Last week we stopped for a whirlwind visit to Hong Kong, and it was a blast!
On my first day off the ship, a group of us went to Hong Kong Disneyland, which is the newest and the smallest of the five Disneyland-style parks worldwide. Basically, it’s a lot like the original Disneyland, but more Chinese.
We went on a Saturday but there was hardly anyone there. And we saw something you hardly ever see at the Disneyland in California:
Yes, that’s right: SpaceMountain had a stand-by wait time of just 5 minutes! The most I ever saw it get up to all day was 15 minutes. That’s unheard of!
Because the park is so small, they didn’t have some of my Disney favorites such as the HauntedMansion or Pirates of the Caribbean. But they did have an incredible Jungle River Cruise that kicks the butt of the one in California. We had a huge lunch (what better place to eat Chinese food than in China?) and then went on the Mad Tea Party. That was a mistake. By the end of it we were sweating, wobbling, and trying not to puke. Small World is much the same as in the States except it has a part specifically depicting Hong Kong:
One thing they have at Hong Kong Disneyland that they don’t have in either California or in Florida is Toy Story Land! The only other Toy Story Land is in Disneyland Paris. It’s a very small land – just three rides, a snack cart, and a place to meet characters. But the decoration and the detail on everything is really incredible, and two of the rides take you up really high and give you incredible views of the whole park.
And of course, while I was there, I was able to get my requisite Duffy picture, this time in front of a display window at the Main Street Emporium:
And I was able to gather more evidence for my growing suspicion that caramel popcorn is the norm in the Asia-Pacific region.
On my second day off the ship, we went to an adopt-a-Sailor event where American ex-pats living in Hong Kong show visiting service-members around the city. One of my liberty buddies for this excursion was the only other lawyer on the ship, a Marine who graduated from Notre DameLawSchool eight years before I did. Well it turns out that one of our hosts was also a lawyer who went to Notre Dame, so that made three of us! We marveled at the coincidence and took a picture to send to the alumni newsletter.
Our hosts took us to a racetrack where their club had a private box. It was a really nice way to spend an afternoon. I have been to the races plenty of times, but I had never been up to the boxes before. Let me tell you, it’s quite nice up there. There was food and wine and a great view of the whole track. And we got to meet some very interesting Americans and Britons who had ended up in Hong Kong for one reason or another. I gambled away 700 Hong Kong Dollars, which is 100 U.S. Dollars. I hit a couple winners, but not enough to come out ahead.
After the races, we went to a reception at The American Club Hong Kong. This was also a very nice event with interesting ex-pats, delicious food, and ample drink in a beautiful venue with an impressive view of the city.
When the reception was over, I somehow ended up going out drinking with a group of Marines. Though there was potential for many bad things to happen, none of them did. We went to Lan Kwai Fong, a densely-packed entertainment district with over 100 bars and restaurants. Pretty much everyone from the ship was there. At the end of the night, I made it back to the ship on time, in one piece, and having committed no illegal or immoral acts under the influence.
Of all the places I’ve visited on this deployment, Hong Kong is the only one I really want to go back to some day. It was a good, good time.
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