First impressions of Hong Kong | part 1
About a month ago, my husband and I took our first trip together to Hong Kong. This was my first time to the area and my husband’s second, so he enjoyed taking me around to all of the places he visited during his time there last year.
Coming in to this visit, I really didn’t have too many expectations. I knew that it would be hot (an understatement, I later discovered) and I knew that it would feel fairly westernized. What “westernized” really meant, I wasn’t totally sure.
Fast forward to the 15+ hour plane ride and we had finally landed in Hong Kong, our soon-to-be new home. In our five-day stint, we managed to eat a lot of good food and do a decent amount of exploring while searching for our apartment. I’ll get to more on that later, but for now I thought I would recap my first few impressions of the fast-paced, energetic city that is Hong Kong. This is part one.
Hot doesn’t even begin to describe the weather.
Literally, right after we stepped off the plane and into the airport I could feel the heat. Typically, in my travels, I’ve found that most airports are pretty cold. I always bring a jacket or sweatshirt of some sort. Not necessary in Hong Kong.
We were fortunate to have nice weather while we were there, no rain (which is rare), but holy crap was it hot. The average temperature each day was in the high 80’s, but the humidity was 70 percent, leaving the “real feel” to be somewhere in the low 100’s (I believe one of the days hit 116 degrees on my phone).
I’ve been told by people that live in Hong Kong that the weather does “cool” down in the winter to about 45-50 degrees, which will feel glorious, I’m sure. I’ve always said how much I hate the cold, so I’ve definitely found my weather mecca, albeit a sauna nine months out of the year.
Hills, hills and more hills.
I’ll start out by saying my quads and calf muscles are going to be exceptional from living in Hong Kong. I knew just from looking at photos of the island that it was quite mountainous, but I didn’t realize how true that really was.
Our apartment search mostly found us around Central, Hong Kong’s downtown city district, which is one continuous hill, or so it felt it my dramatic state. Leading up from Central is another neighborhood we liked called the Mid-levels. Many of the apartments in this area are built into the side of the mountains. So just picture it: giant 50-story high rises etched into the side of a mountain. Unreal.
As we continued our journey UP EVEN HIGHER through the Mid-levels, we found ourselves closer to the Victoria Peak, a major Hong Kong tourist attraction, and the largest mountain on the island. If you Google image “Hong Kong” right now, chances are you’ll find endless photos of the city taken from the top of this peak. It is by far some of the best views of the entire city.
In a moment of weakness, I agreed to hike up to the Victoria Peak (hey, I’m an athlete!) We started in Central, made our way through the Mid-levels and then continued to the top. After about 45 minutes of climbing, we reached the peak and the view was definitely spectacular. I would do it again, but I probably wouldn’t eat a burger and fries just before it.
Dim sum is good, but can be tricky
Ok, so I know I just said I ate a burger and fries while in Hong Kong. And I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s also part of city’s charm (see part two of this post for more on that).
Aside from the burger, we pretty much ate our weight in dim sum. Dim sum is food that is served as small bites, typically dumplings, that can be made with various fillings. It’s a staple in Asian cuisine. I honestly lost count at how many different kinds we tried, and it was all very delicious – and eye opening.
My philosophy with trying all of these new foods was to just dive right in. Don’t ask any questions. I like mostly everything, so there shouldn’t be a problem. That was until I bit into a dumpling filled with soup and scolded the inside of my mouth. You see, the trick with these kinds of dumplings is that one should first bite off the edge and let some of the steam out. Next, one should “slurp” the soup out, thus cooling it off in the process. Lastly, one can finally eat the dumpling (this was an actual dumpling-eating lesson we received from one of the locals).
I also learned that slurping your food isn’t seen as rude like it is in the states, it’s really just an easier way to cool the food and avoid burning the inside of your mouth. Also, the food in Hong Kong is served extremely hot, so taking your time is best.
So here’s what I’ve learned: Take my time eating. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about food on the menu (everyone does) and simply enjoy the moment that is dining with good company.
Stay tuned for more of my first impressions of Hong Kong. Part two is coming up next!