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Published: July 18th 2017
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Geo: 22.33, 114.18
Our journey began leaving on a flight from Toronto at 1:20 a.m. It was a long flight of fifteen and a half hours and at times a little turbulent. No hot beverages were allowed to be served until the morning meal because of this. But in spite of this it was a good flight.
We arrived in Hong Kong at 6 a.m. And proceeded through immigration with no trouble. They did however take my temperature to make sure I was not sick and bringing in any illnesses. We easily caught a train and a subway to get us to our hotel to drop off our bags before setting out to see the sights. This part of arriving in a new city is always a little difficult but we were really prepared this time and it was smooth sailing. We are also more accustomed to subway trains now so getting around is easier.
Upon leaving the hotel we investigated a little of our home neighborhood to see what was around us. It's always nice to know what is close by. Our first destination was the Wong Tai Sin Shrine. This is the most important Taoist temple in Hong Kong.It was constructed in
1921 and is dedicated to Wong Chuping a shepherd who gained enlightenment and immortality.Worshippers come to the temple to seekWong Tai Sin's help in healing disease, punishing evil and granting any wish put to him, the motto of the temple is "what you request is what you get " Believers come to the temple to get their fortunes read and their prayers granted. We observed people with incense or "worship sticks" being lit at an altar , the person then makes a request at the altar and shakes a bamboo cylindrical container until a fortune stick fall out. There is a number on the stick which is stopped for a paper which is then taken to a soothsayer who interprets the writing. Also part of the temple was the Good Wish Garden which is a smaller version of the Beijing Summer Palace.
Next our travels took us to another area of the city where we walked the Tsin Sha Tsui Promenade which runs along the Victoria Harbor. At this same location we observed the famous Clock Tower. It's a monument which represents the remains of the Kowloon Cantan Railway Terminus. The clocks were installed in 1920 and have been continuously ticking
since then other than a brief period during the Japanese occupation of World War II. We then caught a ferry which took us across across the harbor to Hong Kong Island to see more of the area. The ferry exits at the foot so an upscale shopping mall with many high end retailers.
By now we were ready for a rest so we headed back to the hotel for a while. After resting for a bit we headed out for the evening. We began with dinner which was was noodle dishes. One with chicken and another with beef. They were quite tasty. We had many choices of where to eat since the streets are lined with these type of restaurants, most of which have outside dining with the interiors of these eateries only seating a handful of patrons.
After dinner we visited the Temple Street Night Market. It is the city's largest and most popular night market opening after 3p.m. , with most of the action occurring between 6 and midnight. The market is also referred to the "men's market" as a counterpart to the "ladies market" in Mong Kok and because of the number of men's fashion stalls. The
market has over 100 stalls selling clothing, electronics, toys, trinkets, jewelry and food. The market is known for it's low cost items and you are expected to bargain with the vendors.
On our way back we wandered through a Chinese products store. It had some interesting health food items such as tree bark, dried sea urchins, dried mice and bats and many other unusual foods. They also sold jewelry and clothing.
On our first day we experienced some interesting Chinese cuisine, neighborhoods, markets and beautiful harbor views!
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Mary Beth
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Glad you made it there safely. Pictures are great! Enjoy your time there. Looking forward to reading about your adventures:)