3 days in Hong Kong is not enough

I really was unsure at first how to title this post. Sometimes it's hard to organize and categorize the memories that I wish to write. but perhaps at least partly, that's because I'm not usually a very organized person. 

Hong Kong is a place I really need to go back to to see more of! 

My Western Ignorance of the orient was beginning to fade as Hong Kong was my first introduction to a China but not China place. There seems to be quite a bit of those. Seriously, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Tibet. In China's point of view, China owns them. Yet Many people really seem to want to be independent from China particularly. 

I once thought Hong Kong was just a major city in China, but was surprised when I learned they have different visa requirements than mainland China and a different currency!

A very colorful currency.

Some count Hong Kong as it's own country, and some view the people there as Hong Kongian rather than Chinese. A local told me that every year they survey people and ask whether they consider themselves Chinese or Hong Kongian.  As an American, I can go to HK for 90 days without needing a visa.

yay!

Before arriving I already had a couchsurfing host. By the way, I would totally recommend to go to HK on a weekend if possible because the concept of the days of the week applies to locals who are not vagabonds and they have this weird thing called work they have to do!  Usually, on the weekdays. :O

When I entered, I was surprised to learn that the had stopped giving stamps in passports and stamped a piece of paper, which was my responsibility not to lose. It really scares the shit out of me when importance is given to anything paper. I tend to lose and forget things easily and paper is especially vulnerable to damage!!  Though I'm sure the info is also kept in a computer.

As many might imagine, The major global trade hub, Hong Kong, is a lovely, lively city.

Bruce Lee is in the background

octopus

Like many parts of Asia, It is crowded and has tasty street food. But What I like about this City is that, Even though it's a huge urban metropolis, there's plenty of nature surrounding it, with islands, beaches, and mountains within the Special Administration region's borders.

While there, I went to visit the Tian Tan Buddha, also known as Big Buddha. 
It's the world's largest sitting Buddha Statue. Or that's what I heard anyway. 

At the entrance burnt the most incense I had ever seen being burned! 

even more incense burning

near the Buddha was beautiful trails, yes this is really in Hong Kong

While in the city, I met up with a friend who I had met in Fiji and happened to be in the city at the same time. Our meet up point was inside of a wine bar. My friend had happened to know the people who worked there. So After the bar was closed, We were hanging out with the managers and drinking wine for free.  What happened after that during that night is my best/ funniest story in Hong Kong, but it involves things that I definitely don't want to be putting on the internet for anyone to read(like my mom for example). 

 While In Hong Kong, One of the things I wanted to do was apply for a visa to China.  Many Americans that I've talked to that have been to China, had to apply several times before getting it. They have the right to tell you no, for any reason they feel like. But I've heard that If you apply from Hong Kong that you're pretty much guaranteed to get it. 
China was the first country I went to where I needed a visa and had to go to a government building and do paperwork to apply. So, I was ignorant and the process was a bigger pain in the ass than I imagined. 
To be perfectly honest, I am afraid of this post sucking. because unfortunately, a lot of my time was consumed and I don't consider my time in Hong Kong to really be enough for a legitimate experience of the place. Yet, What I saw, I really liked and would like to write some about HK. This blog is kinda like my personal online journal written not only for others but myself as well. So, For me anyway, 3 days wasn't enough. What looks like such a tiny dot on a map is so massive up close and full of great things to discover.