Central at the Centre of our stay!

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Hot and sweaty in Central Hong Kong!!

Hi again all. Well another busy day (and although not quite finished this will probably be our only opportunity to get our blog up) Once again we were tired getting up at about 9 am because of our busy days. We headed out again for breakfast and found the newly opened Charlie Browns Café on Mody Road. Breakfast was really nice though we were overcharged for a cup of coffee ($20 HKD) when it was supposed to be included in the price of the meal. Oh well!

We then headed off to the MTR via the subway with a small detour to find a Post Office. It is so interesting to note that in a city the size of Hong Kong there are not very many Post Offices and then off to catch a train to Central and then made the walk to Hong Kong through the subway. We emerged near the Connaught Road exit at Hong Kong Stationl.

Today we decided to make the hike up to the Zoological gardens and so wandered around Jubilee Street, then Queens Road Central (the HMV shop was fantastic) and there was even a Marks and Spencer’s (otherwise known as Marks and Sparks!) although there was very limited options in clothing. We did come to the conclusion that since it was in Central it was there to cater to the Professional Women (most of whom are e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y small!) try sizes 6-12!! So on we went. The HMV shop listed above was massive! And of course since we are at the beginning of the Shopping Festival (which lasts an amazing 8 weeks) the specials were great. We did pick up a few more VCDs =) including titles suitable for the girls. There were some differences in the price of the HMV to the little shop we had previously found with HMV being more for some of the new released but we did think that this could be because of the rent costs, the population that it caters to and of course the fact that HMV is a syndicated shop found worldwide. But anyway in the end we bought 6 for $205 (approx $AUD41!!)

We wandered around and found a place for lunch. It is really interesting that some of the restaurants that cater to the lunchtime crowd are so busy that they will take your order via Palm Pilot and by the time you make it to the registers, your lunch is ready and all you have to do is pay. But Mark will no doubt fill you in on that one later! Getting a seat is also difficult. I headed off with the girls downstairs to the tables so that we had a hope of finding a table for four. Seating is at a premium and there are seriously never enough chairs and tables so you have to pounce when you find a table, which of course we did.

Once back out of the restaurant and off up the street again we decided to tackle Duddell Street. Extremely steep, with lots of steps. However at the top of that flight of stairs are the original Gas Lights which are still used every night. Installed in the 1800’s they are now considered a national treasure. And you can definitely see why. Truly beautiful and amazing to think that they are still used.

Up Glenealy Street (another extremely steep road) so I can certainly see why the locals use the Mid Level Escalators, not that we have quite made it to them yet. It took us about an hour of walking to complete the Duddell Street to the Zoological Gardens walk up steep steep roads and steps, at about 1 pm. When we made it to bottom garden entry we looked up and saw another mass of steps. Mark asked if we wanted to try these too. Our answer in unison was along the lines of “Not on your life!” (mine might have been a little more pithy I must admit!!!) Then Mark made the comment along the lines that he hoped that the walk up was worth it. Trust me IT WAS even thought the guidebooks describe it as old fashioned and small!! It was a haven of green and cool in the very hot weather. The antics of the animals found in there were amusing. The one primate (Saimang!!) was calling out. Mark once again kindly chirped up that he thought it was calling to Charlotte “You are so gorgeous - come here sweetie!” There was the 3 month old Black and White Lemurs which could come and go out of the enclosure at will - those bars just did not hold them in! There was an Orangutan couple very fat and contented. The Zoo is free to visit and is open from 6 am till 7 pm daily. It is immaculately kept too. This was the highlight of the day.

The walk back down was not so very taxing though even with the extreme humidity. We made it down in about 20 mins (and no that was not at run speed!) and found our way to the HSBC Building. It was interesting to see the escalators there that are off centre (not pleasing to the Architect however) to increase the Chi flow (Feng Shui). Across the road from here is the Legislative Assembly building. It is another very European inspired building. Sandstone built in 1810 (we think given the Roman Numerals). The gardens and park out the front are very open - I believe that this is owned by the HSBC building so that it has aspects from the front of the harbour. Again very important for the Chi flow. We then walked along the Chater Road until we got into the Admiralty Shopping Centre for a walk around. Not much along the lines of what we were looking for though. Down the escalator and into the MTR Station at Admiralty to make the short hop back to Tsim Sha Tsui Station. On our way back to the hotel we agreed to visit our favourite Tea Shop. We had found this very early on in the holiday, the man in there being extremely pleasant but we had never actually stayed to try the tea as he had offered. Today he offered again and we are so pleased we did. We tried his Green Tea, Black Tea, Jasmine Tea and the Ginseng with Oolong Tea. I was very taken with the Jasmine. Not too strong and with a pleasant aroma. We ended up leaving the shop with tea cups (but just wait until you see them!) Tea Sets and 3 types of teas. He was most effusive about the children as they remembered the Shi Shi Ni (thank you) and the Zi ziyang (goodbye) at the end. His Mother also came down to meet us. She was amazed to learn that Charlotte was Xie Xie (big sister) and Beth was Mei Mei (little sister). When we left we were invited back for Ginseng Tea tomorrow afternoon and lots of samples of flower teas. Such lovely people.

Mark and Charlotte then headed off to organize our meal for tonight while Beth and I made our way back to the hotel with the shopping goodies (with our arms encircling the bag with the tea goodies lest the bag fail us!) and a well deserved rest. Tonight we will head off to the newly opened Bull Dog Restaurant (yes it offers a variety of foods, Chinese, English and Aussie) it has only opened in the last day or so and we met the owner last week so we decided we had to go there for dinner one night before we left.

Tomorrow is another day and while I don’t know what we will be doing just yet I am looking forward to what the new day will bring because each day surprises and amazes us.

Some interesting facts:

Do you want your coffee hot? Do you want your coffee white? When ordering Coffee in Hong Kong make sure you specify what exactly you want. If you don’t you may just be surprised with what you do get! Hot Coffee/Tea/Chocolate is cheaper than cold (chilled) although I am not exactly sure why. This morning Mark asked for Coffee (thankfully he did tell them hot) and ended up with black black coffee. (which is usually much stronger than we might be used to.)

Pollution and tissues. Pollution in the air is very noticeable. We have been pleased to have lots of tissues on hand to cope. Now I know why so many people wear masks here (besides a fear of Bird Flu of course!)

I am seriously sick of being pushed around! In their hurry to get to where they want to be they will push and shove anyone in their way. This has included both the girls and ourselves. Both Mark and I have sported marks from being ‘whacked’ by bags, umbrellas and arms/shoulders etc. This is seriously annoying. I think it really got to me when Beth was standing just behind Mark getting off the train and was pushed out of the way by this ‘guy’ who wanted to be where Beth was.

Marks Input

Mark has nothing to say today - oops he is just of course being silly.

The Zoo was the highlight of the day even though we only saw half. It is such a refreshing spot to find smack bang in the middle of suburbia and I am truly amazed that they maintain it open to the public for free.

When trying to organize dinner don’t ask them what do they do for tea otherwise you will get a cup.

Charlotte’s Input

When we were at the zoo, we saw lots of animals. The one I like the best was the Tortoises. They were really beautiful but were really really fat. Well the big one was!

When we were at the Reptile House we saw a really big python but Mummy and Daddy could not see it so they thought it was not there. But Elizabeth and I (well me) spotted the Python and said “Look Mummy and Daddy you can see the head” and then they were able to see it and said “Öh yeah! You can see its head”.

Elizabeth’s Input

Today we went to the very nice Zoo and we saw lots of monkeys. At first we saw one, a monkey (well 2 monkeys actually) that were born on the 27th April 2006. We also saw the reptile house where we saw a Chinese Alligator and a spotted Python (I think).

Today I bought 2 VCDs - The Barbie Diaries and Fairytopia “Mermaidia” for $HKD120 and I am looking forward to watching them.

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