Hong Kong - Back Again!

Great to be back in Hong Kong (HK). Growing up my parents took me here every couple years to visit family and landing in the airport gave me a very welcomed feeling of familiarity and comfort. Being able to speak both primary languages of the city (Cantonese + English) also makes life much easier than having to resort to sign language and charades (although that can be super entertaining sometimes).

  

Walking around in the streets we have a sense of ease that first world societies impart despite being in the concrete jungle of one of the most populated places on earth.  This ease makes us extremely aware of the magnitude of things we take for granted and it gives you insight into different cultural norms (ex. I used to wonder why people sat directly on the ground or walked around barefoot in Canada... It's because it's so damn clean!)

One particular new observation we had this time is how Hong Kong’s retailers have a natural organization where common themes and products group together on common streets, and similar to a department store it seems to provide for every kind of need.  To mention a few of our favourites there was a very smelly Dried Seafood Street, Sneaker Street, Ladies Street (lady's fashion and accessories, not actual ladies! sheesh!), Flower Street, and Goldfish Street which was wonderfully colourful and entertaining to walk.

Staying in HK, we rented a teeny, tiny, 130 sqft, 2 story, AirBnB in a very central area of Kowloon (the city of Hong Kong is made up of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon peninsula), it was a 10 minute transit ride from the city center.  We spent the majority of our time visiting family and friends which involved catching up and lots of really good food.  As usual, we were spoiled by everyone and thank them all for their generosity.

I think it's natural for most people to associate Hong Kong with that of a vast, chaotic, concrete and glass city, myself included.  So another first for us, was to wander out beyond the concrete jungle of the city center into a very lush, green, mountainous and beautiful oceanfront area.  I took Rhonda on a 1-1/2 hour hike called the Dragon's Back which ended up being a 4 hour hike in +30C weather…oops! Fortunately, it is breathtakingly scenic and well worth every, extremely hot, minute.  We also explored Repulse Bay and had a quick dip in Deep Ocean Bay, both areas being little, waterfront villages on the southern shores of Hong Kong Island.

Our time here was quick but we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with family & friends and exploring beyond the city center.

-Terry & Rhonda