Ny-lon-kong ! Asia's World City !
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2007
1
118
123
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Hong Kong,
China
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
New York, London and Hong Kong or as it's been referred to Ny-lon-kong! Three of the world's important financial centers. One certainly gets the feeling that Hong Kong is a vibrant financial and shopping center for the Asian Pacific area. We certainly felt it walking around Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
The last few days have given us an opportunity to explore Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong Island. The Star Ferry is a quick and easy way to travel around Hong Kong Harbour. So, we decided to catch a ferry from the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui to the Central Pier on Hong Kong Island. Even with a light rain, the walkways from Central Pier to the IFC Mall were covered. Given it was a weekday, the pedestrian crowd was heavy. Although we've forgotten what "work" entails, we were quite certain that a majority of these people were "working"! At least they seemed to be walking with a purpose in mind!
The IFC Mall was impressive as was the shopping! One store that we won't forget is the City'Super Food Market as this day was Canada Day and Canadian products were being promoted around the store. We couldn't believe it! Store employee's wearing Canadian hats! This was a photo opp we couldn't pass!
With Hong Kong a co-host city of the Beijing Olympics and opening ceremonies only days away, there was a degree of excitement in the city as it was getting ready to host the equestrian events. In addition, a number of olympic teams arrived in Hong Kong before actually heading to Beijing. This gave teams an opportunity to climatize and get comfortable with the hot temperatures and the time zone differences before arriving in the smog and hype of Beijing!
The Olympic Piazza, located near the HK Cultural Center and Harbour also offered numerous attractions for people to visit and become interactively involved. We had an opportunity to visit the Piazza and become familiar with the mascots that would be seen around the world soon enough!
One activity that isn't an olympic sport but should be is Shopping! I could think of numerous events affiliated with shopping that require far more skill, strength, speed and endurance than perhaps Table Tennis! Not that I have anything against Table Tennis! But, if you were between a female shopper and clothing rack offering 50% off the already discounted 50%, who would you fear more? The female shopper or table tennis player? The shopping olympics could have a 50 meter sprint from the clothing section to the shoe section or a clothing pull for various weight classes or a long jump to the front of the dressing room line, etc! I'm confident that the shopping olympics would attract a large television audience.
Although we're not big shoppers, we held our own in this competitive, energy charged shopping mecca and in the process, managed to pick up a bargain or two. However, without a doubt, the most annoying part of venturing out on the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui were the numerous tailors who repeatedly seek out tourists in pursuit of a suit sale! I would ask, "do I look like I need a suit" as I walked past wearing board shorts and a t-shirt. It didn't matter, as I ignored one tailor, another one five meters later would ask the same questions.
With one more full day remaining in Hong Kong, our plans are to visit Macau tomorrow. We've found the ferry terminal and know the ferry schedule so, we're hoping to enjoy a full day in Macau. However, the weather forecast has Severe Tropical Storm Kammuri heading toward Hong Kong and Storm Signal No.3 has been hoisted. Thus, we'll have to wait and see if this storm disrupts our plans to visit Macau!
Cheers, Rick & Elsie!
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HK Island Financial Center !
