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Published: December 25th 2009
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Day Three - Peak Performance & Going the Extra Mile
After rising late and finally pushing out the door late morning, we eased the girls into the trip with a McCafe (McDonalds) breakfast. This seemed to give everyone a kick and the delights of Hong Kong started to have more of an impression on the lil laydees. A first MTR trip (so much nicer than the Tube a few days earlier) down to the Harbour led us to the impressive Peninsula and the delightful Pan Pacific. The best was to come though.
The Star Ferry ride from Tsim Tsar Tsui to Central is a journey I could never tire of. HK$9 took four of us across Victoria Bay with the relaxing breeze countering the effects of the peeking midday sun. It offered the girls their first good view of the famous HK skyline and Angela was happy snapping to her heart’s content.
We walked up through Central to Connaught Road and Leanne voted to go on the Mid-Level Escalator before heading over to the Lower Peak Tram Terminus. Travelling 800m up the hillside, they really are an impressive way to check out the bars and restaurants of Noho
and Soho. After only a few sections we were off through Battery Park to the Tram though.
A minibus or double decker will get you up the Peak for a lot less but it really is an experience in its own right, as is the scrum with the wee Chinese getting on. They didn’t figure on Leanne ‘Scott Gibbs’ Berry mind you.
As you’ll see on the pics, it was fairly smoggy at the top but still great to see the familiar view once again. It really is stunning up there so we spent the next few hours on the 3km trail around the Peak. The various exercise equipment brought many laughs but the best for me was at the start of Lugard Road watching the Goshawks and Black Kites soar over the forest. One could spend all day up there or even hiking down to the reservoir.
As time was creeping on we retired to Central for some dinner. Shannon’s Malay curry chicken was the star dish although my beef satay udon was divine too. Leanne’s ribs also tantalised but there is only so much even a fat lil man can eat.
Another delightful journey
across the Bay brought us to the ‘Avenue of Stars’ platform just as the skyscrapers were beginning to switch on their light systems. The light show itself is just ok but staring at the skyline as the search lights and lasers play across the cloud cover is spine tinglingly wonderful - the Tuesday night 8pm alternative of Holby City (top quality drama form the BBC) pales somewhat...
Once we got the girls settled in the hostel I nipped out to find our bus stop for the morning. Despite looking opposite where we were dropped off and walking a further half a mile up the street I couldn’t find the fecker. After retracing my steps and heading in the ‘wrong direction’ I found one about 100m down the road. Counter intuitive but at least it was close. With sore feet, I picked up a few Tsing Tao to help ease off the pain before lights out.
Today’s Highlights - Star Ferry trips; Leanne’s massive push up FAIL; and a Junk silhouetted against the dazzling neon lit skyline (sustainable energy my arse).
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Its Christmas Day. How's the ham in HongKong?