Hong Kong:: Part One

The girls and I just got back from visiting Nate while his ship ported in Hong Kong. We had so much fun visiting Hong Kong and being back together again! Flying with the girls solo is not exactly easy but they did a great job overall.

Nate met us at the Hong Kong airport, we didn't know exactly how it would work so we didn't have a set plan. As the girls and I were wandering around the airport trying to figure out how to get my cell phone to work (never really worked in Hong Kong) we heard him yelling at us from a huge escalator a ways away. The girls started running towards him as soon as they heard his voice. I am getting teary eyed just thinking about it.

We then took 4 different trains to get to our hotel. We did a quick change of clothes and then were off for a delicious Cantonese dinner in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong. We walked up down some of the city admiring the lights and sounds before we called it a night.

The next day Nate booked us a tour of Hong Kong Island through his ship. A bus took us to a few different spots to explore. The tour gave us a great perspective on Hong Kong and we really enjoyed it!  Here are a few pics from the tour.

We took a tram to the top of Victoria Peak. Victoria Peak is the highest mountain in Hong Kong and it was a VERY steep ride up! The peak has a gorgeous view of the city and there is shopping and restaurants at the top.

Going up in the Tram

At one of the lookout points. It was a little foggy but we still got a great view of Hong Kong!

Next stop was the Aberdeen Fishing village. We took a boat to go see the fisherman and their houseboat village. It was very interesting to me. Not sure if you get the idea from the pictures but there would be huge yachts mixed in with very old boats and ways of life. It sort of encompassed the way I saw Hong Kong on this trip. As our tour guide said Hong Kong is an East-meets-West personality, it is very westernized and most people speak English (unlike Japan). The people I saw in Hong Kong were extremely diverse. I was not expecting it to be a melting pot of cultures and people.

The last stop was shopping at the Stanley Market where we bought some souvenirs.  

We also found a really cool outdoor restaurant/shopping/bar strip a few steps past the Stanley Market. That area gave a very British and European vibe. I had no idea Hong Kong was a British territory until 1997. I learned this on my first Hong Kong train ride because the voice on the train was a British lady telling you which stop you were at (in English!). That caught me totally off guard!

As we made our way back to the train headed for our hotel we made some stops on our own. Aubrey doesn't really nap anymore and Reagan can nap anywhere. So Reags took her nap in the stroller while we wandered around the city more.

After that we headed home to get showered up for date night in Hong Kong. Nate had a Navy function to attend at the American Club so we made a date night out of it. It was nice to have some grown up time! The American Club is on the 49th floor in a skyscraper in Central Hong Kong.  It was amazing to see the city skyline view from that location.

Hong Kong Part II coming soon:)