HK Day 1

We started off our first full day in Hong Kong by going to the dentist's office for my consultation appointment. My oral surgeon is great. He happens to hail from Winston Salem, NC and got his degree in dentistry from UNC, so an obvious choice. How did I end up with an American oral surgeon in the middle of Hong Kong you might ask? As it turned out American health care is so screwed up that not only patients get ripped off, but doctors hate it too. I thought at least one part of the care-receiver/care-taker relationship was winning out, but apparently the doctors don't want to operate in the American health care system so much that they're willing to move halfway across the world to practice in another country.

After the consultation, Shelley and I went out exploring. After one day, I have to say that Hong Kong has to be the best big city I've ever visited. Shelley and I were trying to compare it to other large cities we've been to. I mentioned Bangkok when we were driving in, but Bangkok is a lot more spread out and the roads are wider. Shelley mentioned Seoul, but Seoul has a much more organized feel to it. Interesting enough, the closest thing this city comes to anywhere else we've ever been is New York City. Take away the dirty streets and rude people you've got Hong Kong. Actually, Hong Kong is more international than even New York. Walking down the street you're just as likely to see an Indian or European as you are to see a native. Equally as interesting is that at not once did we ever consider large cities in East Asia that we've visited in comparison, because Hong Kong is nothing like East Asia. Nothing. It is a different country altogether. It is more like New York City than it is anywhere else in East Asia. This is what a typical street looks like:

After walking around the financial district, we took the tram up to the Peak. This tram ran straight up the mountainside on the back of Hong Kong island to the top of Victoria peak. Literally straight up like a roller coaster. The tram has been running since 1830, and it is a must-experience when you are in Hong Kong. And when you get to the top, the view is worth every minute of the trip:

You can see both sides of Victoria Harbor. The city just goes on forever until you hit the mountains on the opposite side.
However, there was one point today when we thought "maybe East Asia is infiltrating this place":
There is a freedom here that doesn't exist in East Asia. In East Asia, this could never be hung up by a random crazy conspiracy theorist. Afterwards, we walked to Mid-levels which has a giant escalator that runs up the bottom gentle slope of the mountain and has shops on both sides. Supposedly it is the longest escalator in the world, but it is more like a series of airport walkways that you can hop off at each break. One great fact about Mid-levels is that it runs parallel to this thoroughfare:

We finished off the night with Josh and Danielle at Tony Romas. Since I'll be drinking my meals for the next 48 hours or so, I decided to go out with a half-rack of baby back ribs. We'll keep you updated as we check out new things over the upcoming days! Next up, wisdom teeth surgery.