A Brief Hong Kong Jaunt
Trip Start
Oct 12, 2005
1
12
48
Trip End
Mar 31, 2006
Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Life in Hong Kong is a little like being home again as the city seems like a huge version of New York's Chinatown. The same sounds on the street, the same goods for sale, the same crowded sidewalks. At least all that applies to the area of Kowloon, where our hotel is, which is a part of Hong Kong attached to mainland China.
Things started to feel different as you approach the harborfront area of Kowloon and see the amazing skyline of Hong Kong Island. Now, we used to live a few blocks from the waterfront in Brooklyn which had what we thought were pretty stunning views of Manhattan. But Hong Kong is in a whole different category. The entire waterfront, which stretches for miles, is crammed with skyscrapers, including more than a few that make the lists of tallest in the world
01 Hong Kong Skyline
. Particularly eyecatching is Two Financial Plaza, a beautiful building that rises like a bullet over the rest of the city. To top it off, the buildings are backed by mountains which rise right out of the harbor, which are studded with even more skyscrapers. We had scheduled only one and a half days in Hong Kong, because we were worried about the expense, but everything is pretty cheap here, especially in comparison to Japan. For instance, our ferry ride from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island was about 20 cents, and the double deck streetcar was a little less. The street cars are fun to ride, almost like an old amusement park ride in the wide the creak and shudder along their tracks. They travel through streets passing within inches of each other, just missing taxi cabs and brave jaywalking pedestrians.
We took the street car to the Central Plaza buildings where there is a free view of the city on the 46th floor. Then back on the street car to the base of the mid-level escalators, probably our favorite thing in the city. The mid-level escalators are actually a series of connecting escalators and moving sidewalks that go from near the waterfront up through several hill-side neighborhoods, weaving between buildings and over streets. It's a great way to see the street life, like taking a walk without having to exercise
02 View From Central Plaza
.Then off to the "must-see" attraction of Hong Kong, Victoria Peak. We boarded the funicular railway which travels up the mountainside at sometimes ridiculously steep angles. Unfortunately they announce on the way up that the viewing tower where one sees the famous views of the city is closed for renovations. Funny how they didn't post that at the place where you board. So no view from the top, but that didn't matter because we saw great views on the bus ride back down, and got to chat with a friendly Kiwi (New Zealander) who was nice enough share her block of cheese to round out our snack.
After a long day of touring around we decided to take a break back at the Chin-Chin Bar, in our hotel (The Hyatt Regency - result of American Express Rewards point, thank you very much). We were lucky enough to be entertained by a singing duet who claimed "this next one is by the Beatles" but you could have fooled us.
So that is our super-speedy visit to Hong Kong. We write this now sitting on our Dragon Air flight to Bangkok, and it looks like we are just passing over Vietnam. We are being treated to a terrific Business class flight because when we showed up at the airport this morning it turned out our flight was leaving forty minutes earlier than our itinerary had listed it. So we were rushed through check-in, had to sweat through a glacial immigration line, and then whisked through security and onto the plane. Although slightly stressful, being late was definitely worth it as all the other people on the flight had checked in and their were no seats left in economy! So, here we are sipping our fresh squeezed orange juice, choosing which our five forks to use to sample the fruit salad.
Comments
Tall Buildings
Loved the pictures. The picture of the two buildings on the side of the mountain made me a little afraid. I am not scared of heights, but that just freaked me out. I don't know if I could live in one of those. Maybe it isn't so bad in real life.
Love, Mom