Hong Kong - Ding Dong

To get to Hong Kong, us “flashpackers”, as we have been dubbed, decided, to take the night bus to Shenzhen and cross the border from there.  We are on a budget after all.  While our visions of the Knight Bus from Harry Potter weren’t exactly accurate, we weren’t too disappointed with our accommodation for the night.  In fact we were rather impressed.  Neither of us had taken a night time bus before so we really didn’t know what to expect and consequently we were surprised when we discovered we would actually have our own beds (no, it wasn’t obvious to us!).  The bus trip to Shenzhen took about 8 hours.  Once there, we had to exit China via customs and visa control, before walking across the border into Hong Kong, to go through the whole procedure again.  Then we hopped on 40 minute subway and arrived in Hong Kong at 9am, with the whole day ahead of us.

Our night bus accommodation

Hong Kong is a former British colony and this was immediately evident when we arrived at the subway.  Everybody queued in an orderly manner; there was no mad rush to get on when the train arrived; and everybody got off in a cool and composed manner.  When we got above ground, we realised that we were no longer taking our lives into our hands as we attempted to cross the road when the green man showed.  There were no longer any issues with public toilets, which were spotlessly clean with stickers covering every appliance declaring how often during the day it was disinfected.  Normalcy resumed!

There are two main parts to Hong Kong city; Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.  While we spent most of our time on Hong Kong Island, we did venture across to Kowloon to take in the amazing view across the harbor over to the island.  Hong Kong is another one of those cities that boasts a magnificent skyline, which is impressive both during the day and at night time.  Unfortunately, it likes to make a big deal out of a daily event called “Symphony of Lights”, a 15 minute night show where a number of the skyscrapers beam lights and lasers from the buildings to the accompaniment of classical music.  We arrived in good time to get a good, unobstructed view of the harbor.  We enjoyed just looking across the water at the buildings as their lights changed colour and the logos flashed on and off, just like Shanghai.  By the time the show started, a huge crowd had gathered to witness what we thought was the most over-hyped, over-rated “spectacle” of lights.  What a disappointment!  The ferry over and back to Hong Kong Island was really great however, as we could see the lights on both sides of the harbour.

View of Hong Kong Island by day

Junk boat in the harbour

Hong Kong Island at night

On our first evening, we had planned to go to the Happy Valley racecourse for the Wednesday evening meet.  Gambling is big business in Hong Kong so we were excited to experience this popular activity under the floodlights.  Unfortunately, that evening we realised that the meet wasn’t on that particular Wednesday.  The lack of floodlights from our hotel room view 1 hour before the first race was a bit of a giveaway!  Plan B was put into action and we headed into Soho (South of Hollywood Road), which is a popular entertainment district for expats.  We were spoilt for choice in terms of restaurants and bars, but settled on what turned out to be an amazing French restaurant.  Think scallops, crab, lobster bisque, French onion soup, steak, lamb, chocolate soufflé and lots of vino!  It was a real feast, especially after our Chinese dining experiences.

Fancy French restaurant

The following few days were spent in a very relaxed manner.  We visited Victoria Park, which is close to the waterfront.  The Hong Kong Mid-Autumn festival was going on when we were there and we enjoyed the fairy light models and the giant fish which was built entirely out of Chinese lanterns.  Its construction broke some World Record, as the largest object made out of lanterns.  It was beautiful when it was lit up at night.

We also took the tram up the mountain to The Peak.  The tram (a funicular railway) was really old-fashioned and offered spectacular views of the city as we ascended and descended.  When we reached the top we took a long walk around The Peak and were treated to magnificent 360 degree views of Hong Kong Island.  Hong Kong is the third largest port in the world and this was obvious from The Peak as we could see hundreds of cargo and container ships dotted all over the harbor.

Hong Kong Harbour & Kowloon from The Peak

We took a turn about Hong Kong Park, a haven in the city.  It was very beautiful with a waterfall, multiple lakes and ponds full of fish and turtles and a giant outdoor (but covered) aviary, which housed all kinds of colourful birds.

We also decided to cram on the tram to get a different view of downtown Hong Kong.  It was a great way to see the city.  How we got seats the few times we travelled on it, I still don’t know.  Each time it was packed solid and with no air-conditioning in humid Hong Kong, it was hot, hot, hot!

Hong Kong tram

Because Hong Kong is so cosmopolitan, there are plenty of choices when it comes to food.  Naturally we took full advantage of that – 30 days of rice would do that to you!  Our Hong Kong adventure was a veritable food fest, starting with the aforementioned French bistro.  We also treated ourselves to a full Irish breakfast, with the full works being sausages, eggs, rashers, toast, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, juice and a cup of tea which we never saw the bottom of as it was constantly being refilled by the staff.  Saying it was incredibly delicious would be a bit of an understatement.  In fact we enjoyed it so much that we went back there the same evening for burgers, milkshakes and pancakes!  We also couldn’t ignore the Marks & Spencers foodhall that was staring at us as we walked along evening – it would have been rude to have done so!  We stocked up on Percy Pigs, crisps, cheese and trifles.  Yummy.  We have had some food cravings over the previous couple of months and our gastronomic trip to Hong Kong went a long way towards satisfying them.  Oh and the city itself is pretty great too.  Japan will have a lot to live up to…

Avec chocolate souffle