48 hours in hong kong

after 4 attempts to give the cab driver the address of our hotel, we gave up and let him take us to the wrong place. I walked into a beautiful lobby, glanced longingly at the sign for the Starbucks in the basement, sighed, and asked the front desk for directions to our far-less-glamorous hotel. that's the great thing about nice hotels - even if you aren't a guest there, the staff is courteous and helpful. ten minutes later we checked in to the right hotel, and found our tiny [but clean!] rooms with hard as rock twin beds.

but really... when you're only in Hong Kong for 48 hours, how much time do you plan to spend in your hotel room?

Hong Kong is bright, busy, fast, loud... exhausting. things kept trying to disappoint us: foggy and smoggy and humid-as-heck weather. city noise that kept us up all night. lack of public toilets. dying camera batteries. my wimpy haggling skills. earth hour shutting down the famous skyline light show. missing Hong Kong changing over from stamping passports to giving entry slips by three days. THREE DAYS.

but more often than not, our trip was filled with a sense of wonder. at least 3 times a day, Husband and I would look at each other and one of us would say "is this really our life?" sometimes I still can't believe it. that we are the kind of people who just fly to Hong Kong for a random weekend. that we live in a part of the world where that's even possible - less than a 2 hour flight. that a year ago I was terrified at the thought of going to mainland China and I spent the weekend within spitting distance. that we just pick up and go to these places we've never been. and it makes me feel unbelievably grateful that I have this opportunity to experience so much of the world and alter my perspective so deeply.