Hong Kong or Hawaii?

     We started off Hong Kong on the wrong foot. After getting off the train we were supposed to cross over some bridge to go through customs but we misread how the arrow was pointing and started walking in the complete wrong direction. We walked through a really sketchy part of the city where there were homeless people scattered along the side of the road making fires and setting up a place to sleep. As we continued to walk we couldn’t find any signs as to where customs was. Finally we headed back to the train station to look again and realized we had to go upstairs before turning instead of just turning like we had done.
        Once we figured that out, it got much easier. Customs was like a huge maze. We had to wind this way and that way and get our passport stamped three different times but finally we made it into Hong Kong. From there we took the subway to the area of Kowloon near the ship where we knew there were hostels and other places to stay. From here we found a YMCA to stay at. It was really cool! It was set up dormitory style with two sets of bunk beds in one room so we all got to stay together comfortably. The next day we woke up incredibly early to watch the ship pull into port which was a neat sight since we generally do not see it from that point of view. 
        A large reason we got up early to see the ship pull in was so that we could eat breakfast on the ship because we hadn’t had any real food besides for candy and hard-boiled eggs since two mornings before for breakfast. Unfortunately, customs for the ship took too long, so we missed breakfast. Instead we waited outside on the gangway for about an hour before one of the important crewmembers felt bad for us and got customs to let us on early. We all rushed to our rooms to shower, unpack our belongings, and stuff all our weird smelling clothes from the train in our laundry baskets. After that we relaxed for a few hours until lunch.
        After lunch Deirdre and I took the ferry to Hong Kong Island to explore Stanley Market. We took a public transportation bus out there, which was surprisingly a great way to see the island. It was a double decker, flat front bus so we sat on the second floor right in the front and got an incredible view of the city. Hong Kong was nothing like I expected. It seemed like a vacation spot and reminded me of Hawaii a bit. I want to go back there on a break at some point because I enjoyed it so much! Most people didn’t see the beaches, but they were gorgeous!! Stanley market was a block away from some of the beaches and ran into a row of restaurants that were right along the boardwalk. Stanley market ended up being a great place to purchase cultural souvenirs.
        That night we made it back to the ship right at 8 p.m. to watch the famous light show. Our ship was in the perfect location to have an amazing view of the show. It was so neat to watch, it reminded me of a more sophisticated Las Vegas. By that I mean they used the lights in an organized way for entertainment instead of just having lots of lights (although Vegas’ are extremely cool too). After that since we were extremely tired still from the long trade ride the day before, we just used the free Wifi in the mall that was there immediately when you stepped off the ship (to get out of the port you even had to walk through the mall).
The next day we explored the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. We wandered up Nathan Street and went to Temple Market. That night we took our friend Zach as on a surprise trip to a restaurant that is featured on the travel channel that Deirdre has dreamed of going to for years: the Modern Toilet restaurant. The restaurant is completely bathroom themed (in case the title didn’t give that way for you). You sit on toilets, eat over a sink with a glass table over it, eat out of urinals, western toilets and eastern toilets, and sometimes even sink. The walls are decorated with pipes, toilet seat lids, mirrors, showerheads, and more! (I’ll put up pictures as soon as I get Internet again!!) Zach loved our surprise!!
        After the restaurant, we headed over to the SOHO section of Hong Kong where they have a famous walking escalator that takes people for blocks and blocks. It was created to help the flow of people walking to work every morning in that area. The escalator goes in one direction in the morning and the opposite direction at night to take workers to and from work each day. On either side of the escalators are countless restaurants and bars. We took the escalators all the way to the end of where the restaurants and bars are. Then we walked down the whole thing stopping in to see the prices at the bars. We found they were a bit pricier than we were hoping for and had a more laid back, quiet setting so finally we asked a group of people in their 30s where people our age would go to bars and they sent us to a district about five minutes walking district away.
        When we arrived in that district we found it was more what we were looking for – two full streets of bars erupting with loud music and cheaper prices. We also found it was where at least half of the students on our ship were located. We quickly found in this area it was completely legal to drink your drinks in the street and carry them from one bar to the other. It reminded me of a street my mind wrote to me about in New Orleans when she went on the cruise for Dot’s birthday, which made me smile because I loved it as much as she said I would. Although the drinks were less pricey here, word spread like rapid fire to check out the seven eleven at the end of the road because the prices were so low there. I think we must have made that store have record sales for a Tuesday night there for the amount of our students that kept running in and out purchasing drinks. That was one of the most fun nights out I’ve had so far, it would definitely be a fun place to vacation with friends.
        The next day was our last day in Hong Kong and we spent it walking along the boardwalk along the bay and checking out the lady’s market further up on Nathan Street. The last thing we did was buy a pizza from Pizza Hut. This Pizza Hut was NOTHING like the ones in America. It was just like a five start restaurant complete with linen tablecloths, cloth napkins, and a full menu with tons of options, pizza being at the back. It was a crazy contrast to see from our Pizza Huts and let me just say they had a heck of a better pizza selection than we do for sure!