I’ve been here for three days already, so it’s time I write something about my adventures so far. I love Hong Kong. It might be my favorite city in Asia so far. I am staying at my friend’s place on Hong Kong Island, so my exploration of the city started in Central.

I came equipped with this list and started crossing off. On the first day, I took a ride in a ding-ding, managed to find the Wan Chai Ferry Terminal and crossed Victoria Harbour on the Star Ferry.

I paid for everything with my Octopus Card, which is a must-have if you want to explore the city. And you can pay for almost anything with it – even at 7/11 and some other stores. I took a look around Tsim Sha Tsui and then jetlag knocked me out.

The second day was a bit more difficult. Since I am traveling alone, I was kind of skipping meals – which never happens at home. So I almost fainted in the middle of a coffee shop, which was a warning sign. I got really scared and it got me in a »What am I doing here, I should go home« mode. So I made a promise to myself (as well as to some people at home) that I will be more careful and will take it easy.

This episode (and breakfast at Grassroots Pantry) knocked me out again and I slept to the middle of the day, which didn’t really help my jetlag. But after that, I finally managed to get myself to the beautiful Victoria Peak.

I took my friend’s advice, skipped the Tram and took the very cozy and much cheaper bus nr. 15 from the Exchange Station. Found some random art getting there.

The bus is quite easy to manage, but it is a bit tricky since the outbound route is not the same as the inbound one. So going back I was guessing a bit where to step off to find the closest MTR station.

Victora Peak is awesome by the way, but the Sky Terrace is kind of an unnecessary investment if you don’t like huge crowds. It is better to just take a walk along the Peak Trail. Since I was quite tired I didn’t do the full circle, but there were some minutes when I was actually completely alone with nature, which is a really rare here.

View from Lions Pavillion:

View from the Sky Terrace:

View from the Peak Trail:

I ended the day with drinks at a rooftop bar in Kowloon with friends. By this point, I already decided I loved this city.

Since it is 13th of June: Happy birthday dear mom!!!

Read more in part 3.