Ding dong we're in Hong Kong! Jan. 28/2010

After roughing it in rustic and rural conditions, it was nice to come to such a mondern and westernized city like Hong Kong. Originally a British colony, it was finally given back to the Chinese in 1997, but has still maintained it's western/English influence. The most noticeable differences were that all the toilets were normal, everyone spoke English and they all stood in line. Splendid!

We spent most of the first day making our way through customs and immigration, but we had time in the afternoon to catch the Peak Tram to the top of the mountain. From the top we were able to see all of Victoria Harbour in Kowloon and it's world-famous skyscrapers. Later in the evening we went to the other side of the harbour to watch the light and sound show. At precisly 8:00 every night the skyscrapers light up with multi-coloured lights and shoot lazer beams into the night sky while some hooky Chinese music plays in the background: The Symphony of Lights.

This was the night of our farwell dinner, only half of our group would be continuing on to Vietnam. Oddly, we've now become a group of all girls with the exception of one guy. Poor bloke. As sad as we were, we still mustered up the strength to seek out the Hong Kong bar district and danced the night away at one of its many clubs. Too bad a bottle of beer cost over ten dollars Canadian! I couldn't figure out where all my money went!

The next day we took this absolutely terrifying cable car ride - turns out that fear is a good cure for a hangover. Well, I was scared, but then again I'm a big baby when it comes to heights. After dangling precariously between two mountain peaks we finally arrived at our destination. At the top of the tallest peak there is a nice little tourist village along with it's main attraction: a 34 metre tall Buddha.

After climbing 268 steps we reached the world's tallest, outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha. It was really really big! After another equally terrifying cable car ride down, we celebrated that fact that we were still alive by blowing the rest of our Hong Kong money shopping. Apparently that's what you do in Hong Kong.

Later in the evening we went to the bussling and hectic Temple street night market. Packed full of souvenirs, clothing, and just about anything else you could possibly want. It was a shopaholic's paradise! I purchases a nice pair of Channel earings. I love China.