54 Hours in Hong Kong

I can see the lightning. I can hear the thunder. For all I know, my flight will be delayed for longer than just the measly hour that was bargained for at the check-in counter. The unreal aspect of Hong Kong has come and gone. The trip is over, so why is it taking so long to get back home? Talk about a jam packed vacation, this was definitely one for the books. The first morning was a rough one. With green streaming from my eyelids, i answered my phone to a wake up call from JoJo. "you're not ready are you?". She asks with a twinge in her voice. Of course, for me, it takes ten minutes to clean up, get dressed, and grab my keys. We were off quickly, stopping for the morning joe and talking about our wacky work weekend. With excitement in our steps and sleep in our minds, we were off to a quick, 2 1/2 day adventure to a land that we had only ever heard about. There was no trepidation from either of us until we reached our hostel. After locating the woman who spoke zero English, she escorted us to a room about the size of that little crammed room in Willy Wonka. A bed, a small nightstand, and a bathroom doubling as a changing room and shower. This is what we had, but it was fine considering the amount of time we actually would be spending in the room. We embarked upon our first adventure, bringing us to a nunnery in the north part of the city. With our flight delay from Shanghai, we arrived too late and were only able to view the nunnery from the outside. "On to the street market!" we cried with hesitation in our voices. Normally, one would be excited about a market that sells anything and everything. Unfortunately, the curiosity wears off when the market is practically identical to the ones that are a five minute stroll from your residence. Still, we took to the market like savage coyotes, waving our foreign accents and even heavier wallets. Gifts were bought. Food was eaten, but the overall excitement of this new place was yet to be seen. With somewhat clean linen, we gave in to our slumber, only to be awoken with a sun-filled morning. Of course there was a plan for an amusement park. Out of pure rebellion, Disneyland was not the favored choice. After exploring parts of the city such as Avenue of the Stars and Repulse Bay, it was on to Ocean Park. A wonderful merry land full of aquatic themed attractions, hair raising rides, and lots of people, this place was way more intense than originally anticipated. With bated breath, we took to the sidewalk towards the first adventure we could find. After the excitement of the coasters, bumper cars, and endless amounts of walking had worn off, we were on our way to The Peak. Oh, what a harrowing bus ride that turned out to be. Twists and turns that left me with the feeling associated with too much tequila. Finally, at the top. Let's see everything...oh no, it's really foggy. We decide to drown our sorrows in fried food and alcohol. Hello, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (that one's for you, Ryan). Luckily, at some point during our gastro indulgence, the skies opened and the city came into full view. We raced to the overlook terrace and stared down at this mecca of thriving life and business. After taking countless pictures that will never do the view any sort of justice, we headed back to fall to the lords of slumber once again. Day 2 was not over for me, however. I began to wander. I didn't know where to, but I just knew that there was not much time to spend here, so I wanted to explore as much as I could. After finding a bar that served somewhat cheap drinks, I wandered around a bit more. No headphones, no people, just me and my thoughts. And it hit me again, for about the 200th time since embarking upon my original Asia adventure. Holy crap, am I really in Hong Kong? A slap in the face of reality. The experiences and sights that I've been a part of still boggle my mind. Day three, where is....? It's only hard to find something when you know you've seen it a million times. That point aside, we brought our bags to the airport, dropped them off for hold at an astronomical price, and set off for this cable car thing. This was not your grandfather's cable car. A 25 minute ride through the mountains, over the river, through the woods, well you know how it goes. And it drops us off inside of a cloud. A small village housing eateries, shops, a monastery, and the worls famous 100 foot tall Buddha statue. Yes! Bring on the historical part of the...wait, it was built in 1992? It was still beautiful, at least what could be seen. After the harrowing 250 steps up, the disappointment grew when we saw that the fog would be detrimental to our view of this wonderous figure. Still, we snapped our cameras out of curiosity and jubilation. So much was accomplished in the small amount of time we had in Hong Kong. Yet, I somewhat feel unaccomplished in a weird way. Well, whatever I missed will have to be made up for at some point. The trials and tribulations of my traveling career are getting fewer and far between, at least.