Hong Kong - A Land of Contrasts

There's nothing like getting ready to go on vacation that motivates me to do things I should have done months ago. We leave tomorrow for Hokkaido, so here I am - FINALLY uploading pictures from my Hong Kong weekend back in June.  My fabulous Peace Corps friend, Sandy, was in Hong Kong for work and very graciously suggested that I come for a long weekend and crash in her hotel.  I had to move a few mountains to make it happen - but it was worth it!  

That said, don't get me started about the 10 days of work and the 3 single-spaced pages of details that had to happen in preparation for me being gone for 5 days.  And how much fun did I have watching the jaws drop of my Japanese mom friends when I told them I was going away for the weekend without the kids?  They seemed to find the whole idea an utter impossibility.  Of course, that only encouraged me to stir the pot a little more by suggesting that we all go on a girls' weekend.  The sideways eye glances of "is she for real?" was a thing to behold.  We'll see if we can make it happen... I only have a few years to prime the cultural pump, so I better get to work.

Anywaaaay.... yes, Hong Kong was a ton of fun.  It felt like we did a lot in a short amount of time. I got in late Thursday evening and left on Monday morning... so our days were filled with:

• Tram to the top of Victoria Peak, gorgeous views, especially as the city began to light up for the night
• Cold beer
• Ferry to Macau - didn't require a visa, but did require us to go through customs to get Chinese passport stamps
• Cold beer
• Snacking our way through Macau street food stalls
• Exploring the Sao Paulo ruins replica
• Ferry back to Hong Kong and the Kowloon market / Temple Street
• Cold beer (do you see a theme here?  And yes, it was HOT)
• Cable car to Tian Tian Buddha (Big Buddha) and then 300 steps up to it
• Dim sum and random snacks (coconut lotus sago cake, sago pudding, shiu mai)
• Tai O Fishing Village - boat ride, more snacks (who knew you could get a husband for the low, low price of 18 HKD?), more beer
• Light show at the Wan Chai Pier

It's hard to sum up, but Hong Kong does seem to be a country of contrasts.  Beautiful and old and modern and austere.  The water views are phenomenal.  My favorite part was our day spent at an old fishing village.  Of course, part of that joy was the "riverside bar" we thought we were going to, which we think might have actually been a family gathering that we crashed by walking in and asking for a beer.  They happily obliged, along with a bowl of random, chewy, fish parts, and the insistent "no pay, no pay."  It was a crack-up.  We're still not sure if it was a restaurant / bar or just somebody's back porch, but I'm leaning toward the latter...

My other favorite part was all the street food we ate.  Pear in sangria and "make your own" curry soup were favorites - this was in Macau... we had fish balls, urchin and crab balls, and something we thought was tofu but I'm pretty sure it wasn't.  Oh yeah, and the famous portugese egg tarts - yummmm - and the multiple flavors of meat jerky!  We had dinner one night at a VERY local market eatery (it's the restaurant with only plastic sheets for walls in the slideshow), where we had a PILE of PORK, some delicious Chinese cabbage, and some mighty tasty cold beers.  Also, I quite enjoyed watching Sandy have her fortune told, all the while the fortune teller was using a palm pilot to check her birthdate, etc.  Cracked me up!  Just another contrast...

Another "highlight" was exploring one of the many dried goods shops - sort of natural foods shop meets homeopathic medicine.  Here, we were offered a taste of dried scallops but were, thankfully, NOT offered the dried deer penis.  Seriously?  I couldn't stop laughing.  You should be able to identify this fairly easily in the slideshow....

Good times!  Sandy thinks we should try out for the Amazing Race ...