I am sitting here in bed in the 11th floor of the Salisbury Hotel, looking out over Hong Kong Harbour. (Thanks Roy for the recommendation)
I have the bedside lamp on, but there is almost enough light from the advertising boards across the harbour! Epson, Haiar, Samsung and Co are lighting up the skyline informing me that there will be a new Galaxy arriving soon. At 8pm each night they go a step further and provide a laser display. Last night it was somewhat muted by the smog, and tonight we were out having dinner at the highly recommended Spring Deer at 8pm. Maybe tomorrow night we will get a better view.
My feet are a little weary tonight from our trekking. We started out with a big breakfast at the Salisbury, but we soon worked that off. We walked along the Avenus of the Stars by the bay, though I only knew 3 of the stars - Bruce Lee, Charlie Chan and Jet Li. We then bought a SIM card for Sue's phone (A$10) which is enabling me to type my blog.
Then we went to the nearby ferry terminal to catch the ferry across the bay (A$3) . The area near the ferry terminal was covered with signs "Youth of Hong Kong take notice. Falun Gung is evil". Haven't seen the signs elsewhere, but they were certainly trying to make a point with their simple message near the ferry.
We ferried across the bay to Hong Kong island and headed towards Victoria Peak. We must have walked several kilometers along covered walkways, through buildings, up and down stairs and escalators. If it was raining (which it wasn't) we could have stayed dry the whole trip. As it was, the weather was dry, and we stayed dry the whole trip! It would be interesting to see how far you could actually a walk without retracing steps and without being exposed to the weather! It might make a good phone app for exercise junkies.
As it was, we got plenty of exercise today anyway. We caught the tram up Victoria Peak, and then wandered around at the top. The smog had been quite thick as we flew in last night, cleared somewhat for us to take some photographic evidence of our visit. We then walked up the mountsin a bit further and were surprised to find a tranquil area beyond the peak. We were impressed by the birds singing in the trees, though Sue was equally impressed with the Lamborghini's in the garages - especially the yellow one.
We caught the Number 15 double decker bus back down the mountain. Well worth doing if you visit here (a bit hard to ride that bus without visiting here!). Worth noting too that the top deck is designed with chinese people in mind, so watch your head. The trip down the mountain would make a great scene for a James Bond movie - hairpin turns, sheer drops off the edge of the road, narrow lanes, and great glimpses of the view.
Back to Kowloon - the area near our hotel. I am starting to get a bit of a complex as I must have been asked 30 times (as a conservative estimate) today if I needed a suit. They seem to bead in on me, even after I dressed up to go out for dinner. For the first twenty times, I was polite and smiled, and even a few times informed them that I had sufficient clothes for my needs. They are not overly pushy compared with hawkers in Egypt, but it is making me question why they hone in on me. Is it my clothes?
Dinner tonight was at the Spring Deer. The food was very tasty, enticing me to eat too much. Pork cooked in strands the shape of spaghetti, and fish with wild mushrooms. Both seemed to have sugar added.
The architectural variety makes this an interesting city and a reminder of human creativity and resourcefulness (most of the scaffolding that I saw was bamboo poles ziptied together). The smog is also omnipresent here (is that correct use of the term omnipresent?) and is also a constant reminder of the effects of human endeavour. (I'm not sure if this smog originates in Hong Kong, but it certainly impacts here)
Sorry I've jumped around a bit here but I am having some trouble with the laptop - I must be hitting the touch pad accidentally from time to time, and I end up in the middle of a different paragraph. Most disconcerting to my train of thought.
Speaking of trains though, we have enjoyed travelling on the MRT, and our Octopus card got a good workout today.
All in all, an enjoyable introduction to Hong Kong.
