Hong Kong
tap a taxi as it drives by ๐
We were supposed to fly from Bangkok to Osaka on a simple, direct flight. One way. Period. But unfortunately, our airline decided to cancel the flight due to "ongoing geopolitical risks," which was ridiculous because every other flight on the schedule operated as normal. Just our flight, the one we had picked specifically because it was the only one at normal hours. Apparently every other flight from Bangkok to Osaka was a red eye arriving at four in the morning. So... we ended up rearranging our schedule and heading to Hong Kong!
We landed on the evening of May 7th in Hong Kong and took the train into the city. We were in quite a bit of a rush because our hotel's check-in closed at 10pm, so we were panicking because we didn't know what was gonna happen if we didn't make it there in time.
And I use the word "hotel" very generously here. We were pretty much in a shoebox ten stories up that only one person could stand up in at a time while the other two had to lay in bed. Two twin beds. August in one, and Meg and I sharing the other. For a very affordable seventy dollars a night. Hong Kong is not cheap.
Later, after speaking with Ishaan, one of Meg's friends who grew up in Hong Kong, we found out that the area we were staying in was where he used to buy weed with his friends. So it was not the most pleasant area either, but we were on a budget.
We were hungry and wired, so at 11pm we found our way to a hot pot restaurant that was open 24/7 and, weirdly, still packed. We ordered a dual broth. Normal on one side and literally straight spicy oil on the other. It was definitely an experience.
After this, we ended up walking around Hong Kong until one in the morning. And everything in the city was still going. Fully operational. People were out everywhere. Shops were open. Very vertical, very dense, very neon. Super exciting to see this new city.
The next morning, we got up after sleeping in to explore the city a little more properly. Hong Kong has a massive escalator system built into the hillside because the whole city is essentially on a slope. I mean, Hong Kong has filled up all usable land with skyscrapers, and the rest of it is just mountain. So this several mile long escalator system is very practical and very cool.
British influence is also everywhere. It was a colony up until 1997, and you can feel it in the architecture, the street signs, the names of places. It's a very cool collision of old Britain and hyper modern Chinese.
We took the Peak Tram up to the top of one of the mountains for the famous skyline view, and it definitely delivered. It was a cool old wooden trolley that took us forty five degrees straight up. Very cool.
After we made our way down, we hopped the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour.
We bought a few souvenirs and went for dim sum, which obviously ruled. We stopped to get another pineapple bun, but to be honest, the pineapple buns in Taiwan's night markets were way better. Sorry, Hong Kong. Had to give it a fair shot.
That afternoon we found a Seiko store right next to our hotel, and they had a brown Alpinist. Gorgeous, great price. August was going to match me with my Alpinist that I got back in January in Sapporo. I needed to go grab my passport from the hotel to get a tax free purchase, and when we walked back...
โ The Seiko Tragedy
The store was closed. We were leaving the next morning before they opened. The matching Alpinist dream was dead. Tragedy struck.
We woke up the next morning a little worse for wear after our tragic watch incident. We drank our sorrows away. We packed up our shoebox and made our way to the airport. Next stop, Japan. For real this time. ๐ฏ๐ต