For the first time on my trip, I forgot to tell the taxi guy to turn on the meter. We had to endure an overpriced cab ride with a driver who was annoyed we decided not to get to the airport three hours early. Whatever man.
We knew about the airport tax at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, so we passed through security and customs with no problem. Gabe had been moved up to business class, so when we got to the gate, he tried to get me moved up. As it turned out, business class was full. Or so we were told.
As I handed in my ticket to board the plane, the gate worker took my boarding pass, and then wrote a new seat number on it. 9E? wow that sounds like...BUSINESS CLASS!!!!!
So yes, I had gotten moved up after all. I got to enjoy another super comfortable seat, warm towels, and unlimited juice in the short flight from Manila over to HK. Definitely helped to get a little more rest before going nonstop for a day. There was "only" 12 hours or so between the landing at HK and when we had to be back for Gabe to catch his flight to San Francisco (his 2nd layover). :)
But Gabe knows the city well, so once we got off the train in the city, we were all set to have dim sum. At the train station - a joint called Tim Ho Wan. Yes, a Michellin-starred dim sum restaurant, at the train station.
10 AM. Dim sum. GOGOGOGOGOGO!!!!!!!
We had a bunch of classics, and they lived up to my every expectation. Granted that the majority of my Canada/stateside dim sum expeditions have been with Gabe, or James (another dim sum connoisseur), I shouldn't be surprised that the renditions I have had on this side of the Pacific have been fantastic. But even so, I was still blown away. I was equally entertained by the fact that the people eating on either side of us were Chinese tourists from Vancouver.
From there, we walked through the city. Strangely enough, the streets were only kinda overrun by people - "dead" by Gabe's standards. It felt a little bit San Francisco-y to me, except for the fact that it was clearly Hong Kong. And I was actually THERE!
Our walk led us to the ferry across the water to Kowloon. After a nausea inducing jaunt across said water, we made our way into Kowloon. We didn't have enough time to see everything, so at Gabe's request, I made the decision that we would focus on food. Gabe knew of a famous wonton [soup] place in the middle of tourist town, so we made our way there, along the way getting lost in the bajillions of Indian dudes trying to sell me Rolexes and suits. If I had more time, I may have gotten a suit, since they can be cheap - maybe next time.
Somehow we found our way to the place, Chee Kee, and sat down to enjoy what turned out to be the best wontons I've had. The nomming continued.
Afterwards, we walked back to the subway, and returned to HK proper. Gabe was on a mission to find egg tarts. We stumbled upon a bakery after walking past Occupy: Hong Kong (a bunch of people asleep in tents). Gabe had the last egg tarts in hand, ready to pay, when a man came out from the back with a piping hot tray full of fresh ones. Audible! Audible! I went for an onion roll, which I had previously tried in the Convoy district of San Diego. It was amazing. I almost got a second one, but I wanted to save room for more food.
I tried the egg tart, though - amazing.
At this point we had to start thinking about making our way to the tram up the mountain. We had a planned 5:00 PM meetup with Sandy and Joe, who were in Hong Kong for a few days. At this point it was after three. We decided to take the double-decker trolley back towards the center of the city. I started to nod off, until I saw this bus, which made me smile.
And as I looked around after we passed the bus, Gabe pointed out a place that served xialongbao. Long story short, we made a detour, and stopped in for xialongbao, and more dumplings. Pretty much the last essential food could now be crossed off my list. Okay there were probably more foods, but this was essential. The restaurant, Din Tai Fung, also Michellin-starred, exists stateside, too, but according to dim sum master Gabe, it's actually reall, really good in HK. Consider me sold. I'd like to note now that there is plenty of food porn from my brief excursion to Hong Kong on my facebook album for this final stop of the trip.
xialongbao!
That's four trips to eat now, if you've been counting, and three of them were quite large. I'd also eaten some breakfast on the plane. But by the time we'd finished, we were clearly late to meet Sandy and Joe. We scrambled around trying to find a cab, and finally jumped in one, to race to the trolley station.
When we got there, the line was huge. Instinctively, we wondered if we'd even be able to find Sandy and Joe. Yet somehow, as soon as we get out of the cab, there they are, also having recently arrived. Sometimes you do find needles in a haystack - immediately.
We agreed it made most sense to just cab it up the mountain. It was foggy, but by the time we'd paid and maneuvered our way up to the viewpoint, I was not disappointed.
The view of Hong Kong from the mountain truly is one of the most incredible urban views on the planet. I had planned on the view being the last big event on my trip, to sort of put everything in perspective (amazing views have a way of doing precisely this, for me), and sure enough, I felt a wave of clarity come over me. Somehow, everything made sense, everything was real. I went through with this trip, and I felt like an ever so slightly mature person.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any really good pictures, so I'll leave you with my best effort. Ultimately, the memory was what I wanted, and it seems probable I will return to HK again, likely with a camera that isn't six years old. So I didn't feel all that bad leaving without pictures. Kowloon and the mainland were a bit obscured by fog, but the experience felt just as magical.
Yeah, that's Gabe's camera. Look at what mine came up with:
Regrettably, I couldn't stare out at the city forever, and we had to make our way to the airport. We thought about having more food, but honestly, our stomachs just couldn't take any more.
Soon it was time for Gabe and I to part ways - he to catch his flight, me to go wait three hours for mine. Once I was settled in my seat at the gate, the emotions started to overtake me. I was incredibly excited to return home - five weeks on your first trip is quite a lot! And one of my best friends, a different Jesse, was meeting me at SFO to visit for a few days. But at the same time, the trip was over. I was ready to go home, but I wasn't ready for the adventure to end. I actually made this happen. 6 countries, 4 travel buddies, and many new friends later - I had undoubtedly the best five weeks of my life.
As I finally finish this blog, months later (yeah yeah, I got lazy), the travel bug is eating away at me on the inside. I'm dying to eat, drink, and backpack my way through Europe. I'm itching to become absorbed in China and Japan. To make my way through Peru and Brazil. New Zealand. Vietnam. Hell, anywhere.
I want to get back out there as soon as I can. I want to travel with friends again, as I struggle to decide if I could really backpack on my own. I want to see more of the world. And now I know it's possible.
I don't know what's next, but it will be something. I appreciate from the bottom of my heart those who traveled with me, the people I met, and even the people following along from home, wishing me well. This trip was more than I ever could have imagined, and I wish it never had to end.
That's all I got. I'll try to blog my next trip, whenever that is. Thanks again for following along, and if you ever want to travel with me, do not hesitate to ask :)
Love always,
dacrON
0 comments:
Post a Comment