Waking Up
I woke up before my alarm went off. I probably got about 6 1/2 hours of sleep, which felt more like 12. I couldn't sleep much more and showered. It's almost like traveling to Hong Kong fixed my compulsive need to be a night person. Getting up early was key, because I only had one full day in Hong Kong - so I had to make the most of it.
Around the same time I was getting ready to shower I could hear Mike's family start to get up. Their 2 year old son Gregory is the one who decides wake up time, and he slept about 30 minutes later than normal.
Mike's wife Sara has done a lot of volunteer work involving expatriates (people who relocate to another country other than their own). Sara was full of suggestions and incredibly helpful. I normally don't let others define my itinerary, but given the short amount of time I had and the common interests I share with Mike (here's one of his published Nat Geo pics) it seemed like a good idea.
She also cooked an awesome breakfast complete with pancakes and excellent bacon. Plus, real maple syrup. I commented about the real maple syrup (it's something you seldom because it's very expensive), and they brought out a variation of award winning Canadian maple syrup. What a great start to the day. Since Mike often works late, breakfast is the big family meal - and I was happy to be there.
To Town
Mike's family lives about a 20-30 minute ride away from the financial district (Central). So after breakfast we head into town. The plan was for me to splinter off and meet up with him later in the day.
The first thing I noticed leaving the house was the rain and haze. Visibility was absolutely awful - I couldn't see 100 feet in front of my face. Mike also told me it was cold, the coldest day of the ear in Hong Kong. It was probably around 40f (4.5c) which was palmy compared to Chicago's 0 (-18c).
We made a quick stop for gas/petrol, which is the most expensive I have yet to see at around $8.25/gallon.
Fishing Village
After about 40 minutes of driving through Hong Kong traffic we arrived at a train station. Hong Kong gives cars permits providing them permission to drive only in certain areas. Mike's permit was not valid on the Lantau Island, which is were the Big Buddha is located. So we'd drive to a public parking lot and hop a taxi to the nearby fishing village of Tai O. Tai O is on the other side of the mountain of Big Buddha.
Tai O is a completely different side of Hong Kong, which was probably why Mike and Sara added it to my itinerary. Most of the houses are on stilts along the river and is mostly a fisherman's village. We'd take a ferry tour in search of pink dolphins. We didn't end up seeing dolphins, but touring Tai O was very cool and cost almost nothing.
The Big Buddah
After touring Tai O we made our way to the Big Buddha, which was further up the mountain. I mentioned before visibility was poor, but it got worse the further up the mountain we went. From the parking lot you couldn't even see the Big Buddha and signage was necessary to instruct tourists which way to go. I was beginning to wonder how big this Buddha really was.
After rounding a corner we were lead to a giant staircase. I was rather surprised to see elderly people attempting the climb. I asked Mike how this was handicapped accessible, and he pointed to a paved road on the other side of the trees that allowed tour buses to make the climb.
The Big Buddha was not visible until I got to the top of the stairways. Even than it was hard to make out the details of his body. Walking around the Big Buddha is free, however entering requires buying a ticket. Tickets are sold at the bottom of the hill - so having second thoughts would be a painful decision.
Cable Car Down
The cable car ride down to the town is supposed to be scenic. You can even pay extra to ride a glass bottom car. Unfortunately for me, the cable car was going through an enormous cloud of haze. We were paired with two guys who I would have guessed were Chinese, ends up they were actually Russian. Mike grew up in Belarus and speaks fluent Russia. They also spoke decent English, so we all had a good chat about our hometowns.
High Tea
Next on the agenda was high tea at the JW Marriot with Sara and son Gregory. I'd never done a high tea, so this was a first. Many of the hotels offer high tea, which for us was a light meal buffet style and tea. At some hotels the event can be very formal, requires formal attire. JW's was rather casual. There was a variety of food, from BBQ chicken wings, to crepes and sushi. I made several rounds and made a complete pig of myself.
Light Show Downtown
After high tea it was time to hop the Starr ferry across the harbor. The Star Ferry is a vintage ferry founded back in 1888. Like the Costco hot dog, I wouldn't be surprised if the price has remained the same because it cost next to nothing to ride. The ferry jets passengers from Hong Kong to the island of Kowloon. From there the entire Hong Kong skyline is viewable. At 8pm a light show is done, which involves certain buildings in the skyline coordinating their lighting to lasers and music.
Today was exhausting, but exactly what I wanted since I was only going to be in Hong Kong for a short amount of time. Tomorrow I'd leave in the afternoon for Thailand. I'd have another night in Hong Kong for the flight home, but only one night. So I felt good making the most of the day.
I woke up before my alarm went off. I probably got about 6 1/2 hours of sleep, which felt more like 12. I couldn't sleep much more and showered. It's almost like traveling to Hong Kong fixed my compulsive need to be a night person. Getting up early was key, because I only had one full day in Hong Kong - so I had to make the most of it.
Around the same time I was getting ready to shower I could hear Mike's family start to get up. Their 2 year old son Gregory is the one who decides wake up time, and he slept about 30 minutes later than normal.
Mike's wife Sara has done a lot of volunteer work involving expatriates (people who relocate to another country other than their own). Sara was full of suggestions and incredibly helpful. I normally don't let others define my itinerary, but given the short amount of time I had and the common interests I share with Mike (here's one of his published Nat Geo pics) it seemed like a good idea.
She also cooked an awesome breakfast complete with pancakes and excellent bacon. Plus, real maple syrup. I commented about the real maple syrup (it's something you seldom because it's very expensive), and they brought out a variation of award winning Canadian maple syrup. What a great start to the day. Since Mike often works late, breakfast is the big family meal - and I was happy to be there.
To Town
Mike's family lives about a 20-30 minute ride away from the financial district (Central). So after breakfast we head into town. The plan was for me to splinter off and meet up with him later in the day.
The first thing I noticed leaving the house was the rain and haze. Visibility was absolutely awful - I couldn't see 100 feet in front of my face. Mike also told me it was cold, the coldest day of the ear in Hong Kong. It was probably around 40f (4.5c) which was palmy compared to Chicago's 0 (-18c).
We made a quick stop for gas/petrol, which is the most expensive I have yet to see at around $8.25/gallon.
Price in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) per Liter
(3.8 liters to a gallon, 7.75 HKD per dollar)
Fishing Village
After about 40 minutes of driving through Hong Kong traffic we arrived at a train station. Hong Kong gives cars permits providing them permission to drive only in certain areas. Mike's permit was not valid on the Lantau Island, which is were the Big Buddha is located. So we'd drive to a public parking lot and hop a taxi to the nearby fishing village of Tai O. Tai O is on the other side of the mountain of Big Buddha.
Tai O is a completely different side of Hong Kong, which was probably why Mike and Sara added it to my itinerary. Most of the houses are on stilts along the river and is mostly a fisherman's village. We'd take a ferry tour in search of pink dolphins. We didn't end up seeing dolphins, but touring Tai O was very cool and cost almost nothing.
Welcome to Tai O
Ferry Boat
View from ferry
Buddha statues were everywhere
View from Tai O
View from bridge near the ferry
The Big Buddah
After touring Tai O we made our way to the Big Buddha, which was further up the mountain. I mentioned before visibility was poor, but it got worse the further up the mountain we went. From the parking lot you couldn't even see the Big Buddha and signage was necessary to instruct tourists which way to go. I was beginning to wonder how big this Buddha really was.
After rounding a corner we were lead to a giant staircase. I was rather surprised to see elderly people attempting the climb. I asked Mike how this was handicapped accessible, and he pointed to a paved road on the other side of the trees that allowed tour buses to make the climb.
The Big Buddha was not visible until I got to the top of the stairways. Even than it was hard to make out the details of his body. Walking around the Big Buddha is free, however entering requires buying a ticket. Tickets are sold at the bottom of the hill - so having second thoughts would be a painful decision.
Walkway to Big Buddha
I'm told way up there is Big Buddha...but I'm dubious
I'm a little hazy, please come back next week
Statues and haze
Cable Car Down
The cable car ride down to the town is supposed to be scenic. You can even pay extra to ride a glass bottom car. Unfortunately for me, the cable car was going through an enormous cloud of haze. We were paired with two guys who I would have guessed were Chinese, ends up they were actually Russian. Mike grew up in Belarus and speaks fluent Russia. They also spoke decent English, so we all had a good chat about our hometowns.
View from cable car once we got to the bottom
(visibility was much worse higher up)
Mike talking with Russian
View from car
High Tea
Next on the agenda was high tea at the JW Marriot with Sara and son Gregory. I'd never done a high tea, so this was a first. Many of the hotels offer high tea, which for us was a light meal buffet style and tea. At some hotels the event can be very formal, requires formal attire. JW's was rather casual. There was a variety of food, from BBQ chicken wings, to crepes and sushi. I made several rounds and made a complete pig of myself.
Light Show Downtown
After high tea it was time to hop the Starr ferry across the harbor. The Star Ferry is a vintage ferry founded back in 1888. Like the Costco hot dog, I wouldn't be surprised if the price has remained the same because it cost next to nothing to ride. The ferry jets passengers from Hong Kong to the island of Kowloon. From there the entire Hong Kong skyline is viewable. At 8pm a light show is done, which involves certain buildings in the skyline coordinating their lighting to lasers and music.
Rough outline of today's Hong Kong
Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Harbor
Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Harbor
Today was exhausting, but exactly what I wanted since I was only going to be in Hong Kong for a short amount of time. Tomorrow I'd leave in the afternoon for Thailand. I'd have another night in Hong Kong for the flight home, but only one night. So I felt good making the most of the day.
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