Over the first few days we had noticed an American-style retro diner near our apartment. It was named, imaginatively enough, "The Diner." We were a bit skeptical, but decided to grab brunch there on our third day in Hong Kong. Our skepticism was misplaced, as it was quite good (particularly the milkshakes!), though it definitely did not share its pricing with a traditional American diner.

Breakfast burritos, hash browns, and an eggs Benedict variant. Delicious, though maybe not the most authentic diner food.

That's more like it! Oreo milkshake!

After brunch we got ourselves to a nunnery (hardy har har). The Chi Lin Nunnery, in particular. While it would be interesting by itself, it is particularly fascinating in the context of such a modern, developed city like Hong Kong. It was built using traditional Tang Dynasty techniques utilizing interlocking wood with no metal nails. There were many beautiful Buddhist shrines inside but we weren't allowed to take pictures of those, so pictures of the buildings and grounds will have to suffice.

Bridge between the Chi Lin Nunnery and the Nan Lian Garden.

Neat scroll attachment.

Such a striking contrast between the nunnery and the rest of the city.

The courtyard.

One of the ceilings. I guess the lamps are not made of wood.

Beautiful roof.

Even more beautiful Grace!

Another angle of the courtyard.

Grace posing next to one of the doors. I wish all my doors had massive, intricate dragon-head handles.

Really ornate drain pipe.

Another shot of the roof.

Cool juxtaposition.

Grace will have to provide a translation. I am useless here.

Right across the street from the nunnery is the Nan Lian Garden. This was a nice little oasis in the middle of the city, though there's not a whole lot to say that can't be better conveyed pictorially.

The Nan Lian Garden had many rules.

Hey guys, let's chill with the prom pictures and glamor shots, okay?

More rules! No frolicking!

Inside the garden was a building housing a display of miniature versions of famous examples of Chinese architecture.

The scale models were very detailed and even had interior lighting.

One heck of a dollhouse.

A life size (and much more colorful) example of Chinese architecture.

This little walkway lamp had it's very own out of order sign.

Garden selfie!

Mixing old and new.

Many different shades of green.

This pond may have been a bit more serene if it weren't insanely hot outside.

Dragon and phoenix. Or at least phoenix posterior.

Phoenix anterior!

Mill with a thatched roof.

The other side of the pagoda from earlier.

There was a really cool marble sculpture with all manner of sun dials adorning its pedestal. I thought this was really neat (and the light was really nice), so I took a bunch of pictures. You've been warned.

Really beautiful lighting.

I don't know how to read any of these.

Later that evening we went to Victoria Peak, one of the more famous tourist attractions (for good reason!). From the peak, you get magnificent views of pretty much the entire city. Going up at night was particularly cool, as many of the more prominent buildings have interesting light displays. The tallest, the ICC, had by far the most elaborate, as you can see below.

Grace seems to give me this expression a lot...

Grace (looking much happier) and me!

Grace and me facing the other direction. A pretty big contrast.

The Hong Kong skyline at night. Hong Kong Island in the foreground, Kowloon in the background.

A few of the buildings had interesting light displays, such as the changing colors on the one in the left foreground.

The ICC (background left, all lit up here) took the cake, though).

Victoria Peak selfie!

Dinner that night occurred in multiple stages. For the second night in a row we tried to go to Ho Lee Fook. This time, we were determined to put up with the 60-90 minute wait to try it out. I mean, how hip is a restaurant whose only website is a tumblr page. Right? Anyway, we put our names down and went a few doors down to one of their sister restaurants, Chôm Chôm. This place was pretty good, and also unabashedly hip (meaning Grace and I were very much out of place). We got a couple rounds of drinks and some delicious roast corn and spring rolls. Yum.

Ho Lee Fook definitely stole the show, though, and was most certainly worth the wait. I can't recall the last time I had such terrific food. Wagyu tartare; perfectly stir-fried asparagus, broccoli, and sugar snap peas; grilled pork belly, and a really interesting Szechuan pepper whiskey sour to top it off. Szechuan pepper is really interesting (I had never tried it before - apparently all that Szechuan chicken I'd had in mall food courts was not quite legit): unlike "normal" pepper (to which it's not actually related) you get a distinct numbing, tingling sensation in your mouth. Neat.

Drink menu at Chôm Chôm. Vietnamese twists abound.

I got the Kaffir Lime Margarita, Grace got the Srirachelada, and we split the corn. Yum.

ho lee fook indeed.

Our long wait for dinner meant we didn't get home until around midnight (although we did grab a milkshake from The Diner as a delicious nightcap), so it was a very full, very enjoyable day.