Friday 28 August 2015

Hong Kong day 2 - queues, stairs and selfies

7:07am in the rooftop pool for a wake up dip then a leisurely breakfast and study break for Sam in the club lounge (omelettes and fruit for us non/vegans). 

Then we headed off for a day on the island. MTR followed by a tram to the Western Market a building that could be QVB or Old Bank but has been chopped up so the ceilings are only visible in the top floor restaurant. It does have an entire floor of fabric. 


The trams are pretty neat. We sat up top for the open window breeze experience and fab view. Hong Kong Island is the business district so newer buildings and flasher shops, cars and markets than Tsim Sha Tsui. 


After the market Samantha convinced us to trek up to the Museum of Medical Science. Another colonial building with immaculate city managed gardens and public toilets outside. There we learned about everything from H1N1 to the plague of 1894 that decimated the population of Hong Kong and resulted in demolition of large sections of the city to kill off the rats. These doctors amused us. 



To get here however required an upward climb a women who is overweight and recovering from influenza didn't cope very well with. The Ladder Steps were worst but on the positive side we did stumble upon a lovely uncrowded  market on our way up. 


Honestly we thought we were near the top only to find we were half way. These weren't the only steps we encountered today - there were many!

Next was the uber touristy trip up The Peak. A steep climb - the steepest funicular in the world apparently. Here we experienced queuing like never before - when we left however the queue was at least 3x longer so our hourish was minor. Yes the cable car is on its way here. 


At The Peak is an amazing structure full of expensive American restaurants like Bubba Shrimp company, and Hard Rock Cafe and expensive shops. Up top however is a viewing platform. Here you can use commentary devices and take selfies. 


With the end of the day looming we headed back down and navigated our way to one of the exciting Vegan Gluten Free restaurants Sam had selected in Hong Kong. It is called Mana, Fast Slow Food and we loved it! Yum. 

Full and tired we left a tad late to race for the Harbour Cruise ferry to see the light show. We got there just as it left! So found a spot on a deck to watch what we could before ferrying back from the island. The photos we took don't do it justice. 


Exhausted from so much walking and queuing we finally ferried back. 

Bloke section - it has been noted I forgot some details yesterday. Half way down the Flower Market is a motorbike helmet shop, no other shops that weren't selling flowers just that one. 
Today we looked at many cars driving in the City where the general feel was of affluence - Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Jaguars, a few Tesla's and many many Mercedes. 

Finally today was also filled with selfies. This scene happens often and we saw many people with selfie sticks. 



1 comment:

  1. Folks, don't exhaust yourselves, there's a long way to go. Ah, HK, I've just had a bout of anamnesis, even one of the photos is so similar to one I took.

    Also I forgot to remember so before I forget. HRC Venice and Florence. Glasses if you happen to stumble across them.

    Happy sightseeing.

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