The hour we spent in the Shanghai Puddong airport was used to formally introduce ourselves to TsingTao (my new favorite beer) and to plan the rest of our trip. Nothing like waiting until we were already there to plan what we were going to do. :)
We arrived in Hong Kong just after the sun had gone down, found an express train in to the city and took a taxi straight to our hotel (thank goodness for bilingual tourist maps). We checked in, dropped off our bags, changed clothes and were ready for a little Chinese nightlife. As we left our hotel and walked down Hollywood Road (that was seriously the name of the street) on our way to Soho (seriously), I fell in love with Hong Kong. I don't even really quite know how it happened. It was dark, most of the shops on the streets were closed, there was a lot of construction so it wasn't particularly beautiful, but there was something about it. Just one of those feelings. In Sex & the City Carrie described New York City as her perfect boyfriend ... if I could date a city, Hong Kong would definitely be it.
We walked to Soho, found the worlds longest outdoor escalator (I come across the most random stuff), took it all the way to the top, found a nice restaurant for a late night dinner and then headed to where the music was coming from.
The world's longest outdoor escalator ... how random, yet how Tara:
One of the Hong Kong vibes that I picked up on instantly was that the city was like Asia's international melting pot. There were all sorts of everything ... all types of people (speaking all sorts of languages), all kind of restaurants, all sorts of shops ... all of which was exciting. One of the most exciting things I picked up on right away was that a lot of people spoke English (or at least they did in the areas we were frequenting). That definitely made things a lot easier considering I was lacking serious confidence in my ability to speak Cantonese.
Daniel and I had read about Lan Kwai Fong being known as 'Hong Kong's most popular and well known area for a night out. Boasting numerous bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants, it is a popular choice for the well off locals, expatriates and tourists. The high costs associated with the area makes this a relatively high class location, although the quality and reputation of this area is obvious virtually every night. Visiting on a Friday or Saturday night you may be overwhelmed by the enormous crowds that fill the streets (which are closed for several hours to vehicular traffic), with all bars having only standing room.' I don't know about the 'high class' bit, but we were definitely up for numerous bars, pubs and clubs. 
We found exactly what we were looking for and it all started with a little 'Dancing Queen' from ABBA. That's how Daniel and I knew that we were in the right place. The song will forever remind us of this one crazy night of dancing in Brisbane, Australia with a group of our principals and every single time I hear it I laugh out loud really hard. Hearing it in Hong Kong was equally hilarious and made us kind of want to dance, which is excactly what you can do in Lan Kwai Fong.
And you can eat pineapple jello!! Amazing. 
Of course we didn't make it back to Hollywood Street until late in the evening (more like early in the morning) and when the alarm was going off at 8:00am I couldn't even be mad because we were in Hong Kong!!
much love
-tara-
xx
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