{Travel} Whirlwind Sightseeing in Hong Kong

My husband and I recently went on a 2 week vacation and ermagherd it was amazing. I used to work with someone who, every year, would save all of his vacation days during the year and then go on an epic 3-4 week vacation traveling to several countries. We were all envious, wishing we could do the same. Well, we could have done the same, but we chose not to do it because it wasn't a priority for any of us. Now that I'm back from one of the longest vacations I've ever been on in my adult life, I want to do it again. I want to make traveling outside the States a priority. One perk at my job is that I get approximately 20 vacation days/year. However, I accrue them every paycheck, so right now I'm hovering around 0 hours. So many paydays to go...

We were in Hong Kong for 5 days and 4 nights, although only 3 full days as the other 2 were mostly occupied with traveling. We took a flight from LAX, connected in San Francisco, and then embarked on a 14 hour flight. It's crazy how much time traveling takes up, but it's all worth it. Totally worth it. Although, to be honest, by Hour 9 or 10 I was totally done with the flight.

In case you're thinking of visiting Hong Kong and are wondering what to do, here's a super quick recap, a sample whirlwind itinerary, for a short stay in Hong Kong that hits a lot of the main tourist attractions.

Day 1: Explore, Explore, Explore

• Coffee/Breakfast near hotel
• Sam's Tailor (husband wanted a custom suit; more on this in a future post)
• Kowloon Park (just a quick stop)
• Hong Kong History Museum (free on Wednesdays!)
• Lunch at Osama Tony in Tsim Shau Tsui 
• Rest at hotel (Butterfly on Victoria)
• Victoria Park (just a pass-through)
• Times Square (it's just a mall)
• Central-Mid-Levels Escalators (outdoor escalators!)
• Back to Sam's Tailor (first fitting)
• Dinner in Central at a Japanese place 

Notes on Day 1: we walked or took the train everywhere this day. I have a fitbit, which I'm convinced under-counts my steps. On Day 1, my FitBit registered 11.5 miles of walking. My husband wanted to kill me. I wanted to celebrate my highest step count!

Day 2: Buddha Time

• Breakfast at Peace Square (good coffee, so-so waffle)
• Tian Tan Buddha (The outdoor buddha. We got to Ngong Ping Village via train and cable car and then went back to HK via bus and ferry)
• Lunch at Mak's Noodle (dirt cheap and good beef, but I wouldn't go back)
• Drinks at Yorkshire Pudding
• Long nap
• Dinner near Tin Hau (can't remember the name, but it was cheap and fast)
• Temple Street night market in TST (didn't buy anything, just wanted to see it)

Day 3: Peak View

• Breakfast at BlissHIVE (excellent coffee and waffle)
• Victoria Peak (took the tram to the top and rode the bus down)
• Lunch at Din Tai Fung
• Rest at hotel
• Sam's Tailor for second fitting
• Massage (foot for me, body for my husband)
• Sam's Tailor to pick up completed suit
• Dinner at Ho Lee Fook (long wait, but delicious!) in Central with friends

There are other sights I thought about doing, but we probably would have been rushed. One of those things was taking a ferry to Lamma Island and walking around the island and eating seafood at a local restaurant. My friend recommended doing this because Lamma Island doesn't have any cars so it's supposedly really nice and serene. I was hesitant to do it because I wasn't sure how long it would take and whether we'd have time to see other things that were higher on my priority list. Other than Lamma Island, I think we did everything I was hoping to do.

One thing I wish I had done in advance was research more restaurants. My guidebook had some suggestions, but one of the places had relocated so it wasn't at the address listed in the book. The Japanese place it recommended was ok. We only went there because we were absolutely exhausted that day and my husband was on the verge of a meltdown if I didn't find a restaurant STAT.

While I'm not a total Type A person that has to have everything planned out exactly (I'm sure you're laughing after seeing our sight-seeing itinerary), I wish I had more food options planned in advance because a lot of restaurants, especially near our hotel, had the display name and/or menus all in Chinese so it was difficult to tell at first glance if we would like it.

Our friends took us a to a fantastic restaurant, Ho Lee Fook, and that was the type of food I wished we had found more of. Osama Tony was really good and I found that place after doing a quick online search for dumpling restaurants when we were waiting to board our flight (last minute planning....).

I have a couple more photos in my Hong Kong album on Flickr in case you're interested. Have you been to Hong Kong? What were your favorite things to do?