Hong Kong IS Blade Runner.

Did I sound like I didn't like HK in my last entry? Well, let me clarify that I LOVE IT HERE! I would even live here if given the opportunity. This city is amazing and even better than I thought it would be. I wish we were here longer. I feel like we've barely even scratched the surface of this city.

Yesterday morning we checked out of Caritas Bianchi Lodge and into the Salisbury YMCA. We were sad to leave CBL; we really liked it there. The YMCA is alright but we're not yet convinced that it lives up to the hype it's been given. Pro: mind-blowing view of the HK skyline. Con: being charged for the internet. LAME. You'll probably be seeing less photos and posts from me over the course of the next few days because of this. Sorry, my friends!

After checking into the Y, we decided to check out HK Island. We took the Star Ferry - a commuter boat that crosses the harbor every few minutes. It costs about a dollar and the view of the harbor is amazing. You get to see the futuristic skyline of HK and all the various boats in the harbor... tugs, barges, junks, hydrofoils. It was really neat.

The ferry landed in the Central district. This is where all the skyscrapers are. It's similar to Manhattan or the Financial District. Hong Kongers are a superstitious lot so most of the skyscrapers have been built using feng shui principles. Several of them are decorated with glowing lights that change color. Hong Kong IS Blade Runner come to life. I am mildly obsessed with that movie, so to encounter a real life environment that looks just like it is super cool.

When we got off the ferry and walked towards the tram, we noticed thousands of Filipino domestic worker ladies having lunch. Apparently every Sunday the meet in Central to picnic together. It was quite a sight!

Then we took the tram to the Peak, a tall point on one of the mountains on Hong Kong Island. From there you can see the sprawling metropolis that is HK for miles on a clear day. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. We went anyways because every day here is forecasted to be rainy, and apparently it's one of the top things to in HK. The queue to get on to the tram was very long, and once it was time to board the tram, I saw people aggressively pushing each other. It reminded me trying to board a bus back in SF and being elbowed out of the way by tiny Chinese ladies, ha!

The ride up was pretty fantastic, albeit foggy. The tram incline is VERY steep. When we reached the top, we disembarked into a multi-level tourist fast food and shopping center. Basically the HK equivalent of Fisherman's Wharf. It was really obnoxious and immediately turned us off since it smacked of tourist trap. We figured out where the hiking trail was and got out of there as soon as possible.

The hiking trail made a loop around the top of the peak and was totally worth the tourist trap part. It's very green and lush up there - I breathed the pungent air deeply into my lungs. I saw many plants I'd never seen before... and heard strangely beautiful bird calls. As we walked along the path, we saw million dollar mansions and wondered who lived there. Lucky! Although it had started raining and there was rolling in, we could still see the skyscrapers of HK Island below, the harbor, and Kowloon very faintly through the fog. It was breathtaking, and I am sure it's even more gorgeous on a clear day. Maybe someday we will return and be blessed with gorgeous weather and we can see the view more clearly?

After our trip up the Peak, we wandered through Hong Kong Park. It was an oddly artificial park set amongst soaring skyscrapers full of Filipina tourists and old Chinese ladies doing tai chi. We both really enjoyed it and took some pretty cool photos of beautiful lotus filled ponds against glimmering geometric skyscrapers.

After the park, Mike said he knew there had to be more to Hong Kong than just the financial district full of businessmen. We started wandering until we hit a very interesting hilly intersection that led us into the Lan Kwai Fong and Soho districts. I want to mention here that HK's streets are not built on the grid system which can lead to confusion.

Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo were really neat areas full of restaurants and bars of all kinds. Geographically, the streets were very narrow and seemed to be pedestrian only. The buildings were a mash between colonial British style and Chinese. The people there were very international - I think the world goes to these areas to hang out together and eat and drink. This area is also home to the world's longest escalator! You KNOW we rode it and took our time beaking (my Dad's term for staring) at all the people sitting in the bars and restaurants!

We decided to eat dinner in SoHo at a Greek restaurant called Rick's. My veggie moussaka was good but seemed an odd take on what a Chinese person's idea of what moussaka should be. I love cultural mashup food. We chose Rick's mostly for the golden beaking opportunity it afforded. Our table looked right on to the escalator and I got to get some hardcore major beaking in. I was in heaven because one of my favorite things to do is people watch. I think I saw the whole world go up the escalator; people of every size, shape, and color. I wondered who they were and why they're in Hong Kong. Do they live here or are they tourists like me?

After my delightful beak fest, we wandered around HK for awhile longer. We stumbled upon some night dining markets in narrow alleys and ladder streets (what they call steep terraced streets) full of locked stalls I assumed to be vendors stalls. We came across a blinking neon sign that said Game Centre and followed it into a subterranean room full of chain smoking Chinese men playing games on old machines held together by duct tape. It was really different than the sleek modern sterile qualities of the Japanese game arcades. Mike is into gaming and game design, so this place really appealed to him.

The ferry ride back to our hotel on Kowloon was beautiful. Seeing the Hong Kong skyline in the misty rain was a site to behold. We tried to photograph it but pictures don't do it justice!