Hong Kong

---

28 March – Hong Kong
By the time I had woken up this morning, the ship was docked alongside the Ocean Terminal, Victoria Harbour in Kowloon (Hong Kong).
After breakfast we ventured through the huge terminal which is 5 levels of high end shops and found our way to the post office and then to Nathan Road to meet friends. First impression of Hong Kong – bustling, vibrant, modern and the most double decker buses I have ever seen in one place. We were to find out later the next day that public transport is very easy to use and very inexpensive.
I had wanted to buy a leather jacket, so I visited a tailor shop and before I knew was being measured. This was approximately 10:30am. I was asked to come back at 12:00 – which I did – and found a calico template ready for a fitting. After some adjustments to sleeves, length etc I was told it would be ready that evening at 6:00pm. I misunderstood and thought I would need another fitting, but when I went back, there was the finished product ready for me to wear out the door!! And all for less than $300AUD.
We ventured to the Ladies Market and wandered the myriad of stalls for a couple of hours. It became apparent after seeing numerous police and very few “knock off” goods that the days of the fake handbags are limited.
By this time it was 4:00pm so we headed to the night markets in Temple Street where the stall holders were still setting up, but generally more of the same goods so it was quite easy to call it quits with the shopping and head back to the ship for dinner and to get packed up ready for disembarkation in the morning.
29 March – Hong Kong
This morning after fond farewells to the staff and crew and disembarking our lovely Azamara Quest, we went straight to the hotel to leave out bags so we could go out and explore Hong Kong
One very good tip that we were given is to purchase an Octopus Card. A $50HK refundable deposit is required and then a nominated amount is loaded on the card which can then be used for all buses, trains and ferries as well as some retail outlets – MacDonalds being one of them. Any unused portion can be refunded or additional funds loaded if required.
So armed with our Octopus card loaded with $100HK, we caught a Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island. These ferries are the same ones that have been in use since the 1950’s and the one we were on was actually built in 1957! The price of a one way ticket is $3-90HK, which equals 50cents AUD and is well worth the view of the harbour.
From the ferry terminal we caught a bus over to Stanley Markets on the other side of the island. This was fantastic as it also gave us the opportunity to see the island – some of the views from the mountains were phenomenal. It was pity that we couldn’t stop to take photos.
The Stanley Markets are quite small in comparison to the markets in Kowloon and sell mainly Chinese art and handicraft. I purchased some lovely linen haberdashery items for less than an eighth of what I would pay in Australia.
We made our way back to Central Hong Kong and caught another bus to the Peak. Once again, we traversed the island up and over some very high mountains. We marvelled at the high rise apartment buildings built on the sides of these mountains. It took about 45 minutes to reach The Peak and we didn’t spend much time getting on the tram to go down the quick way – approximately 10 minutes! The tram descends the mountain almost vertically in some places – very reminiscent of the Blue Mountains scenic railway.
We checked into the lovely Nathan Hotel located on Nathan Road very near to the Temple Street markets and Ladies Market. The room is large with all amenities and complementary everything. After settling in, it was time to freshen up and meet up with our Chinese friends – Robert and Cora – for dinner. The restaurant was on the 25th floor of a shopping mall. Robert ordered some interesting dishes, but I’m pleased to say that there were no signs of any heads, feet, tails or other appendages. It was a pleasant ending to our very brief visit to Hong Kong, but we will return.
As we had finished with the Octopus Card, we cashed in and still had $9-00 unused credit (plus the deposit). So to sum up, we had used public transport for 2 days to travel all over Hong Kong and Kowloon and it had cost about $12-00AUD!
Off to Brunei tomorrow – stay tuned!

---

Photos

Repulse Bay
This was taken from the bus as we looked back on the Bay

Chairlift to the amusement park
The chairlift winds around the mountain and finishes at the amusement park on top of the mountain

Taken from the Peak
This mountain is even higher than where we were

Birds eye view of the highrise
taken from the Peak tram - coming down

Farewell Dinner
In this photo - Back: Robert, Barrie, me. Front: Cora, Linda, Jeff

Breakfast on board
The high rise (and smog) of Hong Kong Island

Azamara Quest
Taken from the Star Ferry

Star Ferry
On its way back to Kowloon