Hong Kong

By the time we arrived in Hong Kong, we were sick of traveling. 3 weeks of living out of a suitcase, and a plane, train or bus to catch at least every 3 days. And though you couldn't really say we were "roughing it" in Viet Nam, we were ready to get back to a more Western city. Hong Kong was just that. And this was evident even before we saw our first Starbucks.

We stayed at the LKF Hotel in Hong Kong - huge, beautiful clean rooms with a perfect bed and shower, views of the city from floor to ceiling windows, and a great central location. As soon as we arrived, Matt changed and walked over to the Lasalle office to meet his Hong Kong colleagues. I took the opportunity to max and relax and shop. There is wonderful shopping to be had in Hong Kong - if you manage to find your way out of the mega-high end stores, there are some great little boutiques. The city was very much like San Francisco - nearly vertical, all new buildings (any old structures were either made to look that way or kept just to make the city seem charming), and, dare I say, a lot of Asians. In the evening I met up with Matt and some of his colleagues for cocktails, then we headed to a typical Hong Kong oddity - what can only be described as the social club. There are many of these in Hong Kong, and anybody who is anybody belongs to one. The one which you get accepted into will highlight your class status to all others. Basically, you apply and pay membership dues to be able to go into this large, hotel-like building with restaurants, a gym and pool, and meeting centers. So Victor took us to the Jockey club, and we got to choose which of the 4 restaurants we wanted to try - we picked the "Chinese" one. Wait, I thought we were in China?

After dinner, we took a cab back to the hotel and the crowds of people at the bars lining the street intrigued us enough to stop into a bar for some cocktails. It was largerly an after-work crowd, with all white people dressed in work clothes, most carrying their laptops. Peppered in were some scantily clad Asian girls. All very weird stuff. It certainly didn't feel like Asia anymore.

The next day we walked around the SoHo area (South of Hollywood) then meandered to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's sushi restaurant with amazing views of the city. We glammed it up with some wine and sushi, then headed over to the Peak Tram Terminal. This was like Disneyland. We had no idea it would be so touristy. After pushing and elbowing to secure our places in line (just like Holland in this respect) we climbed aboard the tram to the top of the mountain. The weather cooperated with us and we were able to see clear as day over to the mainland. Usually Hong Kong island is very smoggy, not really due to the pollution in the island, but because of the pollution being blown over from the mainland. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were pooped and had just enough time to get showered and dressed to meet Todd (Matt's former boss) at his house.

Todd's house is a bit outside the city, so it was great seeing Hong Kong from a more local perspective. We got to meet their cute little daughter Chloe, and have a great catch-up with Todd and his wife Vicki at yet another social club (this one was the American Club - appropriate).

The next morning we packed our bags one final time to go back to Amsterdam. We took a cab over to the Hong Kong train station and there we saw one of the highlights of Hong Kong - most of the major airlines have kiosks at the train station, where you can check-in for your flight AND leave your luggage! We were irrationally excited about this. We had been dragging our backpacks around Southeast Asia for 3 and a half weeks, remember. We checked in our bags and boarded the fast train (20 minutes) to the airport with nothing in our hangs but some cups of coffee. Brilliant.

So marks the end of our honeymoon adventure. It was an incredible trip full of so many memorable moments. It wasn't your usual weeks-long stay at an all-inclusive resort on the beach, little umbrella drinks in tow. Instead we really got to push our limits, experience a new culture, and learn new things together. I wouldn't want to begin my marriage in any other way!