I spent my entire flight from Qatar to Hong Kong looking around at all the calm and sleeping passengers and wondering ‘don’t they know what we’re in for?!?!’
But for all my worrying about flying into a typhoon (I don’t advise you YouTube Hong Kong landing videos right before flying), we landed so smoothly I hardly felt a bump. The black rainstorm (called as such by Hong Kong Observatory) waited for me to clear immigration and customs and board the bus to the city before erupting in fierce torrents that threatened to blow the bus off the numerous bridges we had to cross.
Anyway!
In Hong Kong, thanks to the generosity of my sister and my parents, I had a little holiday from my holiday. I got to catch up with my sister, and some friends I hadn’t seen in 18 months.
This is some of the stuff I did:
…hung out with my sister
…stayed in a fancy-pants hotel, where I didn’t wear shoes in the shower. I also got myself and my sister kicked out of another fancy-pants hotel, but that’s a story for another day.
…was an accomplice to a bank account-busting amount of shopping, and influenced to spend the equivalent of a day’s travel in China on clothes I had to send home anyway.
…ate dim sum and began to get accustomed to the pushing and shoving. Being taller than most people helps.
…discovered that my foot tan was, in fact, months of travel dirt, when a tank full of Garra Rufa fish ate away a layer or two of skin.
…had an excuse to have McDonald’s delivered to our room (over 200 locations on an island that small…and they still deliver!)
…went to Infinity…and beyond! at Hong Kong Disneyland. Also discovered it’s impossible to cry on Space Mountain, even when you want to because it’s so terrifying and you’ve realised why they suggest you don’t ride if you’re in any way prone to motion sickness.
…returned to a place I thought I’d just left
…but was closer to home than I’ve been in a while
…found the Symphony of Lights overrated and also found that the Hong Kong Star Ferry should also come with a motion sickness warning
…had a fancy lunch, and several almost-fancy dinners
…and became accustomed to afternoon thunderstorms, in preparation for my heading to the mainland.
For more images from Hong Kong (including Hong Kong Disneyland!) visit my RTW Travel Photography site.
In 2010 I quit my job to travel the world. If you want to keep up to date with my travels, you can subscribe for free by email to be notified of new posts. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed in a feed reader. 
In May 2010 I left my job and Australia to travel the world indefinitely. This is the story of that trip and the others to come. Want to know 
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
It's so weird that we'd think nothing of showering without shoes, until we've been on the road for months and realise it's a small but important luxury! I guess that's why so many travel writers/photographers wear sandals whenever possible on the road?!
Haha maybe! Though I do try to wear closed shoes on bus and train travel days…you never know what you might step in!!
One of my biggest travel regrets is not taking photos when I went to HK 10 years ago, yours are fantastic.
Thanks
Sometimes though, I think it can be better not to take photos – I can get carried away snapping everything that I forget to really take things in!
Awesome, I’m glad our son didn’t see Buzz from Toys on our visit to Hong Kong. I suspect we would never be able to leave. Also, if you thought Hong Kong Star Ferry should come with a motion sickness warning, don’t go to Koh Tao (Thailand) via catamaran speedboat. It was the worst boat trip we have ever encountered.
Here is our summary of the HK adventure with our son Niko -http://aroundtheworldwithkid.com/hong_kong_round-the-world-with-children/
All the best on your travels.
Hi Martin! Happy to hear your son is also a Toy Story fan
Thanks for sharing your Hong Kong adventure – I think it’s a great city to take kids!