It was like a little Cornell Hotelie reunion, Asian style: Me, Inshi, Nick, Katie, Alison. Everything was strangely normal (I know I say this a lot) even though the last time some of us had seen each other must have been ... 3? 4? years ago? I've missed them all!! It was lovely to catch up again, and that was the main benefit I got out of the trip. That, and the hot bath that I took one night while nursing a glass of wine--what an indulgence--that lasted so long and so quietly that Inshi had to call into the bathroom nervously after some time, "Evelyn? Are you ok??"
I love how Hong Kong is almost en route from the US to Singapore. Perfect. Many more little trips to come, I hope!
Well, a few pictures before these get stale ...
You tiao v1
You tiao v2 (I'm not even sure what these are called, but they're legendary and pretty awesome when wrapped in the cheong fun skin)
Century egg porridge for breakfast, mm. Remember the fear factor episode where everyone was barfing over the century eggs? Heehee. This always holds true: the grossest-looking little roadside stalls have the best congee.
Fresh cooked beef tongue, anyone? Amazing Japanese restaurant by Victoria harbour that served food tapas style ... am I very swaku for never having been to a Japanese restaurant like that?? We got a table-ful of amazing food, including DIY beef tongue, DIY potato salad, and DIY scrambled egg katsu. Heehee fun.
View from the hotel room and I. Hello, Hong Kong.
Fiew from outside the hotel. Hello, Hong Kong.
Heritage walk in an old Chinese village. 60% fabulously interesting, 40% didn't-we-just-see-a-temple-that-looks-exactly-the-same-as-this-one-oh-lordy-save-me-I'm-so-sweaty-I-need-an-icecream-now.
The light show at Victoria harbour, which was hilarious in its extreme underwhelming-ness. For real. We were screeching with laughter/disbelief the whole way through. It made a pretty picture, though! Skyline by night.
And by day. This was my second time on the peak. Love the tram ride up, which was so steep that even my brain couldn't figure it out and all the buildings looked like they were about to tip over.
There was much to do in 2.5 days. It went something like this chronologically: coffee, dim sum, street market, desserts, shopping, coffee and toast, zzz as the others partied, congee, coffee, heritage walk, snacktime, naptime, harbour, Japanese food, wine, SYTYCD, zzz, peak, dimsum, almost missed my flight, but made it HOME to a waving Mummy & Daddy at the airport! What a welcome sight :)