The Visa Run: Hong Kong

There's so much I want to talk about that I had to split my 'Visa Run' entry in two.  In this post, I'll talk about my time in Hong Kong and in the next entry, Macau. 

My flight from Chiang Mai actually took me to Macau first, but short bus ride and an hour ferry later, I was in Hong Kong.  Per the ferry, I opted for "Super Class" because "Economy" was sold out, it was only HK 140 (HK 7 = $1 U.S.) more, and I didn't want to wait half an hour for the next boat to depart. 

Poker

While I planned on spending most of my time exploring Hong Kong, I packed my laptop in case there came a point where I wanted to relax, unwind, and load up a few SNGs.  And on the second night, it happened.  I had returned from the Temple Market, a large late night street market that was very similar to the night markets in Thailand except the same items cost more in Hong Kong.  After spending the last few hours walking and haggling, all I wanted to do was curl up with PokerStars and get in some games.  Unfortunately, I forgot my power cord.  I'm such a fish. 

Food

For the last few weeks, I've been droning on and on about wonton soup.  I'm a big fan of the stuff and I couldn't wait to try the real thing in Hong Kong.  I was surprised to find it wasn't as popular as I thought, or at least not in the restaurants I stumbled into.  On the first night I settled for a place near my hotel and thoroughly enjoyed this spicy, garicky grilled chicken dish served on a bed of fried butter spinach.  Wow.
 

But it wasn't wonton soup.  Finally I found a place -- Mak's Wonton Noodle.  A food critic in the NY Times claimed it might be the best in all of Hong Kong, so I successfully navigated the MTR (Subway) and found it without much difficulty. 

The soup didn't disappoint.  While the noodles were initially a bit chewy, they softened in the hot soup and the shrimp wontons were plump, juicy, and delicious.  On my way back to the hotel I passed by a Chinese bakery and picked up a few of my favorite dim sum dishes, two steamed BBQ pork buns and a sweet coconut bun.  Yum.

Visa

On Tuesday I headed to the Thai Consulate.  In Laos, I handed my passport to a random guy and that was it.  No paperwork, no standing in line, no hassle.  This time, it was much more of an ordeal.  Employees of the Thai Consulate in Hong Kong were extremely unhelpful.  To have be approved, I needed two 2x3 photographs, a completed application form, and photocopies of my passport.  The application forms were nowhere in sight, none of the employes knew of a nearby photocopy place, and the woman at counter spent a minute heavily scrutinizing my photo before eventually letting it pass.  It took me a half hour to handle everything, plus HK $8 because pens at the Thai Consulate apparently aren't free.  Finally I handed all the stuff in and was told that I couldn't pick it up until Thursday.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Truth be told, I would have gone to Disneyland even if my Visa was available in a timely manner.  I'm a big kid at heart and this was the part of Hong Kong I was most looking forward to.  I took the MTR (Direct line to Disneyland) and for those of you planning to visit Hong Kong, I'd recommend using MTR because it's relatively easy (even for a person like myself, who is terrible with directions) and considerably cheaper than using Taxis.

Most of Hong Kong was expensive, but the prices at Disneyland weren't too bad.  I expected a lot worse.  I had an incredible time at the park; I visited each of the six themed areas, went on some rides, met a few of my childhood heroes (Goofy obv), took tons of pictures, and bought some essential souvenirs.

Picked up my Visa on Thursday morning and then it was off to Macau.