A Young American Professional takes on Shanghai: Hong Kong Weekend

We returned from Tokyo on Monday and left for Hong Kong at 7:30 Friday morning. A whirlwind of traveling and no weekends in Shanghai for Adam, but well worth it. We arrived in Hong Kong at about 10am local time and it took my breath away. I hadn't done much research and I did not realize that it was would so green and mountainous. What a pleasant surprise!

First view outside the airport in HK

Adam had been so distant about the location of the hotel. I am the directional one, so I was asking where it was so I could start familiarizing myself with the location. He had done all the booking and would only send me the flight details, so I had a striking suspicion he went "budget" on the hotel and didn't want to tell me. I need to trust more! My wonderful husband surprised me by booking a room at the Langham Hong Kong after I raved so much about the Langham Xintiandi. The hotel was located in the Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) area on the mainland Kowloon area. It was wonderful!

After settling in, we headed out to indulge in some Cantonese Dim Sum. The hotel directed us to two restaurants - Crystal Jade or The Sweet Dynasty. I been to Crystal Jade many times in Shanghai, so headed to the local chain. We ordered way too much food and didn't like most of it, but we enjoyed the local atmosphere in the busy spot during the Friday lunch hour.

Dim Sum!

We were staying near Canton Road, a major shopping street in the TST area. In order to keep the stores comfortable for the visitors, they limit the number of people and queue them up outside.

Canton Rd shopping

After lunch we headed towards Central, on Hong Kong Island, with goal of reaching Victoria Peak. To cross the Victoria Harbor we took the Star Ferry, a passenger ferry service that has been in operation since 1888.

Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor

After not being able to find the right local bus to get us to Victoria Peak, we opted to hop on the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus. We rode through the busy streets of Hong Kong Island, taking in the interesting architecture of the concrete jungle.

Open air bus on Hong Kong Island

IFC Tower and the beautiful sky

Buildings in Central

My favorite - Lippo Tower
said to look like koalas hugging a tree!

The Big Bus Tour became entirely worth the money when we came around the corner at the base of Victoria Peak Tram. The line was so long and curved around the corner... we were discouraged as we had made our goal for the day to be Victoria Peak, but did not want to wait in a line for 2-3 hours. Luckily, the Big Bus Tour included a ticket for the Tram and when we arrived they ushered us past the ticket line and in line for the Tram. We still had to wait about 30 minutes, but it was bearable.

tons of people waiting for Victoria Peak Tram

The tram basically takes you 15 minutes straight up the mountain to the top of the peak. We paid the extra fee to access the top floor observation desk - boy, was it worth it! The views were amazing on a beautiful day at sunset.