Hong Kong Conquered (new and improved with photos!)

the journey was long, and somewhat restless. the first hour or so of my flight was excruciating. imagine the most annoying child fake crying. and then imagine that times 4 and over a period of an entire hour or possibly more: pre-, during and post-take off. even my earplugs wouldn't stop the pain! luckily at some point, the kid wore himself out i presume.

my journey in a nutshell:
2 or 3 sleeping pills (i was a bit groggy, i can't remember exactly)
3 full movies (hereafter, blue valentine and love & other drugs)
5 episodes of 30 rock
1 pork and rice dinner
1 ramen breakfast (i think it was breakfast?)
1 fuel stop in vancouver

and THEN i had a lovely 8 hour layover in hong kong. i got to see so much in that amount of time, or at least i felt like it was so much. after taking the airport express train into the city (easy as pie, and only 24 mins) i meandered around for a good 10 mins getting my bearings and just taking it all in. it was really, really humid and hot - a vast departure from the 50 degree rainy weather i left in nyc a mere 2 days before. then i finally found my way to the victoria peak tram. i was debating this cause it was extremely foggy that morning. the tram ride was fun though, just like a roller coaster cranking up a hill. the view was still pretty amazing at the top, even with all the fog. i could see all around the harbors and the surrounding green foliage in the hills up there was cool, like being in a jungle.

tram up

view from victoria peak pagoda

look, i was there!

i picked up a map (finally) at the top so i had a plan for when i came down the peak again. i had read about a couple dim sum places before leaving, and luckily they were mentioned in this map/guide i picked up. so i made my way to luk yu tea house for a nice dim sum meal with tea of course. i ordered off a menu which was set up like a sushi menu where you check off what you want. i tried some steamed dumplings with shrimp and bamboo shoots, a egg pancake with crab and for dessert a banana dough ball thingy with sesame (tasted like peanut butter) on the inside. yum! and the jasmine tea was yummy too.

stanley street, location of luk yu tea house

tall, skinny street trams

next i walked down to the pier and hopped on the star ferry over to kowloon (the other side of the harbor). when i got there i walked all along the harbor - the view was pretty awesome of the other side with all its tall buildings.

• *(i have a cool video of this, but having trouble uploading)

further along the harbor is a little spot called avenue of the stars, which is hk's version of hollywood walk of fame. it has chinese film stars' names in the sidewalk, some with hand prints. there are also statues of bruce lee and some other film-related things.

jackie chan on avenue of the stars

bruce lee on avenue of the stars

after that I tried to walk up to this park on the way back to the subway station, but the entrance to the park was blocked off. so looking at my map i thought i could walk to the station - boy was i wrong. well i mean i did walk, but i had book it cause it was really far and not easy to navigate due to construction and big intersections with confusing subways (under road passageways). i was sweating buckets once i got there. but luckily made it and got on the airport express back with plenty of time at the airport to sit and relax before my flight.
i arrived in bangkok around 6 pm. after customs/baggage claim etc, i followed signs to the city line which takes you into, well, the city. i had directions from there to my hostel (had to switch to another train line called the skytrain/bts which took me right by my hostel). i was really pooped after my neverending journey and dirty and jet lagged. so after dodging some traffic, i checked into my hostel, relaxed in my room with a/c (huzzah!) and called it a night! so what if it was only 9 pm...