We spent Sunday morning exploring and doing a little shopping (mostly of the window variety).
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| As previously mentioned, Asia apparently LOVES Christmas. It was quite interesting to see just how serious they are about their decorations. |
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| I did buy some new shoes. They’re no Louboutin’s, but I loved them and I needed them…poor planning on my part for walking up Victoria Peak left me a little blistered. |
One of the most interesting parts of Sunday morning was a brief stop in
Statue Square (I didn’t get any photos, apparently.) The guidebook I had (yes, I do use guidebooks) mentioned that on Sundays, Filipino women gather here to meet with each other. And it was totally accurate! So interesting to see other places and how foreigners live in them. And I have an entirely new empathy for such cultural cohesiveness.
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| During lunch, I pulled out the map and book to plan the rest of our day and Monday. Tanya was feeling too much pressure to make decisions because we didn’t have a plan. š |
Tanya had done some great pre-trip planning and found a couple of restaurants for us to go to. So, I made reservations at one of them for Sunday evening. Because it was across the bay, we boarded a ferry and headed over a little early to want around and experience the area.
Well, Kowloon is a totally different experience from Central. I haven’t been to mainland China, but I imagine this is like China-light. Super crowded, but maybe a little nicer? Seriously, after the lovely streets of Central and the enjoyable strolls and window shopping, this was like enter a shark tank. It was INSANE.
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| Can you feel how crowded and claustrophobic it was? |
That said, it was still super fun and interesting and we saw some fascinating things as we wandered around and did a little shopping.
Like this pink and purple camouflage sweat suit.
And this window display. Sorry if this offends anyone, but seriously, Tanya and I joked about this for the rest of her trip here. I wonder how many times we do things like this in America because we don’t understand. Although, I suppose we’re pretty multicultural, so maybe we don’t? (Wishful thinking?)
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| We like to refer to him as green, beatnik Jesus. |
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| Wall of bears, anyone? |
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| It turns out this means something in Japanese (and it has nothing to do with clothes, but neither do lots of American store names). It’s an extinct freshwater killifish. |
So, after we wandered and window shopped and people watched for a bit, it was time for dinner. As mentioned, Tanya found this restaurant. It’s called
Hutong (be warned, the site plays music upon opening) and was a recommendation in a NY Times article, both for the food and the view. It did not disappoint on either count.
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| Beautiful Hong Kong Island as seen from Kowloon. The photos do not do it justice! |
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| I felt like I had to order the crispy duck. We were almost in China, after all. And it was amazing! |
After dinner we wandered around a bit more and hit up Temple Street Night Market. I didn’t get any photos, because I was too busy haggling (and still being swindled) over the price of some souvenirs. I did get some great bowls, but…I payed about $5 more than I should have. Which wouldn’t be so bad if what I had paid hadn’t been $10. Painful. But a fun story.
And then we head back to our island, enjoying some incredible views of the city as we went.
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| The buildings are always lit up, I understand, but this time of year they were lit up for Christmas. And while I know it’s mainly a commercial thing here, it still made me feel a little more Christmasy! |
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| Loved the reflections in the water (even if the photo is a bit blurry). |
And thus ends day two in HKG. So much more to come of my cute cousin’s first trip to Asia!
existential dilemmas 