The Hunt for Food and The Peak

The morning started early, before the sun had even had a chance to rise. This wasn't my usual cup of tea considering I don't typically wake up until 10am, and also considering that I hate tea. It's hot leaf water. I don't get it. Anyway, I used the early morning to do some research on how to attack my first full day in Hong Kong, starting with food. And that's where I made my first revelation.

Strolling down Queens Rd

While "planning" this trip, I would keep reading and hearing that "Hong Kong is an international city." I didn't quite understand what that meant. I know that it was, until very recently, a territory of the UK. I know that it enjoys a certain amount of autonomy from the Chinese government which allows it a bit more international freedom (don't ask me what that means). But a remnant of that English occupation is that many of the streets, landmarks, and shops have Western names. Many, but not all, people in Hong Kong speak English. And on top of that, I've seen more white people here than in the state of Vermont. Now, I've never been to Vermont, but I imagine it is very white. But more specifically, these are Americans, English, German, Eastern Europeans, Australians, along with Indians and people from the Middle East. Not as visitors, as residents. And that's where I had to hand it to the internet for correctly identifying Hong Kong as international.

One of the buildings on the UHK campus

So I found a place that I wanted to try called Panda Cafe. Screw you, we're in China. Unfortunately, when I got there, they were closed. I still don't know why, but I'll try again another day. So I did a bit of exploring and found a place called Ollies Cafe on High Street in Sai Ying Pun. It's labeled as a Western restaurant, so it looked like I wouldn't be getting too adventurous for my first meal. Don't judge me. I had a bacon and egg toastie with cheese which, if we're judging on whether I would eat it again, I'd probably eat again. It was good, as was the service. But I had another mission for the day. I wanted to reach The Peak.

I did not eat the flowers

Victoria Peak is the tallest mountain on Hong Kong Island, but not the tallest mountain in Hong Kong. It overlooks the city, with views of Central and Victoria Harbor to the north and Lamma Island to the south. All of that sounds super wonderful, but I had to figure out how to get there first.

Google graciously have me a few options, as Google is known to do. The fastest option, and by virtue most expensive, was a taxi. Followed by taking a bus or taking the Peak Tram that regularly goes between the Peak and the lowly sea level where the commoners dwell. The last option was to walk, to which I had to kindly ask Google if it even knows me. But who am I kidding? Of course it does. It knows all of us...

The line for The Peak Tram

I originally decided to take the route suggest by Google of walking to the MTR station, riding for a few stops, then walking to the Peak Tram station and having a merry old time up in the mountain. What Google failed to do was give me accurate walking direction. Yes I have the physical ability to walk, but I can not walk through, under, or over solid buildings. I did eventually reach the terminal for the tram, where the line stretched around the block and I laughed quietly to myself as I hailed a taxi. Five (US) dollars and ten minutes later and I was there.

Some buildings or whatever

While the view was no doubt amazing, I couldn't help myself from watching other people take selfies. I figure it is only interesting to me because it's not something I do very often. Because I'm ugly. I used to have this holier-than-thou feeling that it was a new way to be vain and narcissistic to take photos of yourself. But really who am I to judge? If this technology was available to our ancestors, are we to believe they wouldn't have done the same thing? And why should I think taking a photo of yourself is any worse than taking one with other people? There's a memory there to be captured, and if you're not in it, what makes it personal? We can take pictures of things all day long, but when we're in the frame, it captures that moment that we were there, in that place, at that time, enjoying life. So yeah I did it leave me alone.

A bunch of not-mes

A me

After that adventure, I needed to go back down to the real world in both a literal and figurative sense. I had packed a travel adapter when I left from Houston, but since I have never been to a place where I needed to use one, I wasn't certain that I had the correct one. When it came time to use it, I found that I did not have the correct one. Adventure within an adventure? You bet your ass! So I grabbed another taxi and headed to an electronic store in Sheung Wan. And at that point I made two additional revelations.

Revelation number one (technically number two if we count that thing about an international city), taxi drivers in Hong Kong must have received some kind of special training that allowed them to replace the reflexive use of a brake pedal with the horn. Every moment where I thought we were surely going to collide with another car or even a pedestrian, my driver would continue at high speed while honking, and we would be fine.

Revelation number two or three or eighteen concerns the lack of diversity in the vehicles, as least on Hong Kong Island. From the outside looking in, it would appear that residents are allowed to choose between only two types of vehicles: high end luxury cars, or vans. If it's not a taxi or a bus, the next car that drives by you on the street will more than likely be a Mercedes or a Toyota Alphard. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Because I would drive either one in a heartbeat.

Nice

Also and differently nice

Back to that adapter, after being dropped off about half a mile away from my destination, I found the shop I was looking for and purchased a little adapter for $15 HKD (about $2 USD). I stopped by a 7-eleven to pick up some beverages for the apartment and made my way back there.

I got back at around 6pm and originally planned to take a nap then head over to another restaurant to get something to eat. That didn't quite go as planned seeing as how I woke up at 1:30 am. There's always tomorrow.

Flight to Hong Kong

It was a dark and raining morning. Except for the dark and rainy part. Because the sun was already out and, I mean you understand how weather works. And that's about as interesting as Day 1 has been so far.

I arrived at Bush Intercontinentalbreakfast Airport with plenty of time to get through security without feeling like a complete idiot this time around. The flight from Houston to San Francisco was delayed by about an hour due to the weather in SF. Once we got there, it was another short wait as there were technical difficulties with aligning the departure platform. Sound exciting? Well get your cowboy hats and banjos out because here's where the story gets wild.

Touching down in San Francisco. I didn't touch anything there, though.

By the time I got off the plane, my flight to Hong Kong was almost finished boarding. But I made it on time. I understand if you need to take a breather from reading this. I mean the whirlwind of emotions was almost unbearable even for me.

Skies over the Pacific. Somewhere.

A couple hours into the flight and I get to enjoy some seshuan chicken with fried rice and small salad. And I have to say, I didn't throw up. It was actually pretty good. I think. Right after that I popped 4 ibuprofen for a headache and a few pills to help me sleep recommended by my doctor. I was knocked the eff up.

I was awoken many hours later by the sound of banging on the lavatory door. I found myself sprawled out across the cramped floor surrounded by empty food packages and no recollection of how I got there.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. I woke up in my seat when an attendant placed a small turkey and Swiss club by my side. I thought "Score!", destroyed it immediately, and tried to go back to sleep.

The rest of the flight was mostly drifting in and out of consciousness, watching Finding Dory, and zoning out during The Social Network wondering what it is exactly that pisses me off so much about Jesse Eisenberg's face.

Like I have any room to complain about anyone's looks.

As I'm writing this while lying in my rented bed for the week, I'd love to tell you that I had some beautiful moment where Hong Kong came into view and I was overcome with wonderment. I'd like to tell you that. But that's not what happened. I caught a train from the airport to Central, where I caught a bus to Sai Ying Pun, from where I walked to my destination in Sheung Wan. Where I thought "What did I just get myself into?"

This painting is hanging literally 3 feet from my bed.

We'll find out.

Stairs leading down to Queen's Rd.