The real start to Hong Kong

I woke up feeling much better and received a call from a friend, Eileen- from my previous job at Wathne. She is head of production and was in town dealing with handbags. I met up with her in Kowloon and this was actually my first venture on the MTR, subway system. I have to say it again... it is so easy and clean! I love their public transport! I am not sure I would have been brave enough to try it alone on my first day out if it hadn't been for these plans... I am so glad I had a little kick in the ass/ motivation to try it. I felt so silly for being nervous about getting around HKG.

Eileen was staying at the intercontinental. I haven't seen accommodations that nice since I was in the states! I was very tempted to take a bath in her huge tub, or a nap in her comfy bed... but a lunch invitation to a very prestigious Japanese restaurant was more appealing! We had a great laugh over a few cocktails (oops, antibiotics) and a delicious meal. Sadly Eileen had to head back to the states right after lunch... but she did have a look at my map and gave me all the must sees and hot spots of Hong Kong. This really kicked things off for me.

I left Eileen and wandered around Kowloon. The view was amazing- that great HKG skyline! I tried to find a travel agency to book a tour but it was very difficult. I realized that Hong Kong and China are two very separate entities and coordinating anything but a flight ticket from Hong Kong to somewhere in China is impossible.

It was super hot and a humid day. I was exhausted and feeling hungover in the early evening. I headed back to the hostel and met someone new. A fellow American- but from the other side of the world... Texas. His name was BJ...super nice kid. We made plans for the evening. As we were about to go we met someone new, Charlie... a bloke from London. The three of us decided to go back to Tsi Sha Tsui, Kowloon to watch the light show, which I believe I have already written about. It was very cool though because there was live classical music playing and seemed to be synchronized to the music. It reminded me of 4th of July on my moms roof!

We walked around a bit and decided to try and go into to the Peninsula Hotel. They have a bar on the top floor with once again a spectacular view. Now here was the catch: I was wearing a dress but was in flip flops, Charlie was wearing a button down shirt but with boardies and BJ was in a Polo shirt but in shorts and flip flops. We figured we were probably under dressed but figured if we walked in like we belonged they would let us in... or we could pretend our parents were staying there... apparently everyone thinks I look very young (that may be pushing it though!).

As we approached the hotel we noted the boutiques it also housed- LV, Hermes and others of the like. It didn't look good.. but two cocky Americans were set out to pay for an overpriced drink just to see the same view we had just been admiring from the promenade. Three business men were also heading up to the bar. My strategy was to make friends with them in hopes that the staff would think we were with them. Well, upon arrival to the bar... the hostess didn't look happy to see us and the three guys sold us out! They got in and as I am sure you have guessed, we did not.

The boys however did get to use the facilities as the men's room was specially designed. When you wee, you face the floor to ceiling windows and get to see the panoramic view of the sky line. I just waited by the elevators feeling defeated.

We took the ferry back to HKG island, which was all of 25 cents (USD). It was very slow and we soon realized why it was so cheap! We went to Central area and basically got lost trying to find a restaurant. We just wanted a hole in the wall cheap place and ended up stumbling on the hot part of town (I forget the street name)and ended up going to a very touristy and pricey place- though it was very good.

We hit up the very western bars afterward and had a late night! We first started at a pub and ordered a vat of beer. It was a large tube filled with beer, an insulated ice strip and a tap... it was great! Of course we had some catching up to do as it was late... so we drank it in about 20 minutes...

We next wandered to a couple of more bars until we went to our final one. My luck it was free vodka drinks for girls... of course I shared with the boys! We met some cool Ozzies and hung out and danced with them. The boys were in heaven because there were a lot of cute local girls in there showering them with attention. We all danced a lot, took a lot of photos and once again the boys were loving the attention... until... we turned around and saw a fuggly older guy dancing with a beautiful young local. This seemed a little fishy. Charlie went to the bartender who confirmed that all of these ladies were prostitutes. Once again I was surrounded by hookers and dancing with them at that! We had such a laugh! It was pretty late at this point- the three of us were standing at the bar when Charlie dared me to ask the girls how much for a night.

Well at 2 am, after some drinks who turns a dare like that down?! So here is how it went down:

Gi: "Hey my friends over there want to have a good time tonight."
Hooker 1: smiled and spoke in broken English
"Oh you have good time, dance a lot."
Gi: "A lot of fun but my friends want to have a good time with YOU tonight."
Hooker 1: "Good time with me?"
Hooker 2: "Two boys or one?"
Gi: "They both do."
Hooker 2: "1500 each."

And it was that easy. They had no intention of going with these girls, nor did they. It was simply a dare that I can't even believe I went through with!

Once again and adventurous night.