From Beijing to Hong Kong we flew on Dragon Air. It was the best flight experience I ever had. The flight crew was nice with many smiles for each encounter. The seats were comfortable with enough leg room. The food was better than other flights although I can be biased since the food was Chinese cuisine. I also can't complain that they played "500 Days of Summer." Overall, it was a very pleasant trip.
When we landed in the Hong Kong area, the new airport was roughly an hour away from Kowloon which is where we stayed. Our hotel was a few months old and a few minutes from the old airport. Edwin noticed traffic was different first. First, the bus door is what would be America's driver side. The driver sits on the right which would be the passenger's side. Traffic is opposite from the US. It doesn't affect you much until you're a pedestrian. Thank goodness there were messages on the road directing you where to look. If not for those... well, let's not think about that. Everywhere we went, we saw girls in skirts, tights and boots and of course scarves. Boots were in: knee high, ankle, flats and heels. Hong Kong girls are quite trendy. Reminds me of New York.
We headed out to meet Billy for dinner. Of course when I see him, he's standing on the street corner working. Who knew Hong Kong street walkers were so high tech with laptops. HA! He took us to a noodle shop that had about 5 tables with 2 to 3 seats each. I am all about noodles that cost less than $2 USD and "hole-in-the-wall" type eateries (that describes about half of Hong Kong). I am not complaining. Later we headed to Lady Street where it's just booth after booth of t-shirts, belts, wallets, bags and bartering. I thought I was doing pretty well but Edwin did not agree at all. We did walk in with a strategy: "Don't be committed. Walk away." It's definitely a game. You have to act like you're not committed to buying. Make them committed to selling and you're golden.
The next day we headed to the East Asian Olympic Games to watch a couple volleyball matches. We watched Macau get destroyed by Japan. Honestly, watching a dominating team demolish another team is not fun. The second game we watched was China vs Hong Kong. Billy's friends were on the Hong Kong team. They put up a good fight against the real Chinese Olympic volleyball team. It looked like men (China) playing against college kids (Hong Kong). It was more exciting. The Chinese team is ridiculously tall. I wonder where they grew up. I can arrange a marriage for my future daughter, can't I?
We hung out in Times Square for dinner. Dinner was delightful. The waitstaff was entertained by me taking so many photos of food (at least they were nice). For dessert we headed to Lucky Dessert. All I can say is, fried crepes with mango and lady fingers is YUM! We actually went twice during our stay. We also went to Lan Kwai Fong. It's like 6th street on a hill. I take that back. It's like the Warehouse District in Austin, TX but on a hill. It's there that we saw the most diversity. Coming from the US and Texas it's odd not to see a diverse community.
The next day we had dim sum with Billy's friends and family. I sat next to a very adorable girl and spent most of my time getting her to warm up to me. She was so well behaved and sweet it made me want to have a child soon but that's still not likely. Billy took us up to his home where he has an amazing water view from every window. I've never seen a view like this from any home. It's absolutely beautiful. That view was ended quickly when Billy rushed us out to go visit the Peak. Of course the night wouldn't come to an end without dinner. Did someone say SUSHI? I don't know about you but there's no sushi restaurant in Houston where three people could eat, be full, spend about $50USD and still have left overs.
Our last full day in Hong Kong would be the last day I would see Billy for a while. I'm so glad he met us for lunch at Shark Fin City in Times Square. I absolutely love shark fin soup. I know it's terrible to kill sharks and I shouldn't eat it. I know! It's so delicious though. After lunch, I said good bye to Billy. I'll be honest, there were tears. They were all from me. Thanks to my love, Edwin, he cheered me up. We found a bakery and we found Lucky Dessert and he helped me flood my sorrows of sadness in food. Then, my love took me shopping. Shopping in Hong Kong is fabulous. If I could go shopping in Hong Kong when ever I had the urge I would be in love (minus the space travel). Lucky for me, most of everything was "one size fits all". You can't try anything on mainly because there is no space for fitting rooms. I did find this amazing mall with a lot of boutiques that were screaming for me. Thank goodness for being small.
Hong Kong is like New York City except with all Chinese people, better food and better shopping at a lower cost. Travel to Hong Kong is not cheap so I guess it evens out if compared to New York. If Hong Kong was closer, I would definitely go back often. Although since Billy moved to Beijing I guess it means I have to go back to Beijing one day. There's a lot of British influence in terms of traffic, architecture, public transportation, etc. I can't imagine it any other way. It makes me wonder where China would be if not for isolationism. Not that I wanted China to be ruled by the British but again, China probably would be farther along (in my optimistic mind).
Now to answer my curious brain:
- How much do I stand out from other Asians? Not much or at all
- Am I really that much smaller than other people? Is Edwin that much taller than other Asians? I am pretty small period. I would consider Edwin tall in Hong Kong.
- How American are we really? We're pretty American but not so much that Hong Kong realizes it. Compared to China, we're very American.
- Is the food better in the "mother" country? I couldn't tell if Beijing had good food since we ate at all the tourist places. Peking duck in Beijing is pretty darn tasty. Hong Kong for sure had good food. Edwin and I think that Houston has great food too and just as affordable. There is more Asian variety but Houston is getting there.
- Will we get a cultural shock that some people talk about? Not as much since we are Chinese but a tad... not enough to be like... "WHOA!"
- Will we be able to get around with the amount of Chinese we know? Not too shabby. Edwin knew enough Mandarin to get around Beijing. Our English helped us through Hong Kong. Note: When ordering bubble tea in Asia, it's better to ask for "zhing zhu" instead of "boba". Just a bit of funny "haha-ness" for my Mandarin speaking peeps. ~_^
Miss you Billy! Thanks for taking us around Hong Kong. I hope this won't be the last time I see you (minus gchat).
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