So yep, we're back from our adventures in Hong Kong and Bali! And, as I
And okay, we've been back a week already. But, in my defense: it's been hella busy in Crabland.
Still bleary from the long-ass flight and 15 hour time difference (which is actually only a 9 hour difference if you just write off a day, but 15 sounds more impressive doesn't it?) we dived right into a crapload of chores. We unpacked, cleared out our San Diego condo and got it ready for rental, repacked, and jumped in our car and drove to Texas. (Plus we got chased by a few tornadoes the last day, which made it quite exciting for us coastal-dwelling gals. We may yawn during earthquakes or hurricane warnings but are a little leery of the whole twister thing, what with the prospect of flying cows and wicked witches and softball-sized hail and all).
The storms were moving northeast.
That scared-looking little blue dot? That's us.
That scared-looking little blue dot? That's us.
But anyway, we made it safe and sound to our Frisco Texas stopover and will fly to Provincetown this weekend. Meantime, now that we are not moving for a few days, here's a bit about our recent travels.
Bright Lights Big, City
Hong Kong was our first stop. Neither of us had been to Asia before, so we weren't sure what to expect.
First off: Hong Kong is BIG. You know how most cities have a few areas with massive skyscrapers and gargantuan sprawling blocks of apartment buildings that cram bazillions of people into the smallest space possible?
Well, Hong Kong is like that everywhere. To the hundredth power.
This was just one tiny slice, taken from one of several windows in our hotel room.
I suppose we should have predicted this, but Hong Kong seemed very modern and commercial and Western. Except for the surgical-mask-wearing propensity of its population, it did not feel particularly exotic.
Which was maybe a little disappointing? But also good in that it was not at all challenging to navigate: the subway system was easey-peasey; English was widely spoken and included in most commercial signage, and we never had to step out of our comfort zone.
Well okay, there were occasional reminders that we were in a foreign country; this particular film was not airing at our local San Diego multiplex last time I checked.
Over the 3 days we were there, we did some of the usual touristy stuff and mostly enjoyed ourselves. We took a hop-on hop-off bus tour of the island and wandered around in Stanley and did some of the night markets and went up the giant Mid-level escalators and poked around SoHo and Sheung Wan. The weather was crappy so we didn't take many pictures, and we skipped the Victoria Peak tram ride that was supposed to be a crowded pain in the ass but provide stupendous views in nice weather, but there was plenty to keep us busy.
Overall, it seemed more like a pragmatic sensible sort of city that would be very comfortable to live in, rather than a razzle-dazzle OMG tourist destination.
But then we didn't have any convenient relatives or friends living there to to take us to all the cool stuff barely-informed tourists like us always miss when they go places. So consider this your official Clueless Tourist Take on Hong Kong.
However, day two was definitely the highlight:
Cheung Chau Island Adventure
We took a ferry to a nearby island; again, public transportation was cheap and simple to figure out.
We had a grand ol' time hiking the hills and roads and enjoying the views.
We stopped by a few temples and shrines,
and prepared ourselves to beat the crap out of any unexpected wildfires,
We strolled the harbor,
The Obligatory Health and Fitness Part:
So yeah, this is a health blog, and so I'll dutifully mention that we tried to steer our usual middle course between enjoying once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities and totally blowing our generally sensible diets and healthy lifestyle habits.
So we had some dim sum, which was fun, but otherwise pretty much tried to favor vegetables and fruit and lean protein over nutritionally bankrupt refined carbs and gratuitous battered and deep-fried offerings.
But actually, this was harder than I had figured!
While public transportation was cheap, food generally wasn't unless it was refined carb and fat-based. (The misleading squid salad I put up before in the guess-where-I-am post was hard to find, and not inexpensive).
I had somehow imagined there would be tons of stir-fries on offer everywhere, heavy on the vegetables, because I grew up with the stereotype that eating Chinese meant being hungry again half an hour later. Silly me!
As to exercise, our hotel had a fitness center which we used. But mainly, we walked our butts off.
So, thanks for bearing with the travelogue. Coming as soon as I get my act together: Part Two, Bali, Indonesia! And then, just for a change of pace, Cranky Fitness may actually resume its sporadic attempts to be a fitness blog.
Have you been to any Asian countries? Would you want to visit someday?