Monday
Our flight left bright and early at 7:30am on Monday morning, which gave us a full day to start off our vacation. Once we arrived in HK, we took an express train to the Kowloon side of the city, where our hotel was located. Their train system, called the MTR is widely used in HK, and I can see why. It is very convenient, and you can get virtually anywhere in the city. The train stations are huge and very busy. Our hotel, the Cosmo Kowloon, was new, beautiful, clean, and the staff was very helpful. After this, we did some shopping, had dim sum, and explored the area around our hotel. By night time, we were pretty tired so we picked up a bottle of wine at 7-11 and relaxed in our hotel. 
Tuesday
The following day we went to Ocean Park, which is an ocean themed amusement park. Here we got to see some animals, walk through an aquarium, ride some rides, and watch a spectacular light show displayed on a 360 degree water fountain. Here we went to a Giant Panda exhibit where 2 pandas lived and were very active and lively, giving us the chance to get some great photos of the pandas. Next we rode the gondola to the other side of the mountain where some more adventurous rides were. Here we rode rides like The Blast (like the Drop of Fear), a roller coaster, and a log ride. We also visited an aquarium where we saw lots of rays, sharks, and many different fish species. We also watched a dolphin show, which was one of the best I have ever seen. 
To end off our day at Ocean Park we watched the light show called Symbio. The show lasts about 20 minutes and tells the story of 2 dragons. It is a show of lights, music, and special effects, all displayed on 360 degrees of water.
To watch a clip of the show, watch this video :)
Wednesday
We thought we should explore some historical aspects of the city so we took a bus tour visiting some poplar landmarks. We took two routes, one historical route, and one metropolis route. We visited a temple, the HK museum, a western market, times square, and some popular shopping districts. One of the highlights of the tour was some of the amazing buildings. The comparison between the buildings and some of the quaint streets was also really neat. After this, we did some more shopping. The shopping in HK in unbelievable. Wether you are looking for designer goods such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, or inexpensive fashion such as Zara and H&M, or you simply want to find bargains on items such as scarves and sunglasses, there is something for you. I found that luxury stores were everywhere. Unfortunately, I cannot afford anything in these stores, but they were still fun to look at. 
Wednesday night we had the privilege of meeting up with one of Arthurs friend from Lethbridge, Caleb, who originally from Hong Kong and went to Canada for school, and recently moved back to HK. He showed us some great markets around our hotel. First we visited the Goldfish Market, where fish everywhere were sold in plastic bags. Every store had dozens of fish hanging on their walls. This seemed odd to us, but Caleb told us they are so popular because housing in HK is quite expensive, so most people have very small apartments and cannot have a cat or dog, so they buy aquariums to liven up their place. Next we visited the Ladies Market where a lot of Knock-Offs could be found. This market was a lot of fun. After this, we visited the popular Temple Street Market. This market being the largest and very famous to HK. After this he took us to a Sheesha bar where we spent the rest of the night eating, drinking, smoking sheesha, and making new friends. The restaurant was located on a cobblestone street filled with restaurants with busy patios, with trees and lights everywhere. This was probably one of the highlights of the trip.
Thursday
Due to a late night, our day got started a little later than we had anticipated. Our first activity of the day was to visit The Peak. We rode the tram to the top of a mountain, where the ride was so steep it looked as if the buildings beside us were leaning. At the top we visited the Sky Terrace which provided us with spectacular views of the skyline and harbours. This was very beautiful and definitely worth the wait in line to ride the tram.
That night we were to go on a dinner cruise. We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get there since we didn't quite know how to get to the Pier. We arrived at the MTR station very early so we decided to walk around the mall where the station was located to pass the time. Of course, we lost track of time and before we knew it we had hardly any time to get to the pier before the ferry took off. We thought we could take the MTR, but weren't sure where it was, so we thought we would be best to take a taxi. After several attempts to get a taxi (nobody wanted to take us to the other Island) a lady offered to take us. The taxi ride proved a lot longer than I was expecting, and the taxi driver was not confident that she knew where she was going. I didn't think we would make it. Finally we arrived at the pier just on time. We ran up to the boat just as the doors were closing. We started yelling until someone heard us and opened the door for us. I was in shock that we actually made it.
The dinner cruise was pretty nice, although I was kind of expecting something more. We sat at a table with two elderly couples, one from Australia, and the other from Hungary. We ate from a buffet, which was actually really good. We then all walked up to the top deck to watch the "Symphony of Lights" show that lights up along the skyline. This was very beautiful. To top off the night, we took a taxi h ome and when it came time to pay, I realized I lost my wallet. Yikes!! The taxi driver was so nice, he did not charge us for the ride. I was certain I left it on the boat, so we called the company, but it was 10:30pm so there was no answer. We told the front desk what happened and asked them to help us out, we were leaving the next day, and I was trying not to freak out. It was hard to let go of the situation and go to bed hoping for the best. Friday
I was thrilled to wake up in the morning to a phone call from the concierge informing me that the boat company had found my wallet. Almost immediately we packed our bags, checked out, left our bags at the hotel and went to pick up my wallet. We did a lot of riding on the MTR that day. After we got my wallet we visited the Giant Buddha. To get there we rode a gondola that went over the ocean, and through the lush mountains. The sight was wonderful. The is named Tian Tan Buddha and is one of the 5 giant buddhas in China. It is 112 feet tall and we had to climb 268 stairs to visit it. At the top, the views were incredible. I never imagined Hong Kong to be so beautiful. 
Sadly, it was time to go home (our home that is Kaohsiung). Our days were busy, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved Hong Kong, and if I could have, I would have stayed longer.
Love,
Chantal
xo
