Friday, June 18th: Our first day touring Hong Kong

Although we were able to get some shut-eye for a while, Kenneth and I woke up at about four in the morning due to the jet lag! I am sure that our bed, which is not far from two plywood boards put together with some very strong springs, had something to do with it as well. I am pretty sure that Priya’s floor was softer!

We set out to explore the city in the late morning, and we were all astonished to find that there are markets that line both sides of the street outside our building during the daytime! I looked directly to the left as we stepped out the door, and to my surprise was a lady selling all kinds of fresh fish and other sea creatures. Some of the fish were even still alive and jumping about wildly! Well, that explains that smell and the rats too! There were probably about 40-50 small stands in total selling everything from pork, fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery items, and meat balls to clothing, shoes, and knick-knacks. Here's a picture of the fish shop right outside of our apartment.



Our first goal was to find the Deloitte office, where Eric and Kenneth would be working. Our North Point subway station is about 5-10 minutes from our apartment, and from here you can take the subway to almost anywhere on Hong Kong Island or the mainland. I am extremely impressed with the subway system. It is clean, efficient, and also air-conditioned. People just touch their pre-paid Octopus Card to the sensor to enter and exit the train terminal. This card is quite ingenious and definitely a must-have in Hong Kong. With this card, one can also travel on the buses and buy items at convenient and grocery stores.

After finding the Deloitte office in One Pacific Place and eating lunch at a fast Chinese food restaurant, we made our way to the nearby Hong Kong Park. Here we walked around the beautiful gardens and lake and toured the Edward Youde Aviary, Flagstaff House Teaware Museum, and Conservatory.

For dinner, we decided on a cheap Indian food restaurant called Chillie Garden that is in our North Point neighborhood. It wasn’t the best Indian food, but it was a nice change from Chinese food.