I pick up a tour in Ho Chi Minh City in 3 days!

Hong Kong looks like a futuristic NYC with super high rises everywhere, the shopping is on the next level here. I am couchsurfing in Central which is HK island. By NYC comparison, it is like staying in Manhattan. Kay lives on a lively street with cute shops and open air restaurants. The apartments are very modern, very expensive and very SMALL.

Every designer, and anybody who is anybody in fashion and anything modern, has a store in HK. Where I am staying is very, very hilly (think extreme SF), so it is already a butt kicking workout and on top of that it is friggin hot as hell. Because it is so steep they have the worlds longest escalator with breaks in between to get off you’re your street.

WHAT A PLACE FOR A PARTY!!!! I go to the festival set for this weekend and it is HUGE! And packed to the rafters with people spilling into the side streets and every seat taken at every restaurant that surrounds the festival. After dinner we will head to Lumiere which is a very upscale restaurant/lounge where Kays (my host) friend is playing. The ambiance is incredible and the view outstanding.

We head out to the Stanley market on Saturday on the double-decker bus for shopping. The view is breathtaking, we go from sunny beaches to whipping around on the HK cliffs with a drop thousands of feet down, all that plus doing about 80mph! The market is more like a street fair market and considering the prices around HK, this is my kind of place to go.

I head for the Peak Tram which takes you to the highest point in HK. It is amazing! The incline is incredible and I see some friends from the Yangtze cruise.

Once to the top, there is a big mall and restaurants. I went to the observation deck to look out on all of HK, it is really exciting up here and relaxing watching the eagles soar overhead. After the tram, I head over to the ferry to Kowloon, just a ride over and back which is nice and relaxing.

One thing that was interesting and a tad bit disturbing. On Sunday the city is filled with thousands of Filipinas who work as maids. They are at every park, train stations (see pictures) as this is there only day off and these places are the only real places to congregate.

We go out for tapas my last night out and I get to walk around and say good bye to HK.