Hong Kong

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Yesterday we arrived in Hong Kong. Airport express to Kowloon and then a taxi to Icon Hotel. We sampled afternoon tea in the hotel lobby which has a garden wall. Good savouries. The cakes were fun to look at in different colours, but they all tasted similar. The evening entertainment was a harbour tour with the bright lights all around. The laser show didn't add very much, but apparently it is in the Guiness book of records. There were a few buildings that stood out including the Norman Foster coat hanger building.

The hotel has a wide range of options in the buffet so I indulged in two breakfasts, Chinese style followed by cooked English. Today was the "big bus" tour - open top tourist bus. It took a while to get started, finding where to buy tickets, how to get the ferry tickets and where to find the bus after the ferry. Systems here do seem quite complicated. Once on the bus it was easier and the weather brightened. I noticed many of the street names harked back to the Victorian era, queen victoria street and Albert street. however there are very few C19 buildings left. The Tram to Victoria Peak is one of the oldest institutions.It is very popular. It is a slightly odd combination of the old trams and the steep climb with the modern shopping and viewing centre with its escalators at the top. Escalators and walkways over the roads are a memorable feature of Hong Kong. Occasionally it does give a strange sensation of being trapped in an endless circle of shops. There was an open air viewing platform at the top looking down over the skyscrapers below. Although it was hazy, it did give a very different view of the buildings to compare with the harbour views. At the top there is also an area for marriage propositions - no one proposed when we were there!

The last stop was the Man Mo temple. This brought back memories of 2012 (especially Lanzhou another temple surrounded by tower blocks). The Man Mo is a small temple with a regular stream of visitors. Inside the hanging from the roof are curled incense burners. They look a little bit like modern style light fittings. They created both interesting visual patterns and the strong smell of the incense. At the side of the temple are two decorated sedan carriers for the Man and Mo. Outside the temple was a working mechanised puppet theatre in the style of Chinese opera. The Man Mo temple area is also the area for antique shops - at least that made a change from all the luxury goods stores.

Supper was at the shopping centre on the Kowloon side of the harbour, called Ocean I think. We found a good restaurant upstairs for an early supper. I think the food may have been Korean style.

In the evening I swam in the 9th floor open air (heated) swimming pool with a view over the harbour. I had the pool to myself.

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