natasia leung - photoblog: July 2012

July 31, 2012

Day 4: Wan Chai/Causeway Bay

For today's outing, we took a double decker tram to Wan Chai/Causeway Bay. Obviously, we sat on the second floor.

The trip came out to $2.30 HKD, which is equivalent to about 30 cents Canadian. Public transit is much more affordable than the $3 it would have cost me in Toronto.

Our destination was Butao Ramen, a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant. Few seats and long lines necessitate ordering before even entering. There were only about 12 seats, and we had to share a table with strangers. Here, our server reviews our orders outside.

Seeing as my Chinese reading ability is nonexistent, I blindly ordered this heaping bowl of 'black' ramen. I was later told that the strange black lump in the middle was some kind of pork and sesame...thing. Zero for presentation, especially after said lump crumbled into bits that reminded me a bit of tar, but ten for taste, as this was easily the best bowl of ramen I've ever had.

Everything in Hong Kong is very cramped, narrow and busy.

More escalator madness, this time in Times Square.

Waiting for a taxi back from Admiralty.

July 29, 2012

Day 3: Exploring

We spent much of yesterday exploring on foot (much more interesting than what I did the day before, which was exploring malls, so I've elected to skip day 2 here). I expected the weather to be unbearable, because this is the first time I've ever been to Hong Kong in the summer. Before I left, everyone warned me that going outside would be a struggle to stay alive. Luckily (or unluckily, seeing as it delayed our flight) the typhoon has cooled down the weather significantly, and it's been more cloudy than sunny.

On Sundays, thousands of domestic helpers gather in the streets, parks and bridges to socialize on their day off. Many families in Hong Kong employ domestic helpers to help out at home.

The Honolulu Coffee Shop (beats me why it's called that) is famous for its egg tarts.

The Central-Mid-Levels escalator system is the longest in the world. We took it to get to my grandparents' place.

The view down Shelley Street. The covered green corridors on the right are all escalators.

The view from the 72nd floor of the International Finance Centre, the second tallest building in Hong Kong and where my grandpa works. Hong Kong is in the foreground, and Lantau Island is in the background.

How gorgeous is Hong Kong? Kowloon, which is on the mainland, is on the left, and Hong Kong Island is on the right.

July 27, 2012

Day 1: Arrival and Instagrams

Finally arrived in Hong Kong safe and sound after an 11 hour delay! Since we arrived so late, I have no photos other than the requisite airplane wing + clouds iPhone shot that I took right before falling asleep at the start of our 15-hour flight.

I'll be blogging as much as I can, hopefully daily. Follow me here for photos of my grand Asia adventure! I'll be spending a few days here in Hong Kong, then we're jetting off again to Indonesia, then Singapore, then back to Hong Kong. I'll also be Instagramming on the go (@natasia_leung) and to make up for my lack of photos of my first day in HK, here are some of my old Instagrams of my lovely Toronto, plus one more from this morning!