Hello everyone,
We've had another magnificent - but tiring - day!! It was a balmy 35 degrees and sunny, with a bit of rain and thunder this afternoon/evening.
We are on the 25th floor of our hotel and our lift is reeeeally slow. Today once we got to the bottom we realised we had left the phone the hotel have provided us (with maps and guides on it). Back we went - oops!!
We picked up some baked goods from an Asian bakery down the street. I had a chocolate croissant and some sort of soft, sweet roll with tomato and bacon. Both very nice! Then we got the metro to Central and walked the 10-15 minutes to the Victoria Peak tramway. After just this short walk we were both literally dripping with sweat. I love it here but I've no idea how people live in these conditions all the time!
There was no queue at the tram. People in my gym class had told me to go early as queues become huge later on in the day. The Victoria Peak railway has been running for 128 years now, and construction began in 1881 by an English man named Alexander Findlay Smith. His vision was to connect the harbour and business areas with the peak, especially a hotel that had been built on land he owned up top. Before the tram was built the only way to get up the peak was to be carried in 'sedan chairs' carried by Chinese men. This would have been horrible and exhausting work. Unbelievably, until 1940 Chinese people were barred from the tram and only westerners could ride.
We enjoyed the 10 minute ride (but had to lean forward due to the steep gradient!!) and were up the top before we knew it. We got to the peak tower, 428m above sea level, and collected our audio guides. We spent the next hour or so up top enjoying the stunning view. I can honestly say it was one of the best views I've experienced, and my regular readers know I've experienced some amazing ones throughout my travels!! We also laughed at people being so obsessed with photos/selfies and listened to information provided by the audio guide. It explained that Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world with 7 million people in just 400 square miles. Apparently people who live here have one of the best life expectancies in the world! Then we did take some photos of ourselves too (mine consist of "mum - look!" Point. Shoot. Done!! Don't get why people make such a fuss!! Something funny did happen to another Aussie girl mid photo (yes, we eavesdropped!). While her and her boyfriend were taking a photo, three kids and a woman approached her. Turns out she's their teacher in Melbourne! I wonder if I'll ever run into kids while I'm on holiday. What are the chances!!?
Next, we went on a walk around the top of the peak after a much deserved ice cream. Most of the walk was in the shade surrounded by lovely greenery. Apparently the peak used to be quite bare, but a replanting initiative in the 1870s saw it restored to its former lush state! The walk was beautiful. Cicadas chirping, butterflies and exotic bugs floating or walking about, and beautiful sunshine. The views were pretty amazing again too - Hong Kong has 235 islands and we could see many of them! After the walk, we caught the tram back down to the lower terminus. By this time the queue was huuuuge and we were extremely glad we had left early (thanks gym friends!).
Then we walked around amongst the buildings. Our first stop was the HSBC building. It was one of the best during the light show last night as it looked like a kaleidoscope. I also love the symmetrical triangles and trapeziums on its front! The building was designed in 1985 and has a really cool design. Out the front are two lions named after employees - Stephen and Stitt. They were cast for the previous building in 1935. During the war the Japanese used them for target practice and you can still see bullet holes on Stitt. Upon looking up from the ground level you can see glass and lights the whole way up. We caught the escalators up and the glass only had a small opening for these escalators, meaning once you went up the interior was very well air conditioned.
I was delighted to find a Pret near this building (one of my favourite quick lunch options while living in London) so we had a wrap and a yoghurt and set off again. Our next stop was the Central Mid-Levels escalator, a series of escalators totalling 800m that see workers transported from the lower part of the CBD to a part of slightly higher altitude. I enjoyed the calf stretch while leaning forward and we rode it for a while!
Then we walked to the Man Mo Temple; one of Hong Kong's oldest temples which was built between 1847-1862 which is dedicated to the gods of literature ('Man') and war ('Mo'). It was filled with beautiful statues, offerings and incense coils that worshippers had lit. The scent was overpowering!
As we started to tire, we stopped at a small market. Here we bought a few souvenirs including a ceramic bowl with a pattern on it (it's wrapped up so no photo sorry!) a bracelet and some lucky charm type things featuring different birth years (eg year of the monkey). We also saw some sort of Asian soapie being filmed on the way!
We headed to the nearest metro and went back to the hotel for a rest. On the way we bought a watermelon juice from a small nearby shop. It was delicious!
After our rest we set off again. We caught the tram to a restaurant we had picked out. The trams here are so cute, very narrow and tall! We sat on the top level and enjoyed the views and breeze. We had dinner at 'Dimdim Sum' - a dim sum restaurant. Dim sum is the term for the food, and the term for actually eating the food is yum cha. None of the staff spoke English but we managed to Orr various dishes (including 'piggy custard buns' and had a delicious meal.
Our final stop for the evening was the 'Wooloomooloo' Sky Lounge. I had googled "best rooftop bar in Hong Kong" and I can see why this was near the top of the list! I'll let the photos do the talking. We sat up there for over an hour sipping our (expensive but delicious) cocktails and enjoying watching the sun set and the lights come out to play again.
Disneyland tomorrow - woohoo!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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