Hong Kong 7th – 10th November

I’ve been fascinated by Hong Kong since I was a teenager. In my first job a lady who I worked with, called Iris Gleed, went to HK on holiday and I asked her to get a gold charm for my bracelet. Six years later when I met Glen I told him that I would love to visit Hong Kong. I remember it vividly, we were stood in the sunshine on Bristol Harbour, I think it was a pub called the Ostrich. I never really believed I would ever go, but 36 years later and Glen has brought me here! 😃

When we arrived I couldn’t stop singing the Hong Kong Phooey cartoon theme tune! Lol!

I was so excited as we dropped our bags off at our hostel in Kowloon and walked to the water front. We stood and looked across to Hong Kong island. The sky scrapers were lit in different colours and were reflected in the water. A Junk sailed by, its lights glowing red against the black of the water, It was perfect. 

We were surprised to see HSBC boldly printed on the paper money. We’ve learnt that HSBC stands for ‘The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’.  I expect you knew that Deb, and probably many more of you.

As we walked through the streets it was evident that there were very rich people living here! Glen pointed out all of the Rolls Royce, Porche and Bentley cars driving through the streets lined with every famous clothes designer, expensive perfume and jewellery shops you can think of.

Everyone crossing the road via the yellow zebra crossings were so obedient. They waited for the lights to change to green even when the road was clear. The Traffic lights made a clicking noise when it was on red and then a faster clicking sound when it showed green to go. 

The cars drove far too fast for the small roads they were on. One car lost control coming around a corner and mounted the pavement ahead of us, a man had to run off the pavement away from it which meant he was in front of the car as it got back on the road. It was a miracle how he avoided being knocked over! I had already thought that in general the cars were far too big for town, they looked like they should be driving them across the Australian outback not on a concrete road on a relatively small island. Rant over! 

The Zoo and botanical gardens were free which I thought was good for the locals with children. We were also able to just walk in, and around, the Happy Valley Race Course too. Not only was it free but there wasn’t anyone at the entrance let alone waiting to scan and check our bags. EVERYWHERE we went in China had a scanner which we had to put all of our belongings through, subways, train stations, all pavements around Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden Palace etc. Most places, even parks had an entrance fee. Hong Kong felt so free and easy in comparison.

Morning approach to Hong Kong Island viewed from the famous Star Ferry.

We thought of you and Rob as we walked around the race course Verena! We wondered whether you two had ever been to a race there. 

I know some people questioned our coming to Hong Kong what with all of the ‘trouble’ that has been in the news headlines. We questioned it too, especially when the flight we had booked from HK to South Korea was cancelled by the airline a few weeks ago. However, once we arrived it felt safe. 

On the first morning we caught the ferry across to Hong Kong island and jumped on a tram. We were going along happily on the ‘Ding Ding’ as they call them, when after a while we were aware that we seem to have sat in traffic for a long time without moving. We then heard ‘chanting’ and saw the demonstrators in-between the trams on a junction ahead of us. Eventually, realising we weren’t going to be going anywhere, everyone got off and Glen and I walked to see what was happening. We took some photos and videos but didn’t stay there for very long as we knew it was not advisable to do so. We didn’t go anywhere near the demonstrations we heard and saw in the evening though. That’s all I will say about it on here. 

The rest of the day we made our way around on foot as the demonstration had brought the place to a stand still. 

One bus seemingly tried to get away from the congestion by turning around, and got stuck!

A lot more people spoke good English but some still didn’t speak it at all. In one cafe Glen asked “Is this pork?” and after fetching another waiter who said “Yes” we ordered. However, when the dumplings arrived they had whole prawns inside! 🙄😅

Although there were plenty of UK shops like M&S and Tesco etc it didn’t mean the food choices in our price range were any less Chinese! It did mean though that things like intestines were rolled neatly inside some sort of wrap, etc, which could catch you unaware if you ordered just by pointing to a photo on a menu without English underneath.

Here are some photos of a few of the butchers stalls for you Dad. Nothing is left to waste! I hate to think what some of the things hanging up were! 

Even though we were in Hong Kong, eating in slightly more…. how can I put it? civilised cafes, the staff still all sat down to have their meals together. They did so with customers still eating, they don’t close or stagger the meal times/breaks.  In one place here in HK they actually asked us to move table when we were only half way through our meal. It seems that we were sat on their preferred table in the corner by the kitchen! It’s strange, very different to the UK, and just one of the reasons we like going to different countries, we are not complaining. Smile 

We walked up through the streets to catch the funicular tram to the top of The Peak. It is the steepest funicular railway in the world apparently. Although I had been anxious about it, there was no need to have been. It helps that you are surrounded by trees most of the way so you can’t see the extent of the height you are climbing….. and it only takes six minutes. 

When the tram arrived at the top there were still lots of escalators to get you to the highest viewing level. The view was spectacular! Well worth the anxiety!

So Emma had told me that when her and Jon visited The Peak earlier this year they had walked back down, and it had only taken an hour. So once we had soaked up as much of the view as we could, we started to walk back down. It was a lovely path and we stopped to take photos of the changing view as we made our way around the peak and enjoyed the shade in amongst the tropical trees and foliage. However, we soon realised that we weren’t going down! We found ourselves on the circular walk we had read about! As we had gone nearly half way before we realised we continued on and an hour later we arrived back where we started from! Lol! 

So my legs were already tired before we even started our decent. The path was so steep you couldn’t rush down.

Karen, this street reminded me of our trip to SanFrancisco! Dad, I wouldn’t get blown over in a strong wind with my feet! Lol! as you used to say.

Each evening, 44 buildings on the shores of Victoria Harbour take part in ‘A Symphony of Lights’, a synchronised show named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest permanent light fixture in the world.  

So, having fulfilled one of my life long dreams, it was time to leave our hostel with the tiny room, reminiscent of our little caravan we had when you were little, girls! and travel to our next country. It’s not one either of us necessarily ever dreamed of visiting but one we are very excited to explore…   JAPAN! 

According to Wikipedia……The skyline of Hong Kong Island is famed for its unique arrangement, with surrounding mountains and Victoria Harbour complementing the rows of skyscrapers along the shore. 
Hong Kong has over 9,000 high-rise buildings, of which over 1,500 are skyscrapers standing taller than 100 m with 350 buildings over 150 m (492 ft). The tallest building in Hong Kong is the 118-story International Commerce Centre, which stands 484 m and is the ninth tallest building in the world. The total built-up height (combined heights) of these skyscrapers is approximately 333.8 km (207 mi), making Hong Kong the world’s tallest urban agglomeration. Furthermore, reflective of the city’s high population densities, Hong Kong has more inhabitants living at the 15th floor or higher, and more buildings of at least 100 m and 150 m height, than any other city in the world.