This year was relativity big in regards to my birthday. I hit the big "3" "0" this November! Hubs went totally above and beyond with a trip to Hong Kong to celebrate!! Not only that, he surprised me with a cake ordered ahead waiting for me in the hotel room!
We spent a wonderful weekend in Hong Kong and I really wish I had more pictures to show you but alas our hands were so full of shopping bags the whole time we didn't get many photo ops!! We did get a number of great bargains at the markets though so if you got a Christmas present from us this year there is a good chance it came from a Hong Kong market (we have a stash too so that goes for the next few years as well :)).
The food was great and the city was bustling and impressive. We were very surprised at how familiar everything seemed. We barely felt like we were in a foreign country at all with all the fluent English speakers and English signs posted everywhere! The money exchange did take a little getting used to though since they also use the dollar but one of their dollars is worth almost 8 US dollars. At first glance that can make price tags seem very shocking (" $17 for a cup of coffee?!?!?!!? ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!?! Oh. . wait. . never mind. Sure, I'll take two").
One thing that did make a lasting impression was our ride across the island on one of the many double decker buses. Can you say CRAZY!?!?!
Here is shot from the vantage point of the first row on the top level. Some of the turns were downright terrifying. . .and the whole left side of the road thing certainly didn't help!
Since a picture really can't give it a worthy description I thought this video clip borrowed from one of the Harry Potter movies might give you a better idea of the experience. Granted their bus had three levels, but other than that it is pretty much right one. I think our driver may have even used magic a few times to keep us from crashing.
