I feel that while there are many cities in the world that hold universal appeal, there are only 5 major ones that are set in a marine environment with stark contrasting mountains, a positive, energetic environment, great food and tons to do. San Francisco, Vancouver, Cape Town, Rio and Hong Kong.
A 2 hour 45 minute flight from Bangkok, Hong Kong is accessible (if only in distance). Hong Kong has tons to offer, from great food (dimsum), shopping (the malls are out of control) and sights (Victoria Peak, Kowloon, etc.). What a lot of people don't realize is that Hong Kong has some amazing natural sights as well, with great mountain biking and hiking trails just a short trip away on several outlying islands.
our whole point of going was to visit good friends who were passing through asia, but had just passed through bangkok last year. it was great catching up with sarah and Erik, and i'm sure that they will have a blast in indonesia and singapore (the rest of their trip).
as we had less than 72 hours, we decided to focus mainly on the food and alcohol part, with great dim sum trips to Maxim Palace at city hall and the mandarin in Kowloon. We also splurged (as if $70 USD set lunch at the mandarin isn't "splurging" enough) at Bo innovation - a molecular chinese influenced restaurant that was absolutely amazing. We also hit all sorts of crazy bars, most of which i really can't remember the name, but do remember the $20 USD cocktails.
the city retains a distinct english feel, complete with people with bad teeth, crappy little roads, where people insist on driving on the wrong side. also of note are the double decker street cars - which i find amazing! speaking of which, as a whole, the public transport is very comprehensive, even including over a kilometer of a moving escalator, although in general, it's a little more tired than bangkok's BTS and MRT.
i did my part for the economy, splashing out on some cole haans (although, $200 shoes really isn't splashing out in hong kong), and was mildly amused when i found out that they were made in India!
All in all, I think that Hong Kong is a great city to splash out in for 48 hours (a little like Las Vegas, but way cooler), which is why I would rank it 5th out of the 5 cities listed above.
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