Our second and final day in Hong Kong was jam packed with activities.  We started off by taking the Peak Tram up to the top of Victoria Peak (aka Mt. Austin) for some incredible views of the city — meeting some new and very friendly Chinese people along the way (Nicole joked about how we should tour the mountain together so we could trade picture taking duties of the other couple — which they took seriously!)

A walk up to the Victoria Peak Gardens and along the Old Hong Kong trail around the peak provided additional views in all directions.  We passed a bunch of locals strolling and exercising on the trail, including a couple out for a walk with their dog, in a doggie stroller!

It’s not easy taking a couple’s panoramic when you have to hand off the camera in the middle of it.  This was our ninth try: 

The hike down the mountain roads back into town made me happy to have gotten the slightly bigger size hiking shoes.

Later in the evening after a clean shave, we setup in the Intercontinental for some tapas and drinks, and to watch the light show downtown.  Many of the most prominent waterfront buildings along the skyline synchronize some laser lights to music.

Entertaining, but we couldn’t hear the music inside, so might have been a bit better with the music.

We also toured the Avenue of the Stars, where we identified only 3: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Bruce Lee.  Pulak, these are for you:

On our way to Taiwan now. Hong Kong was a fun stopover, very international, as much English as there is Chinese. If it weren’t for the big peak in the middle of the city, we could have easily been in New York. One street in the SoHo area had Italian, Morrocan, Argentine, Spanish, Thai, and Japanese restaurants. And they love their 7-11s over here. Is it possible there are actually more 7-11s in Hong Kong than in Japan?

(contributions from Nicole Schwartz)

P.S. We hope everyone had a great time at ACL this past weekend!