Bill&Theresa: Hong Kong-Thursday 19-SEP

Hong Kong

This was our last full day of the tour, and only full day in Hong Kong. The first order of business was a trip to Victoria Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong Island (well, highest land point…there is a building that is higher than the peak). On the bus tour, we wound up the mountain passing skyscrapers, a park or two, some schools, etc. We passed a graveyard, with skyscrapers behind it. The tour guide pointed out (true or not, who knows?) that the living don’t mind at all living next to a graveyard, because they make good neighbors…being so quiet, and never complaining, and all. There is a little mall at the top with an overlook (which was closed). So, we putzed around and watched this woman feeding her dog at a coffee shop. No idea what she was sharing with the pooch.

Victoria Harbor (I think)

From Victoria Peak (unusually clear day!)

Tour boat.

After Victoria Peak, we went down to the water, and took a boat tour of the harbor. The boat driver never smiled or spoke. We saw everything from tiny little dilapidated boats to enormous gleaming yachts, the famous “Jumbo Floating Restaurant” and old tires on everything!

After the boat tour, they took us to a Jewelry shop. Yay. They had free soda and coffee, and a sour attendant who seemed to hate us! :-)

Graveyard with apartments behind.

We were on our own for both lunch and dinner. Interesting how, in the most expensive city of the trip, they leaving us to fend for ourselves for food! For lunch, our guide recommended a dim som place a modest walk from the hotel. We invited a few couples to join us, and ended up with a group of about 10. We had a great time! The food was not bad, but it was an adventure figuring out how it worked. We had once before joined coworkers in Dallas to a Dim Som restaurant, so we sort of knew the game, but this had a lot of unknowns. You can get large or small orders, but we did not know how much they were, or how big or small. When the time came to pay up, they broke up the bill 5 ways (for the five pairs) and the bills had everything in Chinese, so we hoped they got it about right. (It’s kind of hard to verify what you can’t read!) I could read bits and pieces, so we were satisfied it was probably right.

After lunch we went to the Hong Kong Museum of History. They covered everything from the Natural Environment (how Hong Kong was formed) through the various dynasties, the opium wars (bad British!), the various major groups (cultures) in Hong Kong and onto the city in current day. After lunch we only had about 2 ½ hours in the museum. We really could have spent at least 2 more hours. It was a really good museum, with replicas of the subjects. For example, one of the displays was of a burial tomb. We realized as we went through the displays that we were actually standing in a replica of the tomb. The section about the financial history of Hong Kong was in an area that looked like a turn of the century bank. This was definitely the best 10 Hong Kong Dollars ($1.50) we spent!

Hanging meat anyone?

After the museum, we walked around the square a little bit, deciding whether we wanted to go back to the hotel to pack, or eat before going back. We decided to grab something (Dim Sum doesn’t sit with you long!). So, we went to a little shop that others in our group had tried the previous day. It was an unnamed (to us) shop, but they did have English menus! They displayed the meat previously smoked or roasted by hanging it in the kitchen. Bill had fried noodles, which was crispier than he expected, and Theresa had some really good Portuguese Style Chicken. Not sure what makes it Portuguese, but the picture looked good and it really tasted good!