A Night at the Races and Lunch at a Michelin Star Restaurant!

Hey everyone!

On Wednesday night, Bryan and I went to the Happy Valley Race Track on Hong Kong Island to experience "Happy Wednesday". Since it was the last one, we expected it to be crowded, but it was a even more fun than we thought it would be! We went right after Bryan got off work, and went to the beer garden, which was just $10 HK (about $1.25) to get in. It's incredible to see the race track because the way it's built really only enables everyone to see the home stretch of the race, and the track is built in the middle of the giant skyscrapers - so not the ordinary track.

As you can see, it was a beautiful night (we got very lucky!). Once we got there, we wanted to place a bet, so we could get the full experience of being there. There's a race every 30 minutes, so we placed bets on 2-3 of these races, placing the minimum bets of about $2-3 (US), so it was just for fun!

After that, we walked around, got a drink, and the largest hot dogs we've ever seen for dinner! Then we found a place up in the bleachers a little bit, so that we could get a good view of the race.

enough said.

Go horses! (not sure what the proper thing to say is)

We couldn't really manage to take a non-awkward selfie, so this is the best of the bunch :/ - Bryan looks handsome! Overall, we had a lot of fun at the races, and the energy of everyone definitely added to the fun. We were really happy we got to experience at least one of these "Happy Wednesday" traditions.

On another note - we also tried a delicious dim sum restaurant in the IFC Mall that has a Michelin star! There are SO many restaurants here that have Michelin stars, at least way more than I've ever noticed anywhere else. Neither of us could even think of one restaurant with any stars near us in California, but then again, we've never even thought to look. It seems to be a bigger deal here - and more common at the same time. Since I have no experience with them, I don't know if it deserved the rating, but it was delicious!

Last minute thought to take a photo of these dishes!

A sampling of what we ate - delicious.

The dishes came out one at a time, and everyone in the restaurant was served the same dish at the same time (if they ordered it), and then they moved on to the next type of dim sum. We weren't all served at the exact same time, but they brought out a single type at a time - but now that I've exhausted that explanation...  It was just all really good! (also that nest looking thing on the left hand side isn't sugar, it was more like a fried dough)

After we ate, Bryan went back to work, and I went to explore the city a little bit on my own. I walked around for a little, and then remembered that I wanted to try two places that I had yet to visit since we had arrived - an eyebrow threading place and a nail salon. Yes, super important, but it's been over a month since either of these have happened, so I wanted to find places to try out! I had found recommendations online for 2 different locations - one for eyebrows, and one for nails - and both turned out to be great! Most of the nail salons I've walked by in Hong Kong are all way more expensive than at home (over $60 for a pedicure!) and there was no way I was going to do that. The place I found (recommended online) was under $20 for both a manicure and a pedicure - and that's less than at home too. And they did a great job! (and as a note for my dad - the pedicures were done in bowls that were washable + they added a lining for each new person before adding new water - so it was clean). For eyebrows, they charged less than $3! So needless to say, I completely understand why many people recommended both of these places.

Happy with my mani/pedi!

After I found both of the places I'd been looking for, I wandered back to our apartment, following the photo of the map I'd taken before I left. Let me tell you - obviously maps are in 2D, but in Hong Kong this means that you are completely unaware of the type of walk you are about to take. I'm thinking - okay, turn left ahead when I see the next street (which had a name, so it seemed like a regular street), and this is what I actually had to go down (or rather up):

Hong Kong Island is full of staircases and steep streets, so get your walking shoes on if you're going out to explore! Thankfully, I was already wearing mine :)