Not a bad view, huh? Because I don't eat enough Japanese food, I ate at this stunning Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant in Hong Kong. (More details on the meal in the picture gallery below.)

This week, I returned to freezing Japan, after two wonderful weeks in Hong Kong, aka the motherland, where I wholeheartedly stimulated the economy through shopping and eating, and spent good, quality time with friends and family.

I go back to Hong Kong every couple years or so to see my relatives (and, frankly, to shop), but now that I'm so close to HK, I will probably go back more often. After five months in Japan as a responsible, super-independent adult far from family and old friends, it was so nice to be babied and taken care of by my very nice relatives. And to be able to eavesdrop on people again! And talk to people, everywhere, in languages that I can speak fluently. Phew.

The minute I boarded the plane to Hong Kong in Kansai International Airport, I could feel the difference. People on the plane were chatty. They were brassy (publicly brassy, that is). They were also speaking…Cantonese.

Here are some of the things I enjoyed about being in Hong Kong (aside from the obvious, like, shopping):
  1. Using my cell phone whenever I damn well wanted to
  2. Not being stared at while reading English books on the trains
  3. There are public trash cans everywhere (Japan is very trash-can deficient)
  4. Eating meat, roasted meats! There’s nothing like Hong Kong’s barbecued pork, roasted pork, and soy sauce chicken.
  5. Dim sum. But I can’t talk too much about dim sum, or I’ll get homesick.

  6. Hong Kong cafes, where I can order Horlicks, milk tea, hot lemon tea, congee, afternoon tea sets, and more goodies.
  7. Salted fish and chicken fried rice, rice noodles in soup with fish balls (not those kinds of balls)
  8. There’s English everywhere!

Here are some things I appreciate about being back in Japan:
  1. The customer service—they really do have the best customer service here of any country I’ve visited
  2. The udon, the sashimi
  3. There’s a vending machine every 2 feet (pardon me, every 2 meters)
  4. Their gorgeous desserts. It's strawberry season, which means I can eat things like this:

  5. The delivery services—I got my 28-kg suitcase delivered to my door from the airport for 1870 yen (less than $21 US).
  6. The quiet on the trains (although I do appreciate the Hong Kong brassiness)
  7. Kyoto
  8. The surprises. I’m still learning.

Below, more pictures from Hong Kong:
  1. View of Hong Kong nightscape from Victoria Peak. This view gave me such an overwhelming sense of pride for my birthplace. Hong Kong really is stunning.
  2. Nighttime on the Peak
  3. Hiking near Victoria Peak on Christmas Day
  4. I think everyone should hike with at least four corgis.
  5. Durian-stuffed rolls for dessert with my friend Lina, the intrepid traveler and blogger. My first taste of durian! It turns out that that smell of garbage I’ve always encountered in Chinatowns was actually the smell of durian. It smells like garbage, but tastes sweet, a bit nutty, and pulpy—weird.
  6. Interior of Aqua, a Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant at the top of One Peking Road, Tsim Tsa Tsui.
  7. I had a gloriously buttery miso-grilled black cod set at Aqua.
  8. For dessert, half-baked chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream. Yum.
  9.  Prawn curry at Thai Basil restaurant at Pacific Place, Admiralty.
 10. Fish cake and spring roll platter.
 11. For dessert, pumpkin with ice cream and cotton candy!
 12. Dim sum at Lei Garden. They are rated one-star by Michelin, and oh, do they deserve it. The roasted pork there and their “snowy mountain” egg custard buns are the best I've had anywhere.