On our first full day in Hong Kong we visited the Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha. We had planned on taking the gondola to the statue, but it was storming, and they had closed it. The monument was quite impressive, even in the pouring rain. We also walked around and checked out the temple nearby before walking through a small collection of shops on the way to the bus stop. We stopped and got some noodles for lunch, and then headed back to the city. After getting some hot bubble tea, we explored the Ladies' market and the Temple Street night market. Unlike Taiwan, you can bargain the price in Hong Kong markets. The vendors are very aggressive and at one point I had to tell one that if she kept grabbing my arm, I definitely wasn't going to buy her stuff. I got a few things for my friends and family, but most of the time I just got a cruel pleasure out of denying the vendors my business. I'm a horrible person. When we had finished shopping, we grabbed dinner at a nearby shop. My wontons had the most questionable looking meat I'd ever seen, but I survived.
On our second day, we took a day trip to Macau. We woke up early and ate McDonald's breakfast before heading to the Central Piers, where we bought our ferry tickets at about $20 USD each. The ride took about an hour, allowing us to nap. We arrived at about noon, and bought coffee in order to break our bills and pay for our bus fare. The bus drivers weren't very helpful, misunderstanding our questions and just saying "no", gesturing for us to get off their bus, but a local man was kind enough to tell us which buses we could take to get to our first stop, Las Ruinas de St. Paul. The ruins were beautiful, but only consisted of the front facade, since the rest had been burned down, so it didn't take us long to look at. We looked through the Macau Museum and then walked back through Senado Square, stopping to buy some delicious egg tarts on the way. Our next stop was the Guía Fortress. We took a bus there but then got lost, and ended up walking around that part of town for a while until we found the garden we needed to enter. We took a short gondola ride up to the top of the hill, where we then had to walk a bit more to the actual fort. It was small, but offered a very cool view of the city, and some nice pictures. We then headed back down and made our way to the City of Dreams, to spend the evening in the Venetian casino. We changed into dressier clothes and checked our backpacks in before walking around the huge mall within the casino. It was styled after Venice, with a river going through it and gondoliers serenading passersby. We did some shopping and ate a very fancy Brazilian barbecue restaurant. It was one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten, but then again I was starving, and food always tastes better when you're hungry. After dinner we took some pictures and walked through the casino (I pretended like I was old enough), and then caught the conveniently free shuttle bus back to the ferry terminal, returned to Hong Kong and called it a night.
Day three was more relaxed since Macau had been such a big event. We tried to get lunch at a Dim Sum restaurant, but apparently it had been closed down. We were starving, so we just ate somewhere nearby and I had the most disappointing lunch ever. At least my milkshake was good. Next we went to Victoria Peak, using the extremely steep and popular Peak Tram. The view from the top was incredible, but again didn't take us much time. Back at the base, we took an open top bus to Victoria Bay, where we did a Star Ferry tour, whcih took about an hour. It was a cool change in perspective after being up so high. Afterwards we took the MTR to meet some of Mami's friends from UBC, who were studying abroad in Hong Kong for the semester. We ate dinner and dessert with them, and then checked out the shadiest place on earth, Chungking Mansions, which consists of a lot of hostels, shops and exchange services. We eventually ended up on the Avenue of Stars, enjoying the cityscape and trying to figure out who the Hong Kong celebrities were. Our last stop of the night was Lan Kwai Fong, where most of the nightlife is. The ground was littered with broken glass and the streets filled with drunken foreigners. We had a couple of drinks at a bar before going to a club, which was uncomfortably packed. We got back to our hostel around 4:00 am
On our fourth day, we went to Lamma Island. I had the spiciest curry imaginable for lunch before we took a thirty minute ferry ride over to the island. We hiked around the "Family Trail," checking out the beaches, views (which almost always included the huge factory on the island), and random side trails along the way. We finished exploring just in time for dinner, which we ate at a seafood restaurant near the piers. We feasted on squid, prawns, fried rice and veggies before catching our ferry back to the mainland.
Day five consisted mostly of shopping We tried (again) to eat Dim Sum, and were sort of successful. We were told we had to come back later since we didn't have a reservation, so we ate a Ramen joint before we rode up the 800 meter long "travelator,"which is an elevator that allows you to go up basically an entire mountain, and look into building from a different perspective. Back at the Dim Sum restaurant we were treated extremely rudely, and ate disappointing and ridiculously expensive desserts. We only stayed about thirty minutes. We then shopped for about three hours inside a gigantic Forever 21, where I dropped about $60 USD. We then met Mami's friend again and a couple other exchange students for dinner. After dinner we hit up the nearby H&M and then returned to Nathan Road (where our hostel was) and went through the Temple Street market one last time.
On our final day, we woke up at 5:00 am and took cab to the airport, arriving back in Gongguan around 3:00 pm. A very successful trip.
On our fourth day, we went to Lamma Island. I had the spiciest curry imaginable for lunch before we took a thirty minute ferry ride over to the island. We hiked around the "Family Trail," checking out the beaches, views (which almost always included the huge factory on the island), and random side trails along the way. We finished exploring just in time for dinner, which we ate at a seafood restaurant near the piers. We feasted on squid, prawns, fried rice and veggies before catching our ferry back to the mainland.
Day five consisted mostly of shopping We tried (again) to eat Dim Sum, and were sort of successful. We were told we had to come back later since we didn't have a reservation, so we ate a Ramen joint before we rode up the 800 meter long "travelator,"which is an elevator that allows you to go up basically an entire mountain, and look into building from a different perspective. Back at the Dim Sum restaurant we were treated extremely rudely, and ate disappointing and ridiculously expensive desserts. We only stayed about thirty minutes. We then shopped for about three hours inside a gigantic Forever 21, where I dropped about $60 USD. We then met Mami's friend again and a couple other exchange students for dinner. After dinner we hit up the nearby H&M and then returned to Nathan Road (where our hostel was) and went through the Temple Street market one last time.
On our final day, we woke up at 5:00 am and took cab to the airport, arriving back in Gongguan around 3:00 pm. A very successful trip.
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