Hong Kong and Malls

Hong Kong was such an unexpected treat at the start of our vacation.  Everyone who told us we would love it was right. The pedestrian focus for not only Hong Kong Island but Kowloon provided us the opportunity to get a little exercise in between sites, to learn the subway system and see the less touristy areas.  According to Annie's cell phone app we walked 15k steps on day 1 and 12k on day 2.

Day 1

The weather was perfectly Seattle our first full day in HK. 60 degrees with 30% chance of rain. 

View from our hotel room:

Against all cold weather advisories, we hit the streets to find that basically every building in the city is a mall. Honestly, I'm sure this city has more malls per square foot than any other city. The population density was also very clear in that each mall was packed with people buying everything from $3 solar powered cats that wave at you...

...To Cartier and Balenciaga.

The Kowloon side, along the water, you can tell that Hong Kong is finding room to build more skyrise buildings to contribute to the already impressive skyline.

In our search for the best Dim Sum in the city, we started at Tim Ho Wan located in the subway entrance to the...wait for it...IFC mall. Seriously, everything is in a mall.  Not only does Tim Ho Wan boast a Michelin star, but also a reputation as the least expensive Michelin rated restaurant in the world. Annie and I ate for $28 total.  To say the least, this place is popular. We stood in a 30 minute line (mob) at 11am, entertained by the mix of locals, tourists, and time spent guessing what we were ordering from the blue menu (identifying us as English speakers).

Tim Ho Wan

The pork buns exceeded their reputation

While in Kowloon we stopped in for a drink in the Eye Bar of the...guess if it was a mall. Guess. Yea, the iSquare mall. Though misty, the Hong Kong skyline is amazing.

We literally fell asleep at about 8 pm. So much fun.

Day 2

Our second day in Hong Kong was so beautiful. We decided to take the historic peak tram up to Victoria Peak.

The peak tram takes us up 428 meters above sea level and treks grades up to 27 degrees. At the top? A mall...and more than couple restaurants and more of the little lucky cat dolls.

This point is clearly where most of the iconic shots of the skyline are taken

Good bye Hong Kong. We had a great time and hope to see you again