Living the Dream on Xenia

We arrived in Hong Kong and took the Airport Express train into the city. We then took a cab to our hotel in the Central District of Hong Kong Island. Our room has everything you need but the hotel has no amenities – guess that’s why it was cheaper. We rented a wifi buddy from the hotel so we could use our phone (cheaper than getting a SIM card) as getting around the city without google maps could be challenging.

We wanted to go see the local markets so we took the MRT (rapid transit) over to Kowloon which is across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island. We took the wrong train but were able to backtrack and get on the right train pretty easily. We bought Octopus cards which allow you to use all public transport without having to worry about having money in your pocket. You just load it up and away you go. We went to the Ladies Market first which was many blocks of booth after booth of stuff. We had hoped to find some good finds at reasonable prices but no such luck. Most of it was junk souvenirs, cheap t-shirts, fake purses, watches and clothing and they weren’t giving anything away. After several hours of wandering, we stopped for a beer and a snack and then off to the Temple Street Night Market. We got there a bit early so they were just setting up their wares, but it was pretty clear it was just more of the same as at the Ladies Market. We stopped for a beer at a small hole in the wall which was run by a fellow from Nepal. His sisters were there having a beer so we stopped for one too. He made us some Nepalese food but we couldn’t eat it all as it was too spicy with lots of cumin. While we were sitting there, a young woman stood just outside and was staring at us. We asked her if she would like a beer and she said sure. She told us she lives at home and wants to be a Secretary but it was pretty clear that wasn’t going to happen as she came across as having marginal mental capacity. Who knows if her story was true or she was putting on an act but we did buy her a beer. Back to the hotel and to bed as we had done a lot of walking.

After doing lots of research, we decided the only way to see the sites of Hong Kong for a reasonable price was to take the Hop On Hop Off Bus. So, we bought 2 day tickets and headed out as everyone said one day to do it all was not enough. The first loop we took was out to Repulse Bay and Stanley where there is an art market. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t that great so it wasn’t a beach day but it was nice to see the bay even if it was from the top of the bus. We stopped in Stanley and found the market but there were only about 5 booths and nothing much in the way of art to be found. Creative writing on the tourist sites for sure!! We hopped back on the bus and when we got back to the dock, we took the Star Ferry across the harbour and took the next loop around Kowloon. As we had already spent a day in Kowloon we didn’t really need to stop anywhere so just stayed on the bus for the tour. We then took the Ferry back to Hong Kong Island and walked back to our hotel. We are lucky there are lots of restaurants within a couple block range of the hotel so lots to choose from. We ended up at a Vietnam restaurant and had some great Pho.

To get from our hotel to the harbour, you walk down a giant walkway, first on a series of escalators and then overhead walkways. Our walk is about 1.5 miles and we never walked at road level. They have amazing ways of moving lots of people keeping them off of street level. We caught the last loop of the Hop On Hop Off Bus. We stopped at the Peak Tram and got in line to take the Tram to the top of Victoria Peak to see the view. We waited about 20 minutes and then up we went. It is so steep that it actually hurts your neck going up!! We got to the top of the tram and were blown away by the view. There is a 360 view of Hong Kong. There are 8000 skyscrapers in Hong Kong – twice as many as in New York. As there is little land to build on, there only choice is to go up to accommodate the population as it grows. Most people don’t have cars so parking is not an issue. Public transportation is excellent and reasonably cheap. Real estate on Victoria Peak is the most expensive in Hong Kong and we were told it was about $10,000 CAN a m2 to buy. We stopped for lunch at the top at Bubba Gumps and then headed down the hill. When we got to the bottom and saw the lineup, we were glad we went in the morning. We then got back on the bus and continued around the loop until we got to Causeway Bay which is suppose to be shopping haven. We got off the bus but soon realized the shopping was all at high end stores like Gucci, Versace, Coach, Tissot and the likes. So back on the bus and we got off at the escalators for a short walk to our hotel. For dinner we went to the local noodle house, but the food was very bland and Pat was still hungry so we went to another restaurant for some chicken wings. They were so bad we actually couldn’t eat them – the skin was rubbery and not cooked and while we asked them to cook them more, the skin never got crispy. Not a good food day today.

We thought we would try and find some golf sandals for me so researched where the golf stores where. They were all in Kowloon so we walked down the hill and took the Star Ferry across the harbour. We found the stores but they had no sandals and even if they did, they would have been very expensive. A regular pair of Footjoy shoes were $400 - $500 CAN. No wonder they say golf is a rich man’s sport in Asia. We decided to see if we could find somewhere decent for lunch and hoped we would have better luck than the day before. We found a busy spot and had a great lunch – yeah!! We then took the ferry back across the harbour and spent a couple of hours wandering through the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Some interesting stuff on the big freighters of the world. Back to the hotel for a glass of wine, gummy bears and TimTam’s (Australian chocolate cookies) for dinner.

The next day the weather turned and it’s to be drizzling all day. We had no plans so decided to just go out and explore the Central District around our hotel. We spent a few hours roaming the streets, stopped for lunch at a busy restaurant for lunch which was just okay, and then walked back to the hotel just as it started to rain pretty hard. So, an afternoon watching TV. We walked up the hill to the Soho district for dinner and had a great burger – needed some beef!! We then stopped for a beer at one of the local bars and overpaid for a Red Stripe.
We were lucky to be able to go to the Hong Kong Flower Show as it started on our last day. Bonus it was also free because we were over 60!! We spent 1 ½ wandering through the stalls of plants, the plant displays and flower arrangements. We were in amazement at all the orchids and how cheap they were to buy. Wish we could bring them home. While most of the plants are the same as at home, it was the Asian influence in the displays that made them interesting. We stopped for some pasta for lunch, did some shopping and then ventured back to the hotel. We took a wrong exit out of the subway so spent a half an hour a bit lost. Good thing I had our wifi buddy and google maps to get us back on track. Back to the hotel to pack and out for pizza for dinner.

We have had an amazing adventure and have lots of stories. However, after two months away there is nothing like coming home even with an 11 ½ hour flight.