Have you ever watched Covert Affairs? My friend E got me hooked on it a couple years back. In the season 4 finale (*spoilers*) Annie Walker (my favorite fictional spy) is on a private boat back home and the final scene is just a shot of her with the entire Hong Kong skyline behind her and a very fitting Moby song playing in the background. (Seriously, you should watch it. It’s a great series.) The point is, it set a very “calm in the midst of chaos” vibe. That was the mindset with which I arrived. Partially due to jet lag, partially due to sleep deprivation, everything seemed to move very slowly around me.

I didn’t know very much about the city going to Hong Kong. I knew that the population is as dense as the architecture, the food is amazing and it’s very hot. These are all things I can confirm were true. Things I wanted to do included visit the top of Victoria Peak, have beer on the roof of the IFC mall at night (upon recommendation from a coworker), and eat everything. There were some other places I saw on Instagram but what’s the point of taking the exact same picture as a thousand other millennials? Upon arrival at the hostel (stayed at Check Inn in Wan Chai), this girl from Scotland who is on vacation here from China where she’s teaching English, M, introduces herself to us and after we had settled in, has accumulated a crew for evening wanderings around town. O and I were impressed. We need more people like this is the world. Also this is the main reason why I like staying at hostels. We ended up at a part of Central known for it’s nightlife and even though it’s not really my scene, I was thoroughly fascinated. The street was over-crowded and music was blaring from every club. What I couldn’t understand was why people bought drinks at these clubs when there was a fully stocked 7Eleven on the same street. Don’t worry, that one was packed too. The night ended with street food (dim sum) and more Tsingtao, courtesy of the nearest 7Eleven.

The next day began with dim sum (shocker) and centered around an adventure to Victoria Peak. What everyone tells you is take the tram with every other tourist in town. What the customer service representative told us was take the 15 bus for less than half the price instead. Not only was it half empty, but the views as the bus snaked around the cliff were unparalleled. When finally at the peak, O and I opted for the trail around the peak instead of the designated viewing platform (which to me seems designed solely to support the tourism industry). The views were unlike anything I could have ever anticipated. On one side you had hundreds of buildings clearly comprising the city’s core while on the other you were looking at a mountainous jungle paradise seemingly untouched by humans. There were several small islands scattered around and boats traveling among them. We were speechless. Of all the beautiful things I’ve seen so far, this was something else! This was exactly the “calm in the chaos” feeling I needed. Exhausted from literally everything at this point, we just sat down. We sat there and just stared out at the vastness before us and in that moment, just sitting there was everything.

That night ended in beers on a rooftop (one of my travel addictions) upon recommendation from my coworker, L, who had lived in Hong Kong for a few months. She said it was a “great view.” That didn’t even begin to cover what this was. M decided to join us for this endeavor and we made our way through the closed IFC mall after hours to the roof which was lined with nearly empty restaurants. The skyline was lit up on the mainland, reflected in the water in front of it. The night was warm but the breeze was cool. It was quiet except for the dull lull of traffic which played like the city’s soundtrack in the background. This moment was perfect. After frantically photographing everything, we sat down, popped open our beers and ‘cheersed’ to being literally halfway around the world.

Valuable things learned in and about Hong Kong:
– the public transit system is very good
– 7Eleven has everything including great beer and it’s literally everywhere
– take the 15 bus to the peak instead of the tram to save money and hassle
– walk a trail around the peak at the top instead of going to the observation deck – the view is better and private
– everything is in English
– there is WiFi everywhere
– they drive on the left
– dim sum is the best and cheapest street food and can be consumed as every meal
– tiny restaurants where white people are handed picture menus have the best food
– squatting toilets are a thing found in public washrooms
– it really is very hot in this city
– Wan Chai and Chai Wan are two very different locations on the same subway line – don’t mix them up
– the roof of the IFC mall has the best free city skyline view
– the architecture is fascinating
– the A11 bus can be taken to the airport from Hong Kong Island instead of the Airport Express and costs less than half the price but takes about double the time
– outdoor escalators and walkways are everywhere and are meant for crossing streets to avoid traffic
– the nightlife in Central is everything

I don’t need a lot of time somewhere to fall in love with the place. Either I love it or I don’t, and Hong Kong I definitely love. And so now I’ll be forever drawn to the city; drawn to visit the piece of my heart that I left somewhere on Hong Kong Island.