asia - day 18 - a homecoming of sorts

after a long 24+ hour train ride, we arrived in hong kong! i hadn't been to hong kong since i was 13 years old so i was excited to see if i remembered anything about it. i didn't. what amazed me was how much i loved it! i generally am gravitated to more natural and rustic travel destinations but there was something comforting about hong kong. it almost felt like i was coming home. we arrived at hung hom (kowloon) station and even though i didn't know how to get to our hotel, i felt relieved that we were there.



we eventually did make it to our hotel... after we checked in, we took a walk around, craned our necks to look at the tall buildings, and headed to a mall. finally, a mall... yay for shopping!!!





this mall was called elements and it had a bejewelled mercedes on display. vince was excited but i was a little frightened.




what excited me was the FAB.U.LOUS hat exhibit beside the glittery monster!!!!! millinery, i want to give you a try. here are just a few of the hats that were on display. there was also a LCD screen that was showing one hat at a time - you could stand in front of it and there was a camera on you so the screen would show you "wearing" the hats. so fun! this kept us entertained much longer than you would believe.




we were famished after trying on all the hats so we went for lunch. mmm, soy milk and noodle soup! the noodle soup came deconstructed and we didn't know how to eat it so we just mixed it all up. i think the waitstaff were making fun of us, hehe.




after dinner, it was time to go to one of the many night markets. i can't remember what this one is called but it's in kowloon near all the outdoor restaurants that serve big bowls of clams.



we didn't buy anything but did pass into a little convenience store on the way home to buy our favourite snack - potato chips. these were some of the best chips i've ever had. i'm not sure if it was because of the wasabi flavour or the interactive nature of the experience but YUM-O!