Unexpected

This blog post for one… 

Also, the lovliness of Hong Kong.  I spent my glorious weeks at home over Christmas doing many things.  One of them was to mentally gear myself up for sprawling Asian mega-cities. 

I’m not a big city gal.  Paris, of course, has part of my heart.  And I do have a certain soft spot for Chicago as well.  But other than that... I’d rather be with the bugs and the birds – out aways somewhere. 

And so, I expected to dislike Hong Kong.  So many people, buildings, cars, chaos.  Even though all those things were present to some extent, the city still managed to charm my socks off.  It’s shockingly calm.  I swear I never heard a car honk or a siren sound (the sound-track of D.C., Paris, New York, you-name-it).  The public transportation system is brilliantly engineered and a breeze to navigate.  The city is full of green spaces, water views, quaint cafes, and tiny art galleries.  And it has one of the most beautiful night-time skylines I’ve ever seen.  Just lovely.

I’ll fess-up here to the fact that I may have had a different experience of Hong Kong than the average Joe.  Lauren and I arrived without a guide book, any plans, and really no idea what there was to see or do.  Our only committment was a lunch rendez-vous with one of Lauren’s aunt’s former colleagues who’s from Hong Kong.  During the scrumptious lunch of sauteed pea shoots and other dishes I can’t name, Martin asked us what our plans in Hong Kong were.  We said we were hoping he’d have some advice.  He said he wasn’t using his personal driver the next day, so how about we just make an itenerary with his assistant.  We said ok that sounds fine.  Just kidding.  We said REALLY?!! That would be amazing!!  And began giggling like schoolgirls.

It was amazing.  Thanks to Martin’s unreserved generosity, we got to see places on Hong Kong island that we would have never gotten the chance to see otherwise.  We visited several breathtaking beaches whose horizons were dotted with misty islands.

We went to a rambling market that was filled with trinkets, art, knock-offs, books, watches, dragons, jade, and scarves.

We ate lunch at a small cafe and walked along this beautiful pier.

We visited an old, cozy temple by the sea (thereby starting an “oops-I-just-took-270-photos-of-this-temple” trend).

We finished the day at a vegetarian cafe in Hong Kong’s dazzelingly charming SoHo after wandering around the too-cute boutiques and even a night-time produce market.

And, if the day weren’t spectacular enough, we accidently ended up at the harbor for the nightly Lights Show.  On a scale of 1-10 it was cheesy (family joke), but fun.  Lauren took a short video that really does it way more justice than this photo.

Hong Kong was the perfect christening for the second half of this trip.  After a difficult goodbye to Adam and my family and friends, it reminded me of why I love to travel.  Hong Kong was so different from what I expected.  It surprised me.  It captivated me.  It changed the way I imagine Beijing, Shanghai, even China in general.  And, it made me excited for all the adventures and imagination-altering experiences to come.

Nice photo.  Unfortunate framing.

Fin.