Wednesday 8 February 2017

Hong Kong for the weekend... and a mad dash for DIM SUM!


Back in December, we decided to take full advantage of a long weekend (very Zack and Sarah style).  Zack, who could probably start his own business booking flights for people, found us some perfectly timed cheap-ish flights and also booked us two nights at a hostel.  And myself, being open to almost any adventure, packed one outfit in my backpack which I can in fact wear three different ways (and successfully did so that weekend!).  BAM.  Hong Kong here we come!


Hong Kong blew us away.  Though having only three days may have limited what we did and saw, I think we chose wisely.  We arrived early Saturday morning, which gave us the entire day to wander.  We stayed in a very central location called Causeway Bay which was close to all forms of city transit which we also took advantage of.  Wandering Hong Kong was SO much fun.  There is so much to see, and the hilly terrain makes for such interesting city scenery.  I fell in love with the cute little red taxis, and the buns from the bakery down the street were to die for!  We ended Saturday by watching a light show across the water which apparently is the largest in the world!

On Sunday, we hiked the Dragon's Back.  We were able to take the subway and then a city bus all the way from our hostel to the beginning of the hike, which made it very accessible!  This hike was definitely a highlight of our weekend for both of us.  There would be incredible ocean views one minute, and you'd turn a corner to see a futuristic city skyline that makes you feel like you are in the Sim City video game (at least that's how I felt!).  The only downside of this hike was at times it was very congested with people.  We experienced our first "hiking traffic jam" which I think is rather unfortunate.  That aside though, it was well worth the hike.  We ended up in Big Wave Bay where we watched the surfers and ate some take out noodles on the beach.

(*scroll down to read about our mad dash for dim sum*)

View from our hostel window!
Hiking Dragon's Back

Surfers at Big Wave Bay
Walkway on the left, escalator on the right
Soho is a particularly steep area in the city, so there are many escalators to help you get to where you need to go!

Before heading out on Monday, we headed to a large, noisy restaurant in Soho to eat at a well rated dim sum restaurant.  That was such an experience!  Upon arriving, we were waved over to a large table, where we sat with a whole bunch of other people with piles of dim sum and small dishes in front of them.  We were given a selection of three different teas to drink, and were given a small stamp card on which we figured we would write down what we wanted.  The only problem?  We can't speak or write in their language, and also saw no sign of a menu.  We must have looked very confused, because then a lady with a large cart of dim sum handed us a bamboo bowl with something wrapped in seaweed in it.  "Very good!" she said and then kept rolling past us.  I dug in and when Zack asked me what it was I just said, "she said it was very good!".  It was good, but unfortunately I cannot tell you what it is.  We then observed a mad rush of people gathering around the lady's cart and got in on it, grabbing another bamboo bowl and having her add it to our card.  I've never experienced such an urgency for dim sum!  All in all, it was such a great experience to take in and we laugh when we think back to how clueless we must have looked.  :)

First dish "very good!"
Our table mates

The beginning of the mad dash for dim sum!
A small print shop on the side of the road.
Love those taxis :)

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