Saturday, 29 December 2012

Hong Kong - le premier jour

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We took the Airport Express to Hong Kong Station and as we had few hours to kill before we could dump our bags we walked on the elevated walkway to the Star Ferry terminal and watched the comings and goings of the two ferries that seem to be left going from Hong Kong Island to Tsim Shui Tsui.  The gap between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon has been shrinking during the twenty years that I have been visiting Hong Kong. 

Fuel Cafe in Landmark!!
We wandered to the Landmark and looked for a place to have coffee and found the Wellington coffee icon Fuel had a place in the building.  We then spent a fruitless half hour trying to find the cafe even getting some unsolicitored  help to do so.  Finally we found someone who was able to direct us to the little café.  So we had some very nice coffee and I was able to continue writing my blog.  In the few short hours that we had been in Hong Kong we experienced unsolicited offers of direction a number of times.  I don’t remember it that way the other times I have been to Hong Kong. 

I sent a text to the owner of the airbnb that we were staying in and did not hear back from him.  Finally I called and got his mother.  She said that it was not ready but we could dump our bags.  A taxi took us to a spot nearby and we meet her helper who took us to the little apartment.  It was up three floors in an old building.  The room has been nicely refurbished with the only drawback being that there is no table to sit at. 

After dumping the bags we took the Island tram line to the Excelsior  Hotel for lunch at the Yee Tung Heen. It took us a little while to find it because I had forgotten its exact location.  Iain had taken us to Excelsior many years ago so I knew it was near Victoria Park but the intervening years had dulled my memory.  However, with the use of the map I was able to find it.  The food was superb and different.  Afterwards we walked around Causeway Bay.  Some of it seemed to have changed, I am not sure whether it was because the buildings had changed when compared to the previous times visited when Iain was living there or that I had another memory lapse.  At Times Square nearby we got some supplies for a supper that evening from City Super and took them back to the flat. 
Junk on Victoria Harbour

As the area of Sheung Wan is not one I have wandered around we did a little of that finding the Western Market building and then took a long walk through a series of interconnected buildings near the ferry wharves.  By that time I had got a second wind but Bev was beginning to feel the effects of a very long day.

We took the Star Ferry to Kowloon, to TST to be precise and found a little restaurant/bar where we were able to get a beer and relax while we watched the sun go down and the lights come on.  It looked stunning. 

Lights on in Centra
By this time we were both now getting very tired.  We returned to the flat and had some cheese and fruit then crashed.  It was a nice day and I felt remarkably good despite the long flight.  The weather had cleared up nicely to be clear and warm so it was a very nice welcome to Hong Kong.

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