Day 0 + 1
SFO lit up in its annual Christmas colors (one thing I noticed is that the people in HK say "Merry Christmas" almost exclusively whereas folks in the US tend to say "Happy Holidays")
SFO's international terminal built in 2000 (SOM) still looks clean, modern, and spacious
Daniel Lurie here to welcome and bid safe travels to passengers
Took a Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER red eye nonstop flight to HKG. Flight was smooth but long (15+ hours). Food was so so. Service was excellent.
Legion of 的士. Arrived around 6:30 AM local time, and took a shuttle to check into the Airbnb
First meal in Hong Kong, at a cha chaan teng meal. It was perfect - no frills, very real, and packed with flavor. Ordered the breakfast set with beef satay in noodle soup, fried eggs and toast, and a hot milk tea. Also added a pineapple bun. HK has definitely gotten more expensive but the meal still came in under $9 USD.
After breakfast, when out for a short stroll to get a feel for the neighborhood (Koreatown in Tsim Sha Tsui) and buy some groceries. Cantonese spoken with a Korean accent is very interesting!
The weather throughout most of the trip was a very comfortable/slightly warm high 60s/low 70s with moderate-high humidity, so I was most often in shorts and a t-shirt, whereas most locals were still wearing pants and sweaters/jackets.
TST is a very tourist (mainly Mandarin speaking) heavy area
Lots more variety of cars (mainly EVs)
HK is very walkable with narrow streets and excellent transit. However, you still need to be careful crossing streets (aggressive drivers), and the sidewalks can be narrow at times or not in the greatest shape, or have steps. Or there can just be tons of pedestrians, so not much separation between you and cars if you're walking on the the street side of the sidewalk.
I didn't try this place, because why would I as a Californian? I did wonder how busy it gets during peak dining times... I can't imagine many people go to HK for the Mexican food.
It was next to some sort of Middle Eastern coffee place
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