hong kong!

after an hour flight to vancouver bc and a 13 hour flight to hong kong, i finally arrived! i didn't really sleep much on the plane for the first time ever in my life, because the on demand movies kept getting me! i watched the tourist, little fockers, burlesque and going the distance. they were ok. i almost laughed out loud several times during little fockers but reminded myself i was on a plane. they also had oscar titles but i wasn't in the mood for serious cinematography at the time.


anyway, i arrived in hong kong to find that pert's flight was a little delayed so i was going to need to make my way to my aunt's on my own. thank goodness for courtesy phones and subway cards my parents gave me with money leftover on them! after switching several MTR lines and getting numerous stares from people from my huge backpack, i met my family in the subway station!


i've been to hong kong several times prior since my mom's side lives over there so usually when i come, i don't really have a plan except for to walk around and EAT. ha, i know, shocking.


the first day we headed to victoria peak which had amazing views of hong kong from hong kong island. we grabbed some bubble milk tea along the way which hit the spot since it's already fairly warm and humid outside! i went with two of my aunts (one who came from guangzhou just to see me!), their friend who was our tour guide for the day and then pert. i feel like i should preface that pert doesn't usually have creepy asian man facial hair like that. he just isn't shaving until the vacation's over...

[asian man who was oblivious to my picture...]

[victoria peak]

[bubble milk tea!!!]

we headed to stanley park and then to repulse bay which are also on hong kong island. these are more touristy areas but nice to visit. i went into a 7-11 for a snack because i got hungry and totally found a mochi ice cream that i totally forgot about! it made my day. it's starting to become more popular in the us now, but hong kong makes me happy because they have taro flavored things. sometimes they call it ube which i don't quite understand, but i don't question it anyway, mochi is good, and ice cream is good...so obviously the combo of both is just splendid!

[stanley park]

[mochi ice cream]

that night we met up with pert's uncle who owns this reptile shop in mongkok and headed to hotpot. his uncle is pretty bad ass. pert's gonna blog about him so i'll post the link when he's done with it. let's just say he is so bad ass that he can't leave hong kong again for the rest of his life. yea.

[hot pot]

the next day, joe came in from beijing and met up with us at my aunt's. we headed to dim sum and then went to mongkok to walk around with my cousin and their baby girl! i love mongkok. despite how touristy that area is, i have to go there every time i go to hong kong. i just love how lively it is. we'd walk around for a while and then find somewhere with ac and have a snack before moving on again. i didn't really buy or bargain much at ladies street because i don't want to carry it around with me! on another note, i must look more asian these days or something because they no longer address me in english!

[mongkok with my aunt]

[my cousin and baby stella]

that night we headed over to the star ferry waterfront to check out the view. you could call this hong kong's mini version of hollywood blvd. i walked by bruce lee and jackie chan's handprints on the ground. i got some pretty decent pics of the skyline too. thank you nighttime setting.

[star ferry waterfront]

joe had to leave the next day because train tickets were sold out on monday from their labor day holiday earlier that week. after going to dim sum, we dropped him off at the train station and headed over to the gold coast beach to walk around with my family. there was a lot of slow walking that has taken place these past few days but i didn't really mind all that much.

[dim sum]

[saying bye to joe at the train station]

for dinner, we went to this sushi restaurant and had AMAZING salmon. i couldn't believe it. you could order one pound of salmon sashimi for under $20 USD. i think i could eat that for the rest of my life!

currently i'm sitting at the singapore airport at 2:30am typing this. pert and i are headed off to vietnam (ho chi minh) in about 5 hours. haha that's what we get for buying a cheaper plane ticket. i've really enjoyed my time in hong kong. i've had dim sum every single day (which i could do for the rest of my life) and got to spend some time with my mom's side of the family. one thing that's drastically different between asian and american cultures is how generous people are. a prime example of this is what i'll call the bill paying game. i swear to god every single meal there has been a fight for who is gonna pay the bill. who wants to fight over paying, right? i lucked out once and snagged it while my aunt wasn't looking. joe had to grab the check when my aunt bent over to pick something off the ground another time cause she was guarding it like a hawk. today, pert got it when i begged the cashier to take his card instead of my uncle's. my cousin suki was the SNEAKIEST of them all and claimed she was going to the bathroom but took care of the bill without any of us knowing when we had sushi. paying for the bill is a polite gesture but i also think it's a gesture of love. from what i've experienced in many asian cultures, many people show their love through food as opposed to words. this definitely rings true in my family!