On my second day in Hong Kong, I hit the ground running and may have been a bit over-ambitious. During my time at the tourist office, I had picked up a little booklet that outlined the different neighborhoods in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island and provided walking tours. I had nothing booked until the afternoon, so I set out to explore.
I first headed over to the Li Nian Gardens, which are nestled right in the midst of the city. Part of the garden actually sits under the motorway, but they are some of the most peaceful, well-maintained gardens I’ve been too. I strolled through there for about an hour before heading over to the preserved walled city of Kowloon.
From here, I felt the urge to check out the goldfish market, and I’m glad I did. This is one entire street filled with shops selling hundreds of varieties of goldfish, aquarium supplies, frogs, turtles, etc. Given the limited living space in Hong Kong, I suppose these small animals are the only pets families have space for. It was really unbelievable to see all these fish. Everywhere you looked where walls of bright colored goldfish. It was like “pick a fish, any fish.” I don’t know where they keep them all!
It was time to head back over to the harbor for my afternoon cruise on the junk boat. Unfortunately the beautiful morning we had was long gone, and clouds and fog rolled in before the boat ride. Still, I was able to get views of the entire harbour and get an education on the history of the harbour. However, I took the bad weather as my sign to head back to paradise and kick my feet up before meeting my friend Jeana for dinner.
Jeana and I met in August of last year in Varanasi, India. We just started chatting at dinner one night, and I told her I was supposed to be passing through Hong Kong, so we exchanged information. I had contacted her before my trip and we made plans to meet up for dinner. I made my way from Kowloon over to Hong Kong Island and we decided to go for hot pot. I had never tried this, so I didn’t really understand the concept, but it’s basically like Korean style BBQ, except you select a soup to cook everything in, including meat, veggies, and dumplings.
Jeana and I ordered so much food. I was busting at the seams. We had bok choy and spinach, pork dumplings, a plate of beef, and about 4 other types of dumplings. I was starting to fill up, but Jeana told me we had to finish everything because she hates wasting food. I agree, so we tucked in. We managed to do a pretty good job and rolled out of that restaurant. The first hot pot experience was a good one!
We decided to go up to Victoria Peak despite the cloudy evening. It was going to be my last chance to catch any views, so we opted to go. The tram ride up passes by the midlevels (a residential area on the hill on Hong Kong Island). You can literally see in peoples windows as you climb to the peak. At the top is a whole new world. As well as the museum, you have shopping, restaurants , bars, and the view! Ok- I’ve seen pictures taken on clear days when you can see straight across the harbor to Kowloon. It’s pretty amazing. We didn’t have that, but it was still neat to have a birds eye view of the financial district below.Friday dawned cloudy as well, so I didn’t feel so bad about visiting the peak the night before. I met up with a family friend for an Asian-fusion lunch and then made my way to the airport to catch my flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Although I was only there for a short period of time, Hong Kong gets bonus points in my book. It’s such a modern, clean, easy to navigate city, with great food and friendly people. Not to mention, I had great company and was taken such good care of while I was there. I’m glad to know I’ll be passing through again on my way home in May.
