When planning our flights for 8-weeks in Asia, we found out we would have a long layover in Hong Kong as we traveled from Japan to Vietnam. We decided to make our layover two-days and see what Hong Kong has to offer.
Disclaimer: Our quick two days in Hong Kong may have been unfairly judged based on arriving here after two weeks in the exteremly orderly, clean, and friendly country of Japan. Hong Kong is a masssive city that is home to 7.5 million people. After stepping off of the Airport Express train in Hong Kong Central Station, our senses were overwhelmed with chaos. There were cars, buses, and people walking in every direction. There was trash on the sidewalks and strange smells. People were smoking, eating, and drinking while walking on the streets. All of this seemed foreign to us, as you would never even think about smoking or eating in public while walking around Japan.
The terrain in Hong Kong is mountainous and steep. The 20 minute walk to our hotel was a sweaty one! A lot of the walk was up hills and staircases. Did I mention it is super hot in Hong Kong? Upper 80s and humid at the end of October, I don’t want to know what Hong Kong is like in the summer!
After checking into our hotel, which was rather decent for a high rise under renovation, we set off to figure out a way to reach Victoria Peak in time for sunset. We thought we would try the Peak Tram, but once we reached the station we found ourselves in a long line full of tourists. Taking an Uber turned out to be faster and only a few dollars more than the funicular. As a bonus, the Uber took us much higher up the mountain than the tram which saved us some uphill walking!
Surprisingly, not many people visit the actual peak of Victoria Peak. Most people stop at the lookout point at Peak Galleria, where the tram drops off the heards of tourists. We were much happier to check out an even better view from above and watch the crowds from a distance. There were only two other people at the summit. They ended up being two awesome travelers that we exchanged stories and travel tips on where we were going next, we we had come from, etc.
After separating from our new friends, we walked to the viewpoint on Lugard Road. We made it there in time to see the lights of Hong Kong turn on for the evening, the view was breathtaking, but after a few minutes we were ready to head back into the city.
The plan was to take the Peak Tram down the mountain, but we arrived at the galleria station and the line was even longer than it had been earlier. We called another Uber. This Uber driver was not as friendly as our first driver and even he tried telling us we needed to pay him in cash, sorry but we know how Uber operates and the main part of their business plan is that you do not need to exchange cash with the driver. We ended up asking him to pull over before our destination. We got out and walked the rest of the way.
It was nighttime and Hong Kong was still as busy as it was in the middle of the day. The city is a melting pot of different nationalities, but it seemed like it has a large population of millennial professionals! Happy hour goes till 9pm or later at most bars. We stopped in a bar and our dinner that night consisted of beer and nachos (super healthy!). We continued to wander the city and found ourselves at the start of the mid level escalators. This is the longest escalator in the world. It is used to help people commute over the hilly terrain in Hong Kong. The escalator direction goes down into the city until 10am then it switches and goes uphill for the rest of the day. It is a practical method of transportation, but also a tourist attraction. We rode the escaltor until we were close to our hotel and then called it a night. 
The next day was our only full day in Hong Kong. We started the day by taking the train out to Tung Chung. We had purchased online tickets through Klook to take the ropeway to see the Big Buddah on Lantau Island. After our experience with the crowds at the Peak Tram, we wanted to get here early and avoid the long line that forms at the ropeway. We arrived about 30 minutes before opening and we were on our way about 1 hour later (not too shabby). The cable car ride was great as it was a perfectly clear day. (We had flashbacks to our cloudy Hakone ropeway experience!) During the journey, there are great views of the island and the airport. You can see hiking trails below where brave souls are facing the steep mountains on foot. With the heat and humidity, we were happy to be in a breezy cable car.
Ngong Ping is the area where the gondola drops you off. It is certainly an area created to cater to tourists. We arrived before most people and enjoyed the walk up to the Big Buddha without too many people around. We took photos and then ate lunch in one of the restaraunts. It was probably the worst meal of our trip (at the time) with a curly black hair in Chris’ bowl of white rice – yum! Expectations were low choosing to eat in such a touristy area, but heat and hunger are not a good combo and we had to eat somewhere.
After the ropeway experience, we were heading back to the Kowloon part of Hong Kong. Chris had an appointment at Sam’s Tailor to order a custom suit. We arrived at the tiny store a bit early for our appointment. They greeted us and got right down to business. Chris said he was interested in getting a Navy suit. They showed us a book full of color swatches, we picked a color and then picked the fabric for the inside of the jacket. There were so many options to creating a custom suit. It was a bit overwhelming, but the salesman helped us through the process with his recommendations. A half hour and $400 US dollars later, Chris’ custom suit was ordered. We planned to return to the store 3-hours later so the tailor could mark up a suit pattern to make sure the custom suit would fit perfectly.
We continued walking through the busy streets in Kowloon until we were so overwhelmed and hot that we found an air conditioned bar to hang out in until it was time to return to the tailor.
The suit fitting was an interesting experience. The small store was jammed with people trying on overcoats, suits, and jackets. Since I was only an observer, I was handed two beers and was pleasantly surprised that one was an IPA. The next thing I knew Chris was gone. Another salesperson figuring out that I had no idea where Chris went, took me outside of the store through another building, we climbed a few flights of stairs and opened up in a larger room with fabric hanging everywhere. Then I saw Chris in a suit getting written on in chalk by the tailor. This process did not take long, about another half hour later we were back on the streets of Hong Kong, keeping our fingers crossed that a suit would be shipped over to the US in a few weeks.
It was time for a dim sum dinner. As it was our second time eating dim sum in Hong Kong, we were pros at ordering and had a delicious dinner of BBQ pork buns, dumplings, and rice. 
We finished dinner in time to go to the harbor for the symphony of lights show. We couldn’t really hear any of the music or narration, so the light show was a bit underwhelming. It would be more fun if you were prepared and downloaded the app or went to a spot where you could hear the speakers.
After the light show Chris realized he did not have his FitBit. This started a wild goose hunt to search the hectic streets of Hong Kong at night to find the lost Fitbit. The search seemed impossible. After retracing our steps to where we had dinner and searching the sidewalks along the way, Chris was lucky that the restaurant staff had found the Fitbit somewhere. Operation find lost Fitbit was a success!
We took the Star Ferry back to the Hong Kong side. This was a quick and very cheap ferry ride. It cost $2.7 Hong Kong Dollars which is about 35 cents US. Then we made our final trek through the city until we reached our hotel.
Our final morning in Hong Kong was relaxing, we packed our bags and took our second trip to the famous Tim Ho Wan dim sum spot in Hong Kong Central station that has a Michelin Star. After a dim sum brunch it was easy to hop on the Airport Express and return to the airport. We relaxed in the airport lounge (maybe a tad to long) and made it on to our flight to Da Nang at the final boarding call. Time for some Vietnam adventures!
Do you have a layover in Hong Kong planned? Our biggest tips are to eat as much Dim Sum as you can and to get an Octopus card when you arrive. You can use the Octopus card for all forms of public transportation and it is even accepted at some stores. We used our cards to buy water at a random vending machine. It is super handy and before you leave you can return the card to get any leftover money back in cash.
