We spent independence day weekend in Hong Kong. Keith had been
there once for work but didn't get to see much of Hong Kong. I wanted
to have a chance to see the city before our return to the US. We took
Friday afternoon off and flew to Hong Kong and arrived about 6:30pm.
I was surprised at how much alike Hong Kong is to Singapore. At
the same time I was stunned to see how many ways they are different.
Both are crowded places with a high concentration of people. They
both have many high rise buildings, and locals live in high rise
housing buildings. Both have good subway and bus systems that provide
clean, cheap and easy to navigate transportation. They both also have
large expatriate communities that have brought Western influence that
has mixed with Chinese.
What you notice is different right away are the street signs. In
Hong Kong there appears to be no restrictions. Neon signs hang out
over the street trying to get your attention. In some places it looks
as if the busses are going to hit the signs. Many shops/restaurants
don't have a storefront so they put out a large sign above a small
doorway that eventually leads to that particular shop or restaurant.
Buildings, especially housing, are extremely run down. Some appear as
though they are going to crumble at any minutes. As you walk down the
sidewalks, air conditioners units constantly drip water. There are
virtually no public toilets. We were in a shopping mall and could
only find bathrooms that were locked for tenant use only. We used
McDonalds quite a bit for restroom brakes. Speaking of McDonalds,
they are very popular in Hong Kong. I read that 7 of the 10 worlds
busiest McDonalds are in Hong Kong.
Friday Night We stayed at the Kimberly hotel on the Kowloon side.
The room was nice but very small. There was barely room for the
suitcase to lay on the floor. We had dinner earlier in the week with
friends who had spent an extended stay in the Kimberly hotel. They
tipped up off to a restaurant nearby for dim sum.
The Kimberly is on the Kowloon side, directly across the harbor
from Hong Kong island. "Hong Kong" encompasses a few islands (one of
which is Hong Kong Island) and a portion of the mainland which is
where Kowloon is located. We were just off of Nathan Road in the Tsim
Tsa Tsua area. This area is famous for the camera shops and other
places that will rip off tourists.
Our flight had landed around 4:30 but by the time we got to the
hotel then organized enough to go get dinner, it was getting late. We
spent about an hour looking for a restaurant recommended by the
guidebook. We ended up eating about 9pm. The dinner place we picked
was a mid-range Cantonese restaurant. (Hong Kong is predominantly
Cantonese). We had green vegetables in oyster sauce with crab, beef
in oyster sauce, chili prawns, and stuffed crab claws. It was a good
meal, a little bland which is typical of Cantonese. Much of it
reminded me of what we get in Singapore.
After dinner we walked up to the Temple Street Night Market. The
night market was basically booth after booth of rip off name brand
t-shirts, copy watches, copy purses, jade, and all sorts of other
stuff. There were also some shops along the sides with any type of
shellfish you can imagine (all laying on plates ready to stir fry).
Checking out all the seafood
One of the crabs trying to get
away
We stopped at one of these places and had a couple large beers.
The people watching factor here was extremely high. After our beers,
we walked back through the market. I bought a copy CK watch for about
US$7 which is much cheaper than Singapore. I have to say the copy
Rolex that I bought in Singapore two years ago still looks good and I
haven't even had to replace the battery. I hope I have that much luck
with my new CK watch!
The market stalls starting packing up shortly before midnight so
we guessed they can't stay open after 12pm by law. Doesn't seem like
much of a night market that way huh? We walked back to the hotel and
rested for the next day.
Sat We started off the day with a Dim Sum breakfast at the Very
Good Chinese restaurant. This was the place recommended by our
friends who had stayed at the Kimberly. It was a fun breakfast but we
filled up fast. Dim Sum is made up of small pieces of various things
like dumplings, braised noodle, steamed buns. I read that there is
over 2000 dim sum dishes and in a given day a restaurant may make
100-200 types. Much of it is cooked in a bamboo steamer. It was
served the traditional way, with old ladies pushing carts and
stopping at your table to see if you want what they have. As they
walk through the restaurant they shout out what they have (kind of
like beer and peanut vendors at ball games but not as loud). They all
stopped by our table and let us peek into the steamers before we
decided what to take. If you take what they have, the punch a card on
your table so the person who writes up your bill knows what you ate.
We recognized some of the Dim Sum from Singapore. We even recognized
when the lady said char sui pau which is bbq pork in a fluffy steamed
bun (one of my favorites).
Full on Dim Sum and Chinese Tea, we headed out to explore Hong
Kong. We took the train from Kowloon to Kong Island. You can either
take the train or the ferry across. The ferry is cheaper (about US 30
cents vs. the train which is about $1.30) but the train is faster and
will take you to the stop you want instead of just the ferry
terminal. We took the train to Central which is the middle of the
banking district which is made up of impressive bank building, each
built to out impress the previous one. We walked around Central a
little getting oriented and looking for a Starbucks. We never did
find a coffee shop so we gave up and headed to the tram station for
Victoria Peak.
Victoria Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong island and the
best place to get a view of Hong Kong. We got a daylight view but
supposedly the night view is equally if not more impressive. The tram
station is just outside of the downtown area and it climbs up the
peak at a very very very steep rate. I did not really enjoy the ride,
I had a constant feeling that we were going to just slide right back
down the mountain. As advertised the view was definitely worth the
tram ride. There were lots of people and kids around the top of the
peak but we managed to find a lookout terrace to enjoy the view in
silence. The ride back down the mountain was just as scary for me.
The hill the tram had to
climb
Checking out the view
The view from the peak
We walked from the tram station (which is barely out of downtown)
to a bus terminal in the basement of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
building. We got on a bus to Stanley which is a beach area at the
opposite end of Hong Kong island. It is famous for the Stanley market
which is popular for cloths and other trinkets. The bus ride was
about 1/2 hour but it was entertaining because we passed a couple of
other beaches on the way. In Stanley we browsed a bit through the
market then found an English pub for sandwiches and a pint of beer.
We didn't buy anything in the market. I did like a wrap around skirt
with a wild fish print, but when I tried to bargain for it the people
wouldn't budge so I walked off. I guess that's to be expected in an
area heavy with tourists. They expect everyone to pay ridiculous
asking prices.
We took the bus back to town and walked to Hollywood road which is
known for it's antique shops. We window shopped but didn't go in any
places. Most shops looked either very expensive, or like junk shops.
We did find several tea shops around Hollywood road so we bought some
oolong and jasmine chinese tea which is what I drink all day at work.
It's all in how you read
it...
From Hollywood road we headed to the Lan Kwai Fong (or something
like that) area which is basically two streets of bars and
restaurants (mostly western) that is frequented by both locals and
foreign residents. It looked like a neat area but we were there early
evening so there was not much happening. It reminded me of the boat
quay in Singapore except it's not on the water. We had a couple beers
in one of the bars and rested our feet. We decided we wanted to have
another chinese meal so we left that area in search of a sichuan
place recommended in lonely planet.
Dinner was great. It was a nicely done restaurant with several
function rooms that were all full. We were kind of stuck down a
hallway close to the kitchen but that was okay. We felt a little
underdressed in our shorts. The menu was English and Chinese so the
only difficulty was figuring out what to order. We ordered chili
prawns and chili chicken and pan fried long beans. All of the dishes
were excellent.
We were pretty tired after a full day of walking. We walked from
dinner to the ferry terminal and hopped the ferry across the harbor
to kowloon. Just off the ferry terminal is a promenade which is great
for looking across the harbor for a great night view of Hong Kong
Island. We took a few pictures and then wandered back up Nathan Road
to the hotel.
Would have been better with a flash,
but here's the ferry ride
Hong Kong Island Nightline
Sunday Sunday we slept in, both just slightly worn out from the
walking the previous day. We didn't have much time before the bus
collected us for the airport so we just wandered around the hotel
area (which is supposed to be known for it's outlet stores). We
grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonalds. Sometimes it's just the
easiest thing to do!
It was tough to try to cram Hong Kong into basically 1 day of
touring. Even with our short visit we still felt we got a good feel
for the city. |
