Weekend in Hong Kong

*WARNING*: Lengthy post to follow.
This past weekend, I flew to Hong Kong to visit my friend Cecilia (whom I had not seen in about 13 years) and to explore the city. I have not been to the HK since I was in the second grade, so I was very excited. Again, Lydia was a really big help in helping me book my flight tickets and order a taxi.
Thursday afternoon, I left Sansia for Taoyuan International Airport. I arrived at 4 PM, and my flight was scheduled to be at 6:25 PM. We ended up departing at 8:45...over 3 hours in the airport is not fun. However, I was too excited to get to Hong Kong to let that dampen my mood. Once I arrived, I took the airport express train to Hong Kong island, where I met up with Cecilia. We had not seen each other in so long, but correspond via facebook and snail mail. It was nice to see her whole family again.
On Friday, we sat down and decided what to do for the next two days. That day, we ended up going out to lunch with the whole family at a restaurant nearby their apartment. We ate some traditional Cantonese dishes like spicy salt porkchop, stir-fried vegetable, fish fillets in corn sauce, bitter melon with beef, and shredded duck with bean sprouts. I was so very happy because I had been craving Cantonese food in Taiwan. Also, I had a Schweppes Cream Soda for the first time in many, many years. Hong Kong food=happiness. After lunch, we went to Tom Lee, a music store chain, so that I could look for some Chinese sheet music. I hit the jackpot! I got so many books...Jacky Cheung, Sam Hui, a little Jay Chou...After a little bit of shopping in Wancai, we headed up to The Peak. To get there, we had to take the Peak Tram. The line was so long, but it did not take us much time to purchase our tickets. We got into the tram a little late, so we ended up having to stand. I felt like I was going to fall backwards onto somebody because during some parts of the ascent, we went up at at 45 degree angle. It was all worth it though...even though it was a little foggy that night, the view of Victoria Harbor is still breath-taking. It was so gorgeous that we ended up staying for a couple hours up at the sky terrace. To finish off the day, we took the bus back to Cecilia's neighborhood and had a very late dinner at 11 PM.
On Saturday, I had delicious dim sum with the whole family. For those of you who do not know, dim sum is kind of like Chinese brunch. It is usually eaten in late morning, around 10 am. There are various small dishes you can order so that you get a sampling of everything. And of course, tea is served. After this, we went downstairs to the plaza to shop in Jusco, the "dollar" store. I found a lot of cute, random things there, so it was productive. After a quick rest, we went to Goldfish street (a street where they have all aquarium stores), Flower Street (they used to sell flowers here), and Toy Street (they have a lot of random little trinkets). Later, we took the MTR to Tsim Sa Tsui and saw the Peninsula hotel, Avenue of Stars, and the HK skyline in the day. Avenue of Stars is kind of like what they have in Hollywood with the stars' names and handprints on the ground. I saw the Bruce Lee statue!! Then, we met up with Cecilia's parents and had dinner at a noodle and soup place. The beef rice noodle soup was so very good and authentic. Afterward, we all went back to Tsim Sa Tsui for the laser show. Every night at 8, the HK skyline buildings light up and flash to a music program and lasers shoot out from them to make for a very pretty show. I really think Hong Kong's skyline is so beautiful and unique. Victoria Harbor is gorgeous during both the day and night. To get back to Wancai across the harbor, we took the Star Ferry. It was nice to have that breeze in such humid weather.
Sunday morning, I went to mass with the whole family since they are Catholic. It was interesting...it was all in Cantonese, but I understood what they were talking about. Afterward, we had breakfast at a VERY traditional cafe. It was made to be just like a cafe from the 50's or 60's. I had very delicious french toast and lemon tea. After a little grocery shopping, it was off to the airport to fly back to Taipei. I had a wonderful, memorable weekend, and am so thankful for the whole family's generosity and hospitality. I hope to visit this amazing city in the near future.