Day 15-16: Hong Kong

The finale from the Asian New York City, Hong Kong. The red-eye flight from Phuket got us pretty bad, especially the super freezing airport. It felt like negative celsius out there and no chance to take a nap. When we landed to Hong Kong, I surely expected a civilized country with great efficiency in running their operations. The airport was enormous and their Airport Express train got us into the city in less than half hour with super fast train. On the way back you could even check in to your flight and drop of your bags from the city, way before getting to the airport. That was pretty awesome. 

A little gloomy Saturday morning in Hong Kong with an amazingly nice weather greeted us. As we took the cab from the Hong Kong Station for a 10 minute ride, I had a resemblance of 3 cities that I have lived in: Istanbul, New York, and San Francisco. Istanbul for narrow, tiny roads with super busy streets, New York for bustling night life and fast pace and San Francisco for it is hills. Hong Kong looked like an older woman with some great make up on certain parts of its body. Buildings and residential areas were old but the new developments such as IFC centre, shopping areas, the Peak Tram are new or renovated. 

We were particularly excited that we were in HK on a Saturday night to see the night life of this cool city. After catching up on our sleep we walked around the city to get our bearings. My good friend David, who is originally from HK, hooked us up with a great hotel in the Lan Kwai Fong area that is predominantly an expat land. You'll see more Europeans than Asians in this night life capital of Hong Kong. Found a great little spot for grabbing some fresh oysters at Cvche on the Hollywood Rd. People started going out after 10pm so all the places were empty in the early evening. Our next stop was to walk to the Peak where a tram takes you to the top of a mountain for a kick ass view of the city. Wow views were breathtaking and it wasn't even cold up there. Getting into the tram reminded me of getting into the 8x Muni bus in San Francisco's China Town. Elbows started talking. Can't change a culture much I guess :) The Peak wasn't just an observatory to see the city views but they have built an entire entertainment center up in the sky with malls and gallerias, restaurants and cafes all on top of the hill. 

Next I was craving dim sum and got recommended to go to Loyal Diner at Lan Kwai Fong area. They had dim sum service starting at 9:30pm and we were in there right around that time. Their dumplings were delish and I got adventurous with minced pigeons on a lettuce wrap. Ellen got their lobster and rice dish that was delightful as well. 

For the 'clubbing' part we were underdressed heavily so sought a dive bar to grab a beer in. Sapphire bar with Hoagarden awning got our attention. Good mix of cultures, races were all inside this bar where they played mostly 80s music. Around midnight the bar got jam packed. Last stop was a Lebanese spot for hookah. It is amazing that we found a spot for almost all the cities for hookah and they were pretty decent. It was a great spot to people watch and get a feeling for the city. 

Sunday was a long but short day. Our flight is at midnight and I am writing my blog from the HK Airport lounge. I wanted to see the Bruce Lee statute and do a little shopping at the 'Ladies Market" which is a massive street market full of vendors. Took the ferry across from the HK Island to the Kwoloon area to see the Avenue of Stars where Mr. Lee was with his great posture. With the HK skyline in the background it was a great shot to take a pic with the legend. The fact that he was born in SF and lived many years during his 20s has made the visit more meaningful for me. Lastly we had a chance to practice our negotiation skills at the Ladies Market where I bought stuff at 1/3 of the price. True markup. 3x the original value! 

Overall, it is sad that honeymoon is over but I wouldn't take anything back from all these great experiences that we had together with my wife... wow it still sounds not normal to call Siegs my wife but she truly is. We had an exceptional time and very grateful that we were able to make this happen. Appreciated all of our friends and families support on this great honeymoon vacation! It was epic!!