Hong Kong? Why are you going there?

Since almost everyone has asked me that question, I'll go ahead and answer it. I went to Hong Kong because Hilda and I wanted to go to China, but we were scared away by the bird flu. Our travel agent recommended Hong Kong instead. She has some relatives there and can speak Cantonese, and I just really wanted to go somewhere over the winter break. I ended up trying some really delicious food, getting lost in shopping malls, and seeing one of the most beautiful cityscapes in the world.

I took well over a hundred pictures (including some that I ganked from Hilda's flickr site, gomen!). To see the whole set, click here:


Since nobody has the time to look at all of that, I'll just give you some of the highlights:

Actually, my happiest moment was rather dorky. When our airplane was just taking off, it was a clear day. I was looking down at Japan, thinking of all the places I have left to see when I saw Unzen and my town from the air!


The first few days were overwhelming and exciting. We walked around Wan Chai, had street food, and spent about $78,294,732,984,723 in Zara. One thing that Hong Kong does not lack is shopping. I actually got lost for hours in one of the malls on Kowloon. But unfortunately, most of the stores are in the Prada-Gucci price range.

We had a really good day when Hilda's aunt showed us around. We went to a temple and had dim sum. She even helped us get appointments to get our hair done (thank god, I really needed that trim!).


We bumped into some other JETs while going out one night. One guy is actually in my ken! Another guy flew out of DC with Hilda and I. We went to this Russian bar, where we did vodka shots in a freezer while wearing faux minks:


The Great Buddha of Lantau
I think this is the largest sitting Buddha in the world. It is really big - I could see it from the airplane.


My camera takes really crappy night pictures, so my nightscape photos of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak didn't turn out so well. Here's one of the better ones:



So instead of trying to sum this experience up into quirky tidbits of wisdom, I'm signing off because I'm still exhausted...