Hong Kong, Redux...

Hong Kong... What a city!!!

Sean is much better about blogging as we travel. I am different. I want to enjoy everything and then write about it. So, here I am the day after our 22 hour train trip home, the bags are unpacked, the laundry is cleaned and I am ready to get back to normal life again.

Sean and I figured that since we were half-way around the world we should take the opportunity to see everything that we can... and that included Hong Kong. I had no idea what to expect and as we made our last minute plans (a talent that I have had to cultivate here in China). Let me just say, that as we held our breaths and hoped for the best, we have really learned how to travel by the seat of our pants. For two people who can’t speak more than 10 words of Mandarin (which by the way is useless in Hong Kong- they speak Cantonese!) we get around pretty damn good.

It started last Friday when I gave Sean the one hour notice to pack his suitcase... we were to be on the 5:10pm train to Shanghai. Like a pro, he gathered his things and we agreed that we would meet at the front gate at 4:20pm, right after his last class he had to teach. I lugged both suitcases down our five flights of stairs and rolled them all the way to the front gate where I met up with Sean, we hailed our taxi and boarded the train to Shanghai on time.

Once we were in Shanghai, it was up to Sean to use his incredible skills of luck, patience and perseverance to acquire us the much needed tickets on the train that was to leave the following day headed to Hong Kong. We danced and giggled like fools after he emerged from the ticket office almost two hours later with the tickets in hand. We were actually going!

We had a great train ride into Hong Kong. I really do enjoy traveling by train. I think it is so much better than air travel because you get to watch the scenery of the country rush past you. Again, we navigated our way through the subway system in Hong Kong and eventually made it to our hotel. The room that Sean had reserved at the Island Pacific Hotel (last minute while in Shanghai the morning before leaving) was perfect. I was shocked when I saw we had a wonderful view of Victoria Harbor.

True to form, Sean and I quickly cleaned the residue of the train ride from our bodies and were off to enjoy what Hong Kong had to offer. Sean and I had both done a great deal of reading on the train and knew exactly what we needed to see. We had lists of restaurants and places to see and we were eager to accomplish them all.

From the top of Victoria Peak to the waters of the Victoria Harbor, we saw it all and loved it all. What an amazing city... Hong Kong. I will go through all of our pictures as soon as I have a chance and put captions on them so that you can see the many things that we did. But for now, I must get ready for my week back at school... or maybe not. I just found out that they have another school holiday... MAY DAY. We might have another 4 day weekend!

Zie Jian!