Hong Kong - By Day

-The breathtaking view from The Peak.-

My time in Hong Kong with Nicki and Katrina was spent catching up and taking in the foreign experiences of this once British trading post. From Disneyland to day hikes, from trips to Macau to late night meandering in hodgepodge markets, we felt like we'd taken in a lot at the end of the week.

-I was told the other day that the Hong Kong city skyline is the largest skyline in the world. I could not dispute.-

-Boarding the ferry.-

I could not help but compare my experiences in my neck of Asia, Seoul, with what I saw around me in the western influenced Hong Kong. I guess you could say that I went through a bit of a culture shock. In Hong Kong I could buy clothes, in Seoul I dream about what it would be like to walk into a store and buy a shirt, a skirt, anything really that fits. In Hong Kong they had many products that we can find at home in North America readily available on the grocery store shelf, in Seoul we head to the black market, a sketchy little hole-in-the wall store run by a mother and daughter who smuggle goods off of the army base; They might have it... but most likely not. In Hong Kong they have Ikea, dollars, English and a multi-cultural population on the streets. In Hong Kong I was not the topic of conversation on every subway ride, I was not the focus on the streets and in Hong Kong I fit in. Hong Kong didn't feel like home, but it didn't feel like a foreign country. It most defiantly did not feel like Korea.

-A shot taken from the ferry as we passed through the bay area. What a magnificent city.-

-Our ride across the bay.-

Point of Interest:

Hong Kong (香港) literally means fragrant harbor. It's name was derived because of the incense that was grown in Kowloon, an area of the city, and shipped from Victoria Harbor.