I flew into Hong Kong on a misty January morning.  I was excited to be away from the frigid temperatures in Cheonan.  I decided to take a double decker bus into the city.  I don’t usually find myself overwhelmed when I visit new places, but I was getting some major vertigo from staring up at all the buildings as the bus sped to my hostel.

Hong Kong is a city that is never boring and always busy.  I never had to worry about running out of things to do.  It also never gets too cold and has wonderful public transportation.

My only complaints stemmed from the hostel I was staying at.  The hostel was in a good location and was clean but the guests staying on my floor liked to stay up until 5 am so they could drink and blast Russian pop music.  I probably would have enjoyed some Russian tunes if it wasn’t going on at all hours of the night.  Two girls also got into a fight and smashed a glass bottle on the floor of the common room.  I’m still in my twenties, but I already feel like I’m getting too old and cranky for hostel dorm rooms.  Call me pretentious if you would like.

Anyway, onto the list!

1 The gardens and parks rising up from between the skyscrapers

this was Kowloon park, they have kung fu performances every Sunday

This was in the Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden

I like my cities to have some green

2 The variety of brands from all over the world

I enjoyed my first Japanese MOS burger in almost six years, which was conveniently located across the street from my hostel.

I needed some milk tea to go with it

3 The bakeries

I may or may not have eaten breakfast at the same bakery every morning.

milk tea was also a common theme of this trip

4 The dim sum

I knew this would be the one thing I would have to eat no matter what.

5 The constant trains, easy to use subway cards, and helpful maps

My octopus card (metro card)

many subway stations had names and locations for the nearby attractions

6 Being right on the ocean

Hong Kong was a good choice.