The Time I Didn’t Fall In Love With Hong Kong

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Maybe it was the gloomy weather. Maybe it was that I didn’t do enough advance research and I might have, somehow, through no fault of my own, ended up staying in the murder capital of Hong Kong. Who knows. Whatever the reason, I fell in like with Hong Kong rather than love.

Before I went several of my friends had told me how much they absolutely loved the city. They said they would live there if they could afford it and made it sound like the most amazing place on the planet. I went thinking I was going to be blown away. I thought my life was going to be changed. It wasn’t all bad; it’s not as if I hated the city.

I went on a really great walking food tour where I tried local dishes like snake soup and the famous Portuguese egg tarts. The egg tarts were as delicious as everyone described- creamy in the middle with a flaky, buttery crust. I could see why everyone raved about them. The snake soup was surprisingly delicious, even though I was a bit skeptical at first. We had many more dishes on the tour but these were two of the most rememberable of the afternoon.

One of the things I most wanted was the iconic skyline shots from the bay. I managed a few of those and in fairness the weather did make for dramatic photos.

I even managed to find the Nan Lian Garden, a gorgeous spot of quiet in a crazy city. Fortunately I found it during one of the few afternoons with a window of no rain.

One of the most fun nights I had in Hong Kong was meeting my friends for drinks at the Stone Nullah Tavern. The happy hour is a “beat the clock” concept- all drinks start at 1 HKD (.13 USD) and the prices double every twenty minutes. So of course the goal is to drink as much as you can as quickly as you can without dying. The pours were understandably small and you couldn’t order more than one drink at time, but for thirteen cents a drink we weren’t complaining!

I took a trip to a neighboring island called Cheung Chau and had a nice lunch. It was interesting to visit such a sleepy little fishing island less than an hour from the madness that is Hong Kong.

What I didn’t get to do were the big tourist sites such as Victoria’s Peak and Big Buddha. The weather was too bad, too rainy, and too foggy. Sadly, there were no views to be had.

Will I give Hong Kong another chance? I hope to make it back there again, sooner rather than later. I think if I were to visit when the weather was better it might just be love.

Have you ever visited Hong Kong? Was it like or love for you?

Nathan

Travel writer and owner of the blog. My work has been featured on Fodors, Eater.com, International Living, and Great Escape Publishing, among many others. My story? Nearly six years ago, I left my job at an Oklahoma City law firm and embarked on a journey around the world. At the time, I thought I would only be gone for 6 months, but the more I traveled, the longer my bucket list became.  Flashpacker describes how I travel. Rather than traveling as the normal world wise backpacker and staying in hostel dorms, I prefer a more comfortable experience, and typically stay in private rooms, take Ubers instead of taxis, and now use a suitcase instead of a backpack. Foodie, on the other hand, describes one of the key reasons why I travel. I love to pick a central “base camp” and then explore the surrounding area, really immersing myself in the culture and interacting with the people, and enjoying and exploring the food of an area is an essential part of this experience.