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From the moment we arrived in Hong Kong, it was very clear how commercial the entire place was. It was around midnight then but the streets of Kowloon was still buzzing with activity and was very well-lighted.

I was actually shocked that we were in Kowloon, haha. Because the last time I was there (approximately 14 years ago), it looked a lot like a more packed Binondo. Kowloon now is full of well-lighted modern buildings — you can hardly tell where one started and one ended — with Chanel and Sasa branches in every corner. Marking Chanel as a landmark there is like marking Mini Stop as a landmark here.

I saw HK mostly at night. I mentioned in my previous post that during the day, Cris and I would be stuck in the largest convention center I have ever seen. That being the case, we did our best to entertain ourselves, while fighting the temptation to buy just about everything in sight.

Ah…and our worst experience while traveling, I guess, was when these bunch of gargantuan, Amazon-like party girls pulled then pushed us away from the cab we were grabbing. We were there first, huh! They were big bullies in the literal sense and were talking in super fast and super loud tones but I suppose that was part of the adventure. I was actually tempted to take a photo of them and then blog about the experience but they were 5…and like I said, huge. I’ve seen YouTube videos of people being mauled in Hong Kong that I dare not risk ending up in the hospital. (My mom, who used to work for San Miguel Corporation in HK, says they’re probably not really from HK and promptly blamed another country. LOL.)

In any case, we still had fun. After recovering from the shock, that is, as I have never encountered such monumental rudeness in all my travels. Anyhoo, here are some snippets of our fun nights in HK. You can also view the rest of the photos on the Skysenshi’s Hermitage Facebook Page.

Second night: Studying the map at a Japanese restaurant in Kowloon. The funny thing is, despite having a map, we’d still get lost.

Satisfied. I think I can’t stop eating Japanese food everywhere.

Cris pointing to an old school bottle-cap. I miss these, actually, as I think the new ones are kinda weird (they dip into your drink, ew).

I was in the mood for something warm and sea weed heavy. This udon dish hit the spot.

Cris loves tonkatsu!

The next day, we decided to book a cruise ship dinner at the hotel lobby just before leaving for the Siggraph convention.

Another cruise ship over thar. The lights in HK are beautiful at night.

More lights. ^_^

This is what the cruise ship looks like from the inside. I didn’t take photos of the buffet tables because they looked messy (after all the tourists had gotten to them), but there were lots and lots and lots.

Our entertainment. Cris actually guessed that they were Filipinos, and when I smiled at that girl over there, we seem to have understood each other.

That’s the funny thing. I kept getting asked about directions from Mainland Chinese and their questions were in Chinese…which had me checking the mirror to make sure that my eyes still looked big. Got the same reaction from Singaporeans.  But Pinoys can tell, even the ones that I thought were Singaporeans because they spoke fluent Singlish.

What I ate. Well, about half of it since I came back for seconds, thirds, fourth…Needless to say, those pounds I lost in the last 7 months due to stress? I ate my way back to them.

Beautiful Symphony of Lights. HK is renowned for them. What happens is that at a certain time during the night, many of the popular buildings would do an exhibition of lights. More photos of that in the Facebook Page.

Viewing the city through the windows. It’s actually cold up on the deck so I quickly climbed back down after the Symphony of Lights.

The showgirls performing Nobody, which was the only song I recognized since they seem to be singing ancient Chinese songs all the time…and a few ancient Japanese songs as well.

Ah, this is what the convention center looks like. Those green lights change to pink.

The legendary Hong Kong Clock Tower. We took the scenic route after the cruise and passed by the Avenue of Stars, which is like the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Posing by the harbor.

Finally got to the Avenue of Stars. Sorry, I couldn’t get a proper shot of the lady’s head. This place is better seen during the day, as there are lots of interesting statues to see.

The marker of an actress with an enchanting name. I took photos of Jackie Chan’s, Bruce Lee’s (of course!), Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and other HK actors that I know of. Jackie Chan’s marker had his hand prints. You can see more photos here.

Just had to take a photo of this Chinese junk. The reds were beautiful.

Bruce Lee!

Busy busy busy nights steeped in commerce.

And thiiiiiiiis…is a giant Ferrero Christmas Tree.

Up close. Enough to make a chocolate-lover’s mouth water.

Ah, this is street food. I believe they’re called bubble waffles. They’re so much fun to eat, especially when you’re walking down so many avenues. ^_^;

Up next, HK by day. But that was just a few hours before our flight so we didn’t get to explore much.