Hong Kong reminded me a lot of NY City. A lot of hustle and bustle, with tons of people rushing around in their own small world. The people were very polite, not rude or cold at all which is kind of the feel you get from New Yorkers, at least from my perspective. So very different in that regard. Please don't get me for this, lol.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION...
We stayed far north off of the harbor, it was about an hour out from the airport. I remember stepping out of the airport and feeling as if I transported to another era or something. The air was thick with smog and humid. All of the cabs looked very British. It was a very cool feeling being there. Hong Kong is probably one of the best places to go in China where you can still feel comfortable with the language barriers for english speaking people. So we had no issue finding transportation from the airport to the hotel.
ALL THE FEELS...
The jet lag kicked our butts. And that's usually not a factor for me. I'm usually the friend who's up at the crack of dawn and ready to go sight seeing. But for this trip it was all of 1pm everyday before we were getting out of the hotel to sight see. Speaking of hotels, I loved our hotel. Formerly Hotel Vic, now the Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour. It was reasonably priced around $90/night and had a very 5 star, high end feel (roof top pool, state of the art gym w/ virtual reality flying contraption game, cafe, and 2-3 beautiful restaurants, but very compact rooms, but that's everywhere there because real estate is sparse).
3 DAYS OF SIGHTS
Hong Kong is so compact and so spread out with tons of attractions it was hard for me to decide where we should stay to be central. I chose this particular hotel because of it's location to some of the attractions I wanted to see. I also chose it for the price, ratings, and it had just opened a few months prior to us visiting. We had 3 days to conquer this place and well it just wasn't enough time. There is so much to see there. I had it all planned out in my head of what I wanted to do.
First Victoria Peak, then Big Buddha Lantau Island, Disneyland, Ferry ride, Ocean Park. And.... we probably only got to one or two of these things. The shopping, the shopping, the shopping!!!! Ladies, if you love to shop you need to be here. From the street markets, to the malls, to the store fronts on the streets. This place is filled with shopping. High end, knock offs, you name it, they have it. One of the malls we went into had 31 floors, I mean 31 floors? Who does that? I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't take it.
A BIG BUDDHA SIGHTING...
You have to see the light show they have nightly and go to the ladies market. These are must sees. Oh, and Stanley Village was really a breath of fresh air. Very quiet and secluded from the hustle and bustle. I have got to go back, it was just too much to see, no matter how many days we were there. So the one site that was monumental for me and I was so happy to see was the BIG BUDDHA. You have to take a lift to get up to the monument and then walk up 268 steps to get to the top. When we got up there it was all worth it. Just to see this statue, this creation, the beauty of Hong Kong. I don't practice Buddhism or anything it was just the experience and I'm so glad we did it. We had our 1 year old daughter at the time with us and it was very doable. My husband and I took turns carrying her up the stairs. You should get tickets in advance, which the hotel can supply. However, if you don't you can purchase them there. And once you get up there they have souvenir shops and restaurants.
FOODIES, SO WE THOUGHT...
The food in Hong Kong was waaay too far out for my taste and I really wasn't comfortable with experimenting. However we didn't go all the way to China to not try authentic Chinese food so we did check out a small alley way restaurant. Probably shouldn't have done that because we didn't do anything else authentic after that. But there was definitely options in the hotels and malls to eat more familiar foods and that's what we did. As far as being tourist and having a child along with us we brought a light umbrella stroller, oatmeal packs for her to eat just in case we couldn't find anything familiar to us for her to eat. However, we were lucky because there was a McDonald's very close to our hotel (you know you can always count on a McDonald's wherever you go).
MY EPIC FAIL...
Lastly, please don't be like me. I couldn't believe I did this because up until that point I was always so prepared with my daughter in traveling. However, make sure that if you are traveling with children that you have absolutely everything you need. I got on an 8hr plane ride without 1 single diaper or wipe. I thought I had them and instead I had packed them in the suitcase. When I finally realized it we were at the airport and they did not have one single diaper in any of the shops on our way to the gate. I panicked when we finally got to the gate. The flight was close to leaving so I started asking everyone around me who had a child who looked similar in age if they had an extra diaper or two that I could pay them for. No one seemed to speak English. I know I probably looked like a crazy lady. I had to have asked at least 8 people and after each ask my heart sunk. I didn't know what I was going to do. My child was nowhere near potty trained. I thought I would have to use paper towels or something to line her diaper with, lol! Finally, I got the nerve up to ask one last person and she was so gracious and gave me about 5 diapers. I was so thankful. So to the lady with the son on the flight to Hong Kong leaving from Dubai back during that hot August in Dubai, THANK YOU from one mom to another, THANK YOU!!!
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