Hong Kong

Hong Kong – what can I say?  WOW WOW WOW

You know that I have never been at a loss for words, but WOW! is how I describe my first visit to Hong Kong.  There is no other city like this.  I hardly know where to start.

Phew, it’s been a busy few days.  Friday night was an early to bed night.  There was a party for the World Cruise people on Saturday morning at 6:15 am.  That’s right – 6:15 am party time!  We set the alarm for 6 am, and struggled to get out of the warm toasty bed to don our Seabourn bathrobes and head to deck 6 forward so we could be on deck as we sailed into Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.  The crew provided coffee, juice and of course mimosas as the night gradually faded into the morning mist.  The sights and sounds of the harbor, the mountains and skyscrapers of Hong Kong island, and the majesty of twinkling lights on the mainland of Kowloon was a sight to behold.   There were photo opportunities everywhere (including all the people in their bathrobes), but I had to pause long enough from picture taking to actually take in all the sights and imprint them to my brain.  I have seen pictures, I have heard stories, but until you actually see it with your own eyes, you cannot believe the scale of this place. 

Arriving in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor at 6:15am

Dawn is breaking over Hong Kong

Sunrise over Victoria Harbor

Hong Kong has the highest density of any place on the plant

The physical geography of this area is quite hilly and mountainous.  But what struck me the most was the concrete mountains – skyscraper after skyscraper forming its own mountain range with shorter buildings interspersed with taller buildings -- buildings clinging on mountain sides, buildings rising from the shore.  The day greeted us with a glorious sunrise, a perfect orange ball rising over the mountains and reflecting in the sea.  All the twinkling lights started to fade as the morning got brighter and we could see more detail.  The ship docked at the Overseas Terminal (which was really a humongous mall with very high end stores), and was conveniently located adjacent to the Star Ferry Terminal (this is located on the mainland side of Hong Kong). 

I guess this is a good time to tell you about the geography of the place and give you some general information about Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Following British rule from 1842 to 1997, China assumed sovereignty under the “one country, two systems” principle. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's constitutional document, the Basic Law, ensures that the current political situation will remain in effect for 50 years. 

Hong Kong is located at the south-eastern tip of China, and includes Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories, including 262 outlying islands. Between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula lies Victoria Harbor, one of the world's most renowned deep-water harbors and the third busiest in world.

          

· 7.03 million people are packed into 415 square miles – to put that in perspective, Delaware packs just under 900,000 people into 2,500 square miles.

·         Lucky numbers in Hong Kong are 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9 – unlucky numbers are 1, 4 and 7 (4 and 7 sound like the Chinese word for death)
·         98% of Hong Kong’s income goes to the top 3% of society
·         Hong Kong has the highest average IQ in the world at 107
·         Hong Kong has one of five Disneyland theme parks in the world
·         Hong Kong is one of the world's top ten tourist cities,
·         Hong Kong is the world's most vertical city because of the mountainous nature of the area; they only have room to go up
·         Only 25% of the land is developed
·         Hong Kong is the densest place on earth with a population density of 6,540 people per square kilometer
·         Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. English is widely used in the Government and by the legal, professional and business sectors
·         Literally translated, Hong Kong means “Fragrant Harbor”
·         Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers (classified as buildings with more than 14 floors) in the world with 3,000 – almost double of second-place New York City
·         Chinese citizens must get a visa to visit Hong Kong

Since we were up so early, we were ready for the day.  We did not sign up for any ship excursions and decided to do our own thing.  Morry and Hanita joined us as we headed for the Star Ferry Terminal to take the ferry over to Hong Kong island and beat the rush up to Victoria Peak.  We purchased tickets on the Big Bus hop-on-hop-off bus, which included ferry tickets and entry to the funicular going up to Victoria Peak, all for the whopping price of $49 each.  What a great deal! 

We boarded the ferry and while I figured we were safe enough, OSHA in the USA would never approve of this vessel or the boarding techniques.  Deckhands were wearing blue sailor suits.  They crowd on as many people as they could squeeze in, lifted the ramp and off they went for the six minute crossing to Hong Kong island.  As the ferry tied to the dock, people rushed to the side to get off and I swear if the boat was not tied to the dock, it would have tipped over from the weight of all the people being on the one side. 

We found the double-decker Big Bus and took the green route to get to Victoria Peak.  We were told that it is often misty or foggy and early morning is the best time to see the view.  And since we were early, we could avoid the crowds.  The day was perfect weather wise.  I could not have asked for anything more pleasant.  The temperature was in the mid 70s and there was plenty of sunshine.   We rode the funicular railway (that dates from 1888, but has been totally rebuilt) up a steep, very steep grade to the peak tram terminus at 1,805 feet.  At the top of the peak, there was a shopping and entertainment complex – boo hoo.  However, the view from the top is breathtaking.  One can see the central city of Hong Kong, Victoria Harbor, and Kowloon. 

View of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

Michael and Beverly at the top of Victoria Peak

A beautiful day and a reminder of when we were there

  

We headed back down the hill and prayed that the brakes held.  I guess the angle to be around 35 degrees in some spots, but it felt like more.  You sit facing uphill so as not to fall off your seat.  We were really smart to go early because the line to ride the tram was out the door, down the street and around the corner.  Timing is everything.

We hopped back on the Big Bus and toured the ocean side of Hong Kong Island riding on extremely narrow and twisty roads along the shoreline, and saw amusement parks, beaches, parks, and more skyscraper residential buildings.  Our next stop was the famous Stanley Market.

Stanley is a touristy beach town, with a seaside street lined with cafes sporting colorful umbrellas and outdoor eating.  It seems as though pizza is the preferred dining option here although we did get some Chinese food.  After lunch, it was time to SHOP!  The market was very clean, as is all of Hong Kong from what we saw.  Cheap knockoffs and itty bitty shitty stuff (trinkets) was to be had.  Hanita and I managed to buy a couple of things, but the guys got tired of following us around and were apparently bored.  How can you be bored when there was soooo much good stuff to look at?  We only made it to a few stores before we left.  Girls, do not shop with guys if they won’t be a good sport about it – just leave them home!

Stanley Market

Beach at Stanley

Back to the Big Bus for the ride back to the central area.  Morry and Hanita chose to go back to the ship and we continued on riding the Big Bus red line and seeing more of the downtown or central area.  My impression of this commercial hub was that I could be in any large American city like New York.  The Kowloon side, on the other hand, was much more Chinese like.  Streets were crowded with shoppers loaded with bags of goodies, mostly high end designer stuff.  By now, Michael was nodding off on the bus ride.

Housing complex

Cemetery on the hillside

We returned to the ship via the ferry, and a walk through the terminal, which is really a mall.  The section we walked through to get to the ship was designer stores that sold nothing but baby and toddler stuff; it must have been ½ mile long.  No prices were advertised.  Hong Kong is a shopper’s paradise, but from what we found and from what others have said, there are no great bargains to be had.

We were going to go out with Adrian and Lillian for a nice Chinese dinner, but by the time we all rendezvoused, we were all tired out from the day’s exertion and just ate on the ship.  We watched the laser light and music show from the top deck and were disappointed that it wasn’t like the one we saw at Disneyland.  Buildings on both sides of the harbor light up and there are lasers on the top of the buildings shooting out beams of colored light.  I really wanted to go to the night market in Kowloon, but I was just too tired and wound up going to sleep at 9:30pm – that is sleep, not just getting in bed.  Next time I get here, I’m going:  to the night market, the ladies market, the jade market, the flower market, and yes, the bird market. 

Day 2

We caught the Big Bus blue line for a tour around Kowloon.  I wish we had more time here as this would be a fun place to really explore and shop.  There are many huge malls with the designer duds, but Nathan Street is where it’s happening.  This is the main street in Kowloon and is a consumer’s paradise.  Small stores dot both sides of the street with neon signs hanging out over the street advertising the business or wares sold.  Unfortunately, we did not see the street lit up at night.  All the grand markets I mentioned before are located on side streets just off Nathan.

Neon lights on Nathan Street

Nathan Street

We got off the bus and Michael headed out to look for a watch and I went to spend the $400 leftover Hong Kong dollars.   Michael’s search took him to two different watch shops and he came home empty-handed.  He found that he could get the desired watch at home for $700 less than the best price he negotiated here.  So much for bargains!

I, on the other hand, couldn’t find anything for $400HK.  This sounds like a lot of money, but it is really only $45US and there wasn’t anything within walking distance between the place where the bus let us off and the ship that sold anything worthwhile for that little money.  So I also went back to the ship empty-handed. 

I would love to have spent the afternoon shopping, but we had a World Cruise event scheduled and Michael was not about to skip this one to shop.  We went to the horse race track at Sha Tin.  There were four buses to take us for the 30 minute ride out to the suburbs on a modern freeway.  We passed massive residential skyscrapers that were tightly grouped together.  The race facility was beyond huge; it holds 77,000 people.  We were escorted to a private box complete with buffet lunch and napkins so starched and ironed that one could barely make a dent in them.  We lost money.  So sad.  And we still have Hong Kong dollars left over.  We should be able to spend them in Singapore. 

Sha Tin Race Track

At the races

While at the race track, I was able to get free wifi and download updates to my iPhone apps.  This was my entertainment as the races were every ½ hour and the actual race took about two minutes so I had 28 minutes to play with it and try to update my phone to iCloud, which I was not able to do. 

Then it was back to the ship for a sailaway party and a dramatic nighttime view of Hong Kong.   We hosted a dinner table tonight and the guest of honor was Adrian, who was celebrating his 92^nd birthday.  The formal birthday party is on Tuesday.

Night Lights

More night lights

Next stop:  DaNang Vietnam