The Traveling Martens

Hong Kong continued

After our day in Macau, we went out that night for a great Indian dinner in Hong Kong. Mel's pork vindaloo was en fuego! Definitely hotter than anything in the states. After dinner, we walked through the famous Temple night markets. The scene seems like something out of a movie- crowded streets lined with stalls selling knock-offs of clothes, watches, purses, etc. Neon signs in Chinese are above us, with flags and banners crossing the streets. We walked the streets for a few hours before heading back for the night.

Last day in Hong Kong-

Congee??? We had seen this dish listed on several menus, and finally tried it for breakfast our last day. It is like a rice porridge with meat and spices, we got chicken, and it tasted sort of like chicken dumpling soup, but much better. Perfect breakfast meal. Stacy also got a fried egg, too bad we didn't have the camera to catch her eating it with chop sticks.

After breakfast, we headed to the electronic stores lining the streets, selling everything you can imagine. Hong Kong is far more advanced technologically than the U.S. Everyone is walking around with their advanced cellphones on a cord around their neck for easy access, since they are always text messaging someone or talking on the phone. Except of course, when they have their MP3 earphones in, as nearly everyone does. Even the kids have cellphones with better cameras built into them than you can even buy as a stand-alone camera in the U.S. We brought our digital camera with us, but had to jump into the action and get a camcorder to record the rest of our travels. For those who care, we got a HD camcorder that records 2 hours directly onto a re-usable SD memory card for less than a cheap tape camcorder would be in the U.S., and I don't think it's even available in the US yet.

We then headed over to Hong Kong island from Kowloon to walk around the SoHo area, which is full of very nice restaurants and Asian antique furniture shops. This area is below the Victoria peak, and is very hilly, reminding us of San Francisco. There is a public transportation escalator which goes up the hills and is the longest escalator in the world. While walking around we saw some funny signs plastered on the walls everywhere. Apparently, there is a popular Asian Elvis imitator named "Melvis". We snagged one of the signs for a souvenir, and Mel is hoping that's not his new nickname for the rest of the trip. We ate dinner there also, in the Lan Kwai Fong area. We sat outside at a Lebanese restaurant, while Hong Kong business men and women walked by, and Mercedes, BMWs, and Ferraris drove past on the narrow street. We noticed a line of people and lots of flashbulbs across the street, so we went to check it out after eating. It appeared something was going on at this place, called the C Club, so we talked and smiled our way down a literal red carpet, velvet ropes, and papparazis taking our picture. Once inside, we talked to the locals and discovered we had gotten into a private party with all the Hong Kong celebrities. We had an interesting coversation with one import/export trader here, who said that Hong Kong is still a center of business, but he worries that it is being bypassed as companies are starting to go more and more directly into China instead of passing the trade through Hong Kong.

With an early flight in the morning, we headed home about 11 p.m. and took the Star Ferry across the bay back to Kowloon. Riding the ferry at night was something we had been looking forward to, as you can see all the lights of Hong Kong on both sides of the water. Of course, we captured the scene on our new camcorder.

Final thoughts on Hong Kong....

The city was amazing. It was like a clean, efficient, polite New York. Hong Kong is huge, but there is never a rush of people or any problems getting around. The public transportation was easier to use than any other city we've been in and spotless as well.

posted by Mel and Stacy Marten @ 10:28 PM