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8 hours to kill in Hong Kong

Described as the fragrant harbor meaning Hong Kong this bustling region in south China was our layover as we headed to Japan for spring break.

Having visited at some leisure few years back we were hoping to visit some fondly remembered eateries but this time around we were early.   As in too early.   This is what happens when you connect through another airport and there is no control on the itinerary.

We landed around 5 am.  But by the time we cleared customs and immigration the airport express train service had begun and so we went to check out our options to see if we could visit the gambling destination of Macau.   An island with an economy much like Vegas,  an hour's ferry ride from HK was going to be a tight timetable so we instead chose to loiter on HK island and were able to take in lot of sights and sounds and flavors - some different than the last visit.  A cacophony of people, vehicles and vendors plying everything from baked goods to fancy jewelry it is a city that winds up and down and is a mish mash of crooked and crowded streets that sell street food from all continents but suddenly open into large glitzy shopping neighborhoods at the next bend on an escalator.   Yes, some neighborhoods actually have outdoor escalators to move people up the hill with a roof overhead to shelter them from the frequent rain squalls.
We enjoyed some desi chai equivalent (at Tsui Wah - yes chai bilkul wah wah thee) with toasted bun and condensed milk for breakfast  (which was early dinner time in CA) and later strolled the harbor which was heavily foggy.

Barely could make out Kowloon island a mile across the strait.

Grabbed few noodles and Japanese curried rice before boarding next flight to Nagoya.

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