4 flights down, 18 to go! We didn’t really fly much on the first half of the trip, but we’ll be flying a lot now!

After landing in Hong Kong, we made our way to the hotel. The airport is located on its own island so there is a train that takes you to one of the two main islands followed by a bus that takes you to the doorstep of the major hotels. It was very efficient actually!

We spent just over 2 days in Hong Kong and had several interesting experiences. Here are a few highlights:

Hong Kong History: Neither of us knew a lot about Hong Kong’s history so we kicked off our visit with a stop the island’s history museum. For those not also not familiar with Hong Kong, the areas has two main islands – Kowloon and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Island was owned by the British for about 150 years while Kowloon Island was leased for 99 years by Britain from China.

This lease arrangement expired in 1997, and negotiations between Britain and China ultimately led to China taking back its leased property (Kowloon) as well as the island Britain owned (Hong Kong). Crazy! This whole arrangement caught our interest so we’ve been reading more about the history as well as the future plan for Hong Kong.

Although we haven’t been to Hong Kong before, we definitely noticed a loss of the glam (particularly on the Kowloon side) versus we’ve heard about in Hong Kong. This article might suggest why… it looks like Hong Kong may not stay in the spotlight long term.

https://www.google.com/search?q=china+hong+kong+shanghai&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#hl=en&q=china+hong+kong+shanghai&tbm=nws

Peak Tower & Hiking: There are mountains that rise up behind the city portion of Hong Kong Island so there is a funicular tram that carries passengers to the top. The tram is quite steep but offers great views of the city below. We also hiked around the side of the island to get more views from above. We capped off the night with dinner overlooking the city. It was very nice!! The only sad part was that the view isn’t as pretty as it used to be…massive smog is overtaking Hong Kong (courtesy of Hong Kong’s own pollution combined with Guangzhou pollution blowing on the city).

Harbor & Hotel Room: The hotel moved us to a room with a full view of the harbor which was great! Here are a few snapshots of the view.

Shangri La Lunch: Ryan had been anxiously anticipating this lunch after reading about it a few months ago… he thinks it’s one of the nicest and largest buffets he has every seen! They had chef prepared noodle bowls, sushi, and dim sum which he loved. I, on the other hand, was spotted mostly at the table with an array of fruit and the dessert area 🙂 This was literally about all we ate that day!

Afternoon Tea: Given the British influence on the islands, afternoon teas were once popular. The original Peninsula Hotel has a tea each day so we finished off our time in Hong Kong with biscuits, tea sandwiches, and small pastries (and coffee for me since I don’t like tea! :)). It was also quite interesting to be in this hotel as was the headquarters of the Japanese Army based in Hong Kong in WWII.

– Michelin Not the Same in Asia: For the foodies out there, we agree with several articles indicating that there is not consistency in restaurant reviews between Europe and Asia. After visiting both countries and trying out restaurants, we agree with the below article indicating the standards don’t seem to be the same. We definitely agree… Europe standards are much stricter.

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2013/01/28/is-the-michelin-guide-relevant-in-asia/

Ryan had dim sum for lunch from Tim Ho Wan, which is known for its Michelin 1 Star rating. We also had dinner at a restaurant on the Michelin list. Having just been in France, we really think neither of these restaurants would have made the list in France. While both were good, they were more of mall fast food joints.

– Luxury Stores in Mall The IFC mall was literally packed with stores of every major designer and brand you could imagine. We’ve never seen such a major collection of stores in a mall that might be stand-alone in other markets.

– Garrett’s Popcorn: Speaking of the mall… look what we found! Why is there a Garrett’s Popcorn in Hong Kong?!

– Go Kellogg!!! A little purple pride here… look at the billboard we saw all over the airport!

We are now on to Australia after a great set of stops in Asia!