HK - More Adventures

Ah, I've been back from my trip for almost a week now. Jet lag has been following me around but other than that, its all good. HK was awsome, and for now I declare it the greatest city in the world. Being sick the last few days in HK totally bummed me out though, I could have done a lot in that time. Anyway, here are some more stories from my two week stay.

1. Normally I'm not big fan of thrill rides and that was still the case when it was decided that we would be going to Ocean Park for a day. My cousin Amy was all pumped up and ready to attack all the trill rides at the park. Although I was a bit embarrassed that a kid 6 years younger than me wasn't scared at all, I knew that nobody could force me onto one of those things even with a gun pointed to my head. This "thrillride-phobia" started a couple years ago when my friends forced me on a ridiculous number of thrill rides in my first time at Wonderland. I remember finally refusing to go on anymore mechanical rides when they wanted me to go on the horrific looking Topgun. It wasn't because I was actually REALLY scared of the rides, screaming like mad made that go away, but I just didn't like that unpleasant feeling of my insides turning during a big drop. Anyhow, when I actually got to Ocean Park I found that the rides were NOTHING compared to those at Wonderland. I was enjoying the rollercoaster rides and actually waving my arms on some too, weeeeeeeeeee. I thought the main attraction though at Ocean Park was the artificial "Ocean" where visitors walk through a path where glass basically separates you from a sea of marine life form chilling in their artificial environment. Hopefully I'll get a few pics of that up when I get a chance.

2. Besides Mongkok, I also spent two days walking around Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and Causeway Bay. The Pacific Mall at TST was huge compared to the one in Scarborough. One of the stores that caught my eye was Heroic Rendezvous. I liked their designs but the clothes all seemed to be for females only. The weird thing is, I saw Jay Chou wearing it when I was browsing through an asian magazine later...I guess I should have looked harder. There was also a place in TST called the Silvercord Centre where I spent a good few hours. Double Park in Silvercord and all the stores connected to it (by what seemed like holes freshly made by a wrecker) stood out to be one of the best spots I visited. There was also a neat store that featured a conveyor belt with t-shirts designed by different artists hung on it at the front window. Causeway Bay was just across the sea from TST, you can take the ferry or the MTR to get across. There was a place called Ginza Plaza that had this tiny hidden entrance, I walked past it like five times before realizing it was there. Once inside there were a maze of tiny shops but they carried a lot of good stuff so it was worth it. I also wanted to find 852 Skateshop which took me forever...it turned out to be on the second floor of a residential building. Popstar Edison Chen's store "Juice" was also on the upper floor that required me to get past a gate guarded by like three people so I could go up the stairs. As you can see, I had a real hard time getting around Causeway Bay! Finally, there was a store in Times Square which sold Mickey Mouse stuff that had the coolest looking doorway but when I tried to take a picture an employee told me I couldn't lol. Unfortunately, they also sold only girl stuff...which I found to happen a lot in HK...either that or they didn't have my size. Other than MK, TST, and Causeway Bay, I went to a whole bunch of other places but I don't even remember any names now. Although I didn't get to hit all the places I wanted to (I would probably need another two weeks to do that), I still a a great time shopping in HK. One thing I regret not doing though was buying more stuff...I realized I hardly bought anything when I unpacked my luggage!

3. We were planning to see the laser show at HK harbor one night after dinner. For some reason we ended up a this mall before going and when it was time to go, we couldn't pry my mom away from her crazy shopping habits. So some of us, including me, ditched her and hopped on a taxi. The ride was quite exciting, as we were basically plowing through a sea of pedestrians to get to our destination. The laser show itself was very cool. It consisted of the many buildings along HK harbor lighting up and shooting lasers together in sync, not something you see everyday. Afterwards we walked along the harbor enjoying the HK night scene. The temperature was perfect, there was a nice breeze, it was great.

4. The view of HK in the air is breathtaking. I was lucky the weather was good when my return flight took off, because it must have been at least five minutes that I was able to look down at the highly developed city. All I saw was an endless mass of building, most I'm assuming are for residential purposes. I couldn't take my eyes off the window until HK disappeared under me once we were high into the clouds. I miss it already.