Well, Hong Kong has been quite the delight so far! I’m not sure exactly what we thought we would encounter, but it has completely exceeded our expectations. Yes, it’s crowded and noisy… but the people have been very friendly and helpful, and it is quite a bit cleaner than we’d anticipated.  Actually, much cleaner than most of the large European cities we have visited and I have yet to see dog poop on the street - bonus!

The flight was looooong. We are used to the 9 hour flights to Europe, but 13.5 hours is a whole different ball game! I watched 6 movies and even managed to catch an hour or two of sleep – but after we arrived the 30 minute taxi ride was painful and we all had trouble keeping our eyes open. However, when we arrived at Jennie and Scott’s apartment we found a second wind and managed to stay up for a few more hours catching up over some delicious wine and a gorgeous view of the harbour from their living room. (For those that don’t know, Jennie has been a friend of mine since we were 11 and actually introduced Jeff and I when they worked together at a grocery store in university.)

After a fairly decent sleep we hit the town yesterday and did some general exploring. Jennie and Scott are working during the week so we were left with a key and the wi-fi passcode to figure out how to spend our time. Jeff found a great review for a ramen restaurant so that became our destination. (Yes, I realize that ramen is Japanese, not Chinese, but we had a hankering for it!) It was a tiny restaurant, and thankfully we happened to arrive at 11:02 and it opened at 11:00 so we were seated right away. Within 10 minutes the place was almost full, and a few hours later we walked by and it was lined up down the street. Needless to say, it was delicious!

We spent a few more hours walking around until we eventually hit the jetlag wall and hopped in a taxi to head home. (But not before buying a bag full of the most delicious, ripest mangos ever!) Julia and I had a little nap while Chloe and Jeff toughed it out before we met Jennie and Scott for dinner at a restaurant close to their offices. Good food, good company and then home for sleep as all of us were exhausted.

Today was great too – the girls cut up 4 of those amazing mangos and we mixed it with thick Greek yogurt (actually legit yogurt imported from Greece) which, combined with strong coffee for the adults, was a complete breakfast of champions! Following our theme of looking up delicious tiny restaurants with amazing online reviews, off we went for dim sum! This time we left Hong Kong Island and headed across Victoria Harbour to Kowloon. We arrived an hour before the restaurant opened and walked through a flower market, clothing market, and then a fish market. Actual aquarium fish, not fish to eat – I couldn’t believe how many stores were selling the same stuff. Interesting. With growling tummies we headed back only to discover a huge lineup outside and the place hadn’t even opened yet! We started chatting with a couple from San Francisco who had already eaten there 3 times in the last 2 weeks. They assured us that it was worth the wait, and so we passed the next half hour talking to them and getting some great ideas and hints on how to spend our time in Hong Kong. A little over a half hour later we were seated and the food started coming… it was delicious! We stuffed ourselves, and after paying the bill we figured out that it cost us a little over $10 CDN each. Definitely worth the wait! (The place was called One Dim Sum if anyone is heading over here sometime in the near future.)

Then on we went to the Chi Lin Nunnery and the neighbouring Nan Lian Garden. The Garden was very calm and peaceful and a wonderful little oasis in a very busy area of the city. We popped in to an exhibition of ‘Chinese Enamel Wares and Japanese Cloisonné Enamels’ (which is code for super old and intricate pots) and then spontaneously decided to go in to a fancy little tea house located in the garden. We had to remove our shoes and put on the provided slippers, and then after choosing our tea we were shown the traditional method of preparing the pot and cups, rinsing the tea, and then finally drinking it. The cups were very cute and delicate and hold about 1 ounce of liquid. It was quite the experience and we all really enjoyed it. (Plus it was nice to sit down and rest for a bit!) We weren’t allowed to take photos in the tea house so it will have to remain a happy memory. The same goes for the nunnery – no photos of the amazing shrines to Buddha and other important gods and goddesses; beautiful displays of offerings of fruit were carefully lined up in front of all of them which was quite beautiful.

And now as I type this all 3 of my family members are catching a little nap before we head out for dinner; I was the only one who didn’t wake up at 4 am and meet in the kitchen for cereal. (I slept through the party…) We look forward to tomorrow and the new adventure (and food) that awaits!