Hong Kong Honeymoon

My husband and I don't exactly have all the time in the world to spend with each other because of our current living arrangements, but we wanted to squeeze in a honeymoon after our civil wedding. We decided on Hong Kong because it was close to the Philippines thus we'd need less travel time, it had a Disneyland, and we thought it would be, well... cheap. It wasn't. Hong Kong is about as expensive the West, or Japan; at least the Japan of seven years ago. But it's beautiful. And clean. Yup, it's the cleanest and most beautiful city I've visited so far.

Their airport was lovely. And it was huge! Just imagine having to take a train from the arrival area to other parts of the airport. That's how big it was. And the shops--they were awesome! That is one airport I wouldn't mind being stuck in. It's divided into two terminals, but both are connected. We found this restaurant called Hung's Delicacies at one of the terminals and had our first taste of Hong Kong food. We had roasted chicken with garlic, and roasted pork with goose meat. My husband hated his chicken, and even though I am very adventurous when it comes to food, I can't say I enjoyed my pork and goose meal, either. They were just sort of, icky. They seemed to have this weird-tasting seasoning we've never tried before. The funny thing is, we were forced to eat the same kind of food the next day, and the day after that, in Disneyland and Ocean Park! It seemed to be the only food widely available. Whereabouts were the world-famous dim sum?!?

We checked in at the Regal Riverside Hotel in Sha Tin, New Territories. My husband and I go by the motto, "The most stars for the least price" when picking a hotel. We chose Regal Riverside because it was the best one we could get for its price. We knew it was a little out of the way, but we opted for comfort over location. And we weren't disappointed. The hotel was located in a quiet area relatively close to a train station and it had a number of restaurants. The staff were friendly and room service was good. It didn't have free WiFi, though. (Which should not be a surprise, as free WiFi in Hong Kong was hard to come by.)

I was in my element when we were going around Hong Kong! We took my most favored form of transportation--the trains--their MTR or Mass Transit Railway system. It was like Japan all over again, but even better, because for every Chinese instruction or announcement, there was an English counterpart. It was such a relief! The entire city of Hong Kong is connected by trains, so it's fairly cheap and really easy to go everywhere.

Of course, you can't visit Hong Kong without going to Disneyland and Ocean Park. Disneyland was so-so. If you've been to another Disneyland park before, I'll have to warn you that you'll be disappointed with the one they have in Hong Kong. Kids, of course, will still have fun, but adults might find it boring, like we did. It didn't help that Space Mountain was closed when we were there. Ocean Park was great, though. We loved the Raging River log ride and the Grand Rapids. We really got wet! The best experience of all was the cable car ride. It's something you should definitely not miss if you find yourself in Hong Kong!

The highlight of our Hong Kong trip was Victoria Peak. Known locally as The Peak, it's a popular tourist attraction of a mountain that offers great views of the the city and Victoria Harbour. At the summit is the Peak Tower, a building that has shops, restaurants, the Madame Tussauds wax museum, and an observatory. Getting there was extremely fun: we took the Peak Tram, an old train that goes at an incline up the mountain.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Pearl of the Peak at The Peak Tower. We were seated overlooking the city and harbor. The view was amazing, but the dinner was ridiculously expensive! We charged it to a once-in-a-lifetime experience, though. In all fairness, it was an extremely lovely experience and we had the best food that night. Ever. And I'm not exaggerating.

We only had a weekend to spend in Hong Kong, and that was very short. There were other spots we wanted to visit, such as the Tian Tin Buddha and Po Lin Monastery, but we just didn't have the time. We wanted to go to Macau, too, but that was impossible. Still, our Hong Kong trip, albeit short, was a lovely experience. It's one that we will cherish for a lifetime.