Hong Kong

After 18 hours of flying (though the 16 hours from LA to Hong Kong really wasn't that bad for my longest flight ever so far), I arrive to Hong Kong and meet up with Mark, my brother's fiance's cousin who has lived in this bustling metropolis for many years. We head over to his friends surprise promotion dinner which was really neat to meet a very diverse group of people, from Australia to Singapore to China, who all work and live in this city which just became part of China again in the 90s. We then went out dancing til the wee hours of the night which was fun. On Saturday, we went to the top of the Peak, the highest mountain surrounding downtown Hong Kong and ate a scrumptious lunch and enjoyed a sunny warm day with outstanding views over looking the water and city. Downtown Hong Kong is located on Hong Kong Island and the ginormous skyscrapers next to the water and jungle like hills makes for an amazing panorama. We also rode an tram along downtown before taking a ferry across to Kowloon to a great Chinese restaurant overlooking the bay. On Sunday we woke early to get breakfast and water before meeting some Audsie friends of Mark for a hike. I wasn't quite sure what we were in store for but upon arriving at the dock, we took a boat to a small dock and started hiking. As it wasn't as sunny as the day prior and we were hiking straight up, we soon were shrouded in mist which added an eerie and invigorating feel to the hike... Until we were unable to figure out which direction was down and got lost a few times! Regardless, it was quite the adventure and amazingly beautiful whenwe started to come down from the clouds and were able to take it the amazing beach and hill views in front of us. We arrived at the lunch spot just in time to savor some tasty Chinese delicacies like fried squid, udon noodles and the local beer before boarding a speedboat back towards the pier. It was a raucous ride with lots of spilled beer and frothy sea spray but exhilaration nonetheless. Then we crammed back to hong kong and relaxed at a foot massage parlor before enjoy Thai food with some friends I met Friday night. I was sleepy (maybe even a little jet lagged still) while watching the Australia Open (which is also the most tennis I think I've ever watched in my life) but enjoyed the intense drama between the Serbian and Spaniard playing. On Monday I arose early, emphatically thanked Mark for an awesome two days in the buzz and bustle of Hong Kong and returned to the airport to continue the journey onward in Vietnam!

I am to sure how to upload pics from my iPad so will try to work that out so add pics soon!