Hong Kong buzz
Hello again... Well, 2 whole days have gone by and I'm still quite over the jet-lag. Janet & I haven't had the chance to 'rest' much so far, I have to say, it could be why...
After we landed @ 5pm we took the train to Kowloon (Airport Express - brilliant, really fast and great value for money, takes you to the centre in 21mns flat!), then we had a free hotel shuttle bus to the wonderful Harbour Plaza hotel, right by the ... harbour, as the name suggests. It must have been 4* or so as it was pretty luxurious... the highlight was the roof top pool, though the water was a lot colder than I expected. At it was 29C in the afternoon I had not realised that it was autumn in HK but it's in the same hemisphere as London as Janet kindly reminded me... but since they had not heated the water, after 10mns, we just had to get out... we were unable to warm up. They did give you nice robes when you got out of the pool though. And it was a treat to see Hong Kong at dusk unfolding in front of our eyes as we were swimming... We could even see the famous JUMBO floating restaurant. They put on a laser show every night at 8pm for 15mns, so we took a quick stroll by the harbour side and enjoyed it for a little while. It wasn't grand, but a little 'extra'. 2006 is supposed to be the year of 'HK Discovery'... not sure if the laser show is linked to that event ?
There was a great shopping precinct just around the block too, the most interesting being the Whampoa, in the shape of a cruise ship (we saw many in the harbour, with all their lights on, that was neat, it was as if Titanic had pulled in).
We just took it easy and tried to hit the sack by 10pm not to overdo it on our first day.
The Peak / Stanley Market
I didn't get much sleep that night... which was a right pain (I had taken 2 sleeping pills to make sure I slept at least 6-8 hours, to no avail - God knows why, they usually work. Janet though managed to sleep like a log, goodie). I was therefore quite dopey the next day. I think it was a combination of jet-lag, tiredness and humidity. Not a great recipe for being 'with it'. Janet & I did enjoy a nice - but fairly expensive !- buffet breakfast in the hotel reception/lounge area (great views overlooking the harbour, glittering in the sun, with some boats with the famous Chinese sails passing by) and then headed back to the pool with a view to feeling more 'awake' but the water was SO cold (it felt even colder by day than it did by night) that we just had to pass it. Tried to doze off on the sun beds, no chance...
So, we decided to head to Stanley Market. Janet had been there before and felt we could grab a few bargains on some things, though she did warn me that Hong Kong was no way near as cheap as it used to be. Sure enough, most jewellery was even higher priced than in London - no thanks since I refused to spend more than $10 on jewellery of any sort. I just got 2 tops and a pair of binoculars (I think they may have got stolen in my burglarly too as I couldn't find them when packing). The way to Stanley Market was actually quite neat... we took a bus ride that took up quite high up and onto the Southern beaches of Hong Kong. It was very green and the beaches looked quite pristine... it was another side of the city that I had not had to chance to set eyes on before. I still think that I could live here for a few months - if I had company I knew. I could not tell you why I like Hong Kong so much, but I do... It is mesmerising and fascinating.
From then on we grabbed a cab to The Peak ('if you haven't seen the view from Victoria Peak you haven't seen HK' the many tourist books will tell you) andthey had built a brand new viewing platform since I was last there (i.e. 2002). It had only opened the previous week I think. This is the place to go for the best views over the city. Though you won't see as many lights in the buildings as you would have done 15 years ago before the energy saving compaign to fight global warming started. I will always agree with energy saving in principle, but in practice, it doesn't make photos no way as nice as they once were... sigh. (and I know, I know, it's ironic that I even say that when I get on more planes per year than anyone else I know which also does nothing at all for global warming !)
We had a nice dinner overlooking the other side of the harbour, in the a 'rainforest' set up, with lots of pretty lights all around the wooden balconies and trees - very Xmas-y. And we then took the bus back to the harbour to go for the 'compulsory' ride on the Star Ferry. One of the nicest and cheapest ferry rides in the whole world - a real must. I think it's like 15p for a 15mn crossing and the views, at dusk, are spectacular - even more so during the laser show. By day it was still very misty and hazy and early morning you couldn't even see the buildings across the shore.
We then had to get back to the airport (we had managed to get rid of our luggage by checking it in back at Kowloon station - great service !!!) but thought we'd grab one last bus to get back there. Not being exactly sure how to walk it (we couldn't find the station on the map) and locals seem to hint it'd be easier on the bus. Well, we ended up being 1 hour on a bus that did this massive detour and took us just 1 mile away from where we started... it was great to see 'HK by night' but we were starting to get a little bit panicky about to get to the airport back on time. It was a classic 'hare & tortoise' tale. You know the one by Jean de la Fontaine? Where you have SO much time to kill that you take it REAL easy... and then end up rushing at the last minute.
But we made it back in due course and could enjoy browsing around HK airport, which is pretty fabulous and spacious - one of the nicest I've ever seen. Though again, the prices were too high to be tempted to buy anything much - plus we have to constantly watch our luggage allowance since we cannot over 25kgs.
The flight to Perth was only 7h30 so not enough time to sleep properly. No time to watch movies either I tell you... trying to catch up on some sleep was our priority.
Hello again... Well, 2 whole days have gone by and I'm still quite over the jet-lag. Janet & I haven't had the chance to 'rest' much so far, I have to say, it could be why...
After we landed @ 5pm we took the train to Kowloon (Airport Express - brilliant, really fast and great value for money, takes you to the centre in 21mns flat!), then we had a free hotel shuttle bus to the wonderful Harbour Plaza hotel, right by the ... harbour, as the name suggests. It must have been 4* or so as it was pretty luxurious... the highlight was the roof top pool, though the water was a lot colder than I expected. At it was 29C in the afternoon I had not realised that it was autumn in HK but it's in the same hemisphere as London as Janet kindly reminded me... but since they had not heated the water, after 10mns, we just had to get out... we were unable to warm up. They did give you nice robes when you got out of the pool though. And it was a treat to see Hong Kong at dusk unfolding in front of our eyes as we were swimming... We could even see the famous JUMBO floating restaurant. They put on a laser show every night at 8pm for 15mns, so we took a quick stroll by the harbour side and enjoyed it for a little while. It wasn't grand, but a little 'extra'. 2006 is supposed to be the year of 'HK Discovery'... not sure if the laser show is linked to that event ?
There was a great shopping precinct just around the block too, the most interesting being the Whampoa, in the shape of a cruise ship (we saw many in the harbour, with all their lights on, that was neat, it was as if Titanic had pulled in).
We just took it easy and tried to hit the sack by 10pm not to overdo it on our first day.
The Peak / Stanley Market
I didn't get much sleep that night... which was a right pain (I had taken 2 sleeping pills to make sure I slept at least 6-8 hours, to no avail - God knows why, they usually work. Janet though managed to sleep like a log, goodie). I was therefore quite dopey the next day. I think it was a combination of jet-lag, tiredness and humidity. Not a great recipe for being 'with it'. Janet & I did enjoy a nice - but fairly expensive !- buffet breakfast in the hotel reception/lounge area (great views overlooking the harbour, glittering in the sun, with some boats with the famous Chinese sails passing by) and then headed back to the pool with a view to feeling more 'awake' but the water was SO cold (it felt even colder by day than it did by night) that we just had to pass it. Tried to doze off on the sun beds, no chance...
So, we decided to head to Stanley Market. Janet had been there before and felt we could grab a few bargains on some things, though she did warn me that Hong Kong was no way near as cheap as it used to be. Sure enough, most jewellery was even higher priced than in London - no thanks since I refused to spend more than $10 on jewellery of any sort. I just got 2 tops and a pair of binoculars (I think they may have got stolen in my burglarly too as I couldn't find them when packing). The way to Stanley Market was actually quite neat... we took a bus ride that took up quite high up and onto the Southern beaches of Hong Kong. It was very green and the beaches looked quite pristine... it was another side of the city that I had not had to chance to set eyes on before. I still think that I could live here for a few months - if I had company I knew. I could not tell you why I like Hong Kong so much, but I do... It is mesmerising and fascinating.
From then on we grabbed a cab to The Peak ('if you haven't seen the view from Victoria Peak you haven't seen HK' the many tourist books will tell you) andthey had built a brand new viewing platform since I was last there (i.e. 2002). It had only opened the previous week I think. This is the place to go for the best views over the city. Though you won't see as many lights in the buildings as you would have done 15 years ago before the energy saving compaign to fight global warming started. I will always agree with energy saving in principle, but in practice, it doesn't make photos no way as nice as they once were... sigh. (and I know, I know, it's ironic that I even say that when I get on more planes per year than anyone else I know which also does nothing at all for global warming !)
We had a nice dinner overlooking the other side of the harbour, in the a 'rainforest' set up, with lots of pretty lights all around the wooden balconies and trees - very Xmas-y. And we then took the bus back to the harbour to go for the 'compulsory' ride on the Star Ferry. One of the nicest and cheapest ferry rides in the whole world - a real must. I think it's like 15p for a 15mn crossing and the views, at dusk, are spectacular - even more so during the laser show. By day it was still very misty and hazy and early morning you couldn't even see the buildings across the shore.
We then had to get back to the airport (we had managed to get rid of our luggage by checking it in back at Kowloon station - great service !!!) but thought we'd grab one last bus to get back there. Not being exactly sure how to walk it (we couldn't find the station on the map) and locals seem to hint it'd be easier on the bus. Well, we ended up being 1 hour on a bus that did this massive detour and took us just 1 mile away from where we started... it was great to see 'HK by night' but we were starting to get a little bit panicky about to get to the airport back on time. It was a classic 'hare & tortoise' tale. You know the one by Jean de la Fontaine? Where you have SO much time to kill that you take it REAL easy... and then end up rushing at the last minute.
But we made it back in due course and could enjoy browsing around HK airport, which is pretty fabulous and spacious - one of the nicest I've ever seen. Though again, the prices were too high to be tempted to buy anything much - plus we have to constantly watch our luggage allowance since we cannot over 25kgs.
The flight to Perth was only 7h30 so not enough time to sleep properly. No time to watch movies either I tell you... trying to catch up on some sleep was our priority.
posted by Sylvie at 10:51 AM
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