Hong Kong Stopover

At the end of my recent “Good Morning, Vietnam” tour, I added one night in Hong Kong to collect myself—and get a fresh look at one of my favorite cities. I have a new friend there, by the way. Her name is Amy Overy and she runs “Hong Kong Greeters.” Oh, she’ll be your friend, too. Heck, that’s her tagline: “Your friend in Hong Kong!” 

Hong Kong Greeters specializes in small groups. In fact, Amy’s favorite tour is a six-hour walking tour for two called “Peak to Piers.” This includes a trip up the tram to Victoria Peak, as well as a ride across the harbor on the iconic Star Ferry. Amy says the tour is full of “Hidden gems and highlights.” And I believe her.

During our brief visit, she showed me the “villain hitters,” where people come to work out a greivance or disagreement with another person. “It could be an ex-husband or a problem co-worker,” she said. Or, perhaps you’ve had a business dispute. The “villain hitter” will write their name down, take their shoe off and slam it on the piece of paper over and over. Then, they’ll burn the paper. There are some other rituals, but Hong Kongers come here to get that personal disagreement off their chest!

Then, we went for some delicious dim sum at one of Amy’s favorite places. I let her order.

Even though it was raining, we pushed on through the meat market, the fish market, the bird market and the flower market.

In the middle of the flower market is one of Amy’s favorite coffee shops, called “Hayfever.” Two thumbs up, although I still prefer “N1 Coffee” over by my hotel, the Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui.

Because Hong Kong is well-connected to the airport with high-speed trains, you can do a tour even if you have a long layover. But I prefer an overnight stay. That way you can see the “Symphony of Lights” display at 8:00 pm in the harbor.

Check out the photos of our “damp tramp” around Hong Kong. Click through to the website and meet up with “Your friend in Hong Kong.” Tell Amy I sent you!