Before flying home to Chicago for a friend's wedding (congrats Robbie and Kirsten!), we stopped in Hong Kong for three nights. I didn't have high expectations, but I think Hong Kong is an amazing city. The bars. The food. The people. It's a completely modern, livable city that, likely due to its British influence, feels more Western than Eastern (side note: we were visiting during the final days of the large-scale political protests against the Chinese government).

So...after spending the majority of the last two months removed from civilization, we did what any red-blooded Americans would do when returning to a civilized city. We ate. And ate. And ate. Basically, we ate the entire 72 hours we were in Hong Kong, with occasional breaks to chew some Tums and take naps.

Our first food stop was at Little Bao in the cool neighborhood of Sheung Wan. They make these amazing little bao buns. I'm actually getting hungry just typing about them. If you ever go, get two of the spicy fried chicken baos...TRUST ME.

Mmmm...spicy chicken bao!

In the morning we grabbed an early breakfast at our hotel, and surprise, surprise, guess who was sitting at the table next to us?

I can't overemphasize how big he was. He had to duck his head when walking down every hallway. I've met a few dozen NBA players before, but damn, I felt like he was another species!

After breakfast, we pretended to visit a few sights, took the Star Ferry to Kowloon, but were really just buying time to go eat again.

Thinking about what to order at lunch...

On the Kowloon side, we stopped at a museum for a few minutes (literally like 5 minutes because Michelle was complaining about how hungry she was), a cool park, and the jade market where we picked up some small souvenirs.

Finally...lunchtime! This time, dim sum at Dim Sum Square.

I LOVE DIM SUM!

Pork rice rolls.  These were the winner for the meal. — Pork rice rolls. These were the winner for the meal.

After lunch, we wandered around SoHo and rambled down Hollywood Road to digest. First up, Man Mo temple.

We kept walking and walking. Basically wasting time until our next meal...

Biding our time...waiting for dinner at Mott 32. This was going to be our big Peking Duck feast. And it did not disappoint. Expensive, but a beautiful and great restaurant.

Peking Duck...which I was not going to attempt carving myself.

That's better.  All ready to go. — That's better. All ready to go.

This was a fancy restaurant, so I'm sure we looked like savages while scarfing down the Peking Duck.

The next morning we woke up to our unbeatable view of the harbor, quickly showered, and then headed off for lunch again. And no, we were not sick of eating yet...

Hong Kong Harbor from Renaissance hotel room.

Lunch was at another dim sum restaurant, this one a little more fancy and traditional - Din Tai Fung in Causeway Bay.

Truffle soup dumplings and orange chicken

After lunch, we walked around Causeway Bay stopping for coffee and checking out the delicious-looking restaurants on Caroline Hill Road. For once, we didn't eat anything!

Kind of crazy that the scaffolding in Hong Kong is made of bamboo. Can't imagine that in New York!

Michelle pointing to her new and improved last name (I hope her family didn't read that last sentence).

We also rode the mid-levels escalators which transport commuters up and down the steep hills in the Central district.

Reminder of the political climate at the time...

In between lunch and dinner, we stopped for some of the famous egg tarts from Tai Cheong Bakery.

That is my reaction to eating more food, not the taste...it was just okay.

The third night, we ate at the relatively new restaurant Mrs. Pound in Sheung Wan with Michelle's former GS coworker Audre. The restaurant is hidden inside the exterior of an old stamp shop with no signage. It's known for its inventive take on street food, so we ordered a bunch of dishes to share including sriracha street corn, beef rendang bao, razor clams, and my favorite, the bulgogi pork belly skewer. All in all, a bit trendier than I prefer, but great food and drinks.

After dinner, we crashed from a food coma. Okay, maybe we over-ate just a little.

In the morning, we hit the subway and headed to the airport a few pounds heavier, destined for the good ole US of A.

-Stephen