Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong hit us like a brick… a very beautiful, neon-lit, skyline-filled brick.

We landed completely exhausted, the kind of tired where even room service felt like a big decision. We hadn’t eaten in like 24 hours after  our vomit-fest the day before and for whatever reason we we’re really craving The Cheesecake Factory. Crazy enough, there happened to be one nearby so Marshall went and picked up dinner and brought it back to our room. What a guy! As starving as we were, none of us could eat more than a few bites before we felt full.

I had planned a fun evening out on the town, but we all had zero energy after getting no sleep the night before. Instead, we passed out by 6pm and somehow pulled off a 13-hour sleep marathon, which might be our most impressive accomplishment of the entire trip.

The next morning we felt like entirely new people. Rebooted. Reborn. Ready to conquer Hong Kong.
First stop: Ngong Ping cable car. We Ubered over and hopped into one of the glass-bottom cabins, which sounded like a fun idea until you realize you can see… everything below you. The 25-minute ride up was equal parts breathtaking and mildly nerve-wracking with the wind blowing us around, but the views were unreal. Mountains, water, sky—then out of nowhere a MASSIVE Buddha statue at the top of a mountain in the distance.

Once we got to the top and exited the cable car, we made our way over to the Tian Tan Buddha, which is just as impressive and peaceful as you'd expect. We climbed the 10+ flights of stairs to get up to the top and took in even more amazing views. Right next door was Po Lin Monastery, filled with intricate gold statues that made everything feel calm, quiet, and a little surreal. We saw monks walking around and people paying their respects in each of the temples. It was a nice slow pace for tourists. Exactly what we needed that morning and a refreshing, revitalizing experience.

Lunch was simple—Subway sandwiches to keep things moving—but dessert is where things went off the rails. In the little town below the Big Budha, we found an ice cream shop with literally 100 flavors. Sounds fun, right? Until you realize many of those flavors include things like wasabi, soy sauce, curry… and corn. Yes. Corn.

At this ice cream shop, you commit and buy a scoop first then you can try any and all flavors you want. Say no more! The lady behind the counter kept handing Tyson a sample of everything he wanted, then when he exhausted all his interests, she scooped a big sampling of the corn ice cream. Instead of trying that, Tyson immediately turned around and force-fed it to Marshall.

Marshall’s face was priceless, absolute shock and disgust. Followed by the official ruling: worst flavor of all time. Who in their right mind would think of making cream corn flavored ice cream?!

After the boys chose their flavors of some variation of chocolate, of course, we took the cable car back down (still glass-bottom, still slightly terrifying), then headed back to the hotel for some downtime. 

The boys opted to recharge with their iPads, so we took the opportunity to wander around the nearby shops. We ended up at Paper Moon, grabbed a cocktail, and sat out on the patio just taking in the amazing skyline along the river.

When we got back to the hotel, Marshall and the boys jumped into the hotel’s rooftop pool while I lounged on the day bed and enjoyed the sun. The view again did not disappoint. It was like a scene out of the movie Inception. Everywhere you looked all around you there was skyline upon skyline. Literally like 4 Manhattans were right next to each other surrounding our hotel. Absolutely mind blowing how dense Hong Kong is with skyscrapers.
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That evening, we headed to Kaboom rooftop restaurant for appetizers and a killer view. They were playing American hip hop and we all went around the table showing off our best dance move.  I obviously dominated that challenge! 

Afterwards we walked about a mile to get to the Temple Street night market. We were soaking in all the sights and smells of the local cuisine and knick knacks they had for sale, but mostly just killing time until 8pm to go see the famous light show.

In Hong Kong, there is a Symphony of Lights every night where (mostly tourists) gather by the river front and watch the skyline come to life. We were super pumped to watch it! We got to the river about 20 minutes early to scope out the perfect viewing spot. Then we waited. And waited. I noticed a countdown had started on one of the buildings 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1…..some of the buildings had lights flashing and green lasers shot out into the sky from a building or two….then nothing really happened. We quickly realized this was the extent of the show. We were expecting to get blinded by spectacular lights in sync with symphony music, and I don’t know, maybe see dragons. Instead, it fell flat and we left after about 5 mins. Apparently, the show will permanently end in a few months. Gee, I wonder why?
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After the disappointing show, we headed back to our hotel for the night. Marshall and I were still hungry so we stopped in the lounge to share a pasta dish and stared out at the fluorescent skyline one last time.  The view is just mesmerizing!

​The following morning, we enjoyed breakfast at a nearby restaurant that specialized in soufflés. All the flavors looked amazing! We each ordered our own so we could try them all. We didn’t realize that three souffles came on each plate and they were super filling. We easily could have just shared two but all good.

It was time to head to the airport for our long 12-hour flight home.  We had an incredible trip to China! A Spring Break we will definitely never forget!