Even though we docked early in Hong Kong, we opted for a leisurely breakfast before we disembarked and headed to the hotel. They had a different room than the one we booked ready, so we took it and was able to leave our bags and headed into the city.
We took the Star Ferry, a beautiful classic ferry, over the bay and started exploring with the rest of the group.
Kowloon Park is a serene oasis in this busy and bustling mega-city. There were quite a few Tai Chi groups taking advantage of the calm.
The Promenade is all along the river and has stunning views of ‘Central’, the actual island of Hong Kong, where we just came from.
After another ferry ride back over the bay, we stopped for lunch at Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum at the bottom level of the metro station. What an experience that was!
It is a loud, intense and smallish place with long communal tables. Since our group was so big we had to split up into smaller groups and the two of us ended up in the middle of a table between a lot of locals. They place a pen and a pamphlet of a menu in front of you and leave. We looked around helplessly and eventually figured out to mark things on the menu what we want. At some point this lady came up, grabbed our menu, yelled at us whilst stabbing at the menu and threw it back on the table in front of us. We were gobsmacked.
What did we do? NOW what do we do?
This younger girl on our one side said in broken English – ‘You have to order tea’
In tiny print somewhere on that pamphlet it did say everybody has to order tea. So we did. And they took our menu and left.
Then all this amazing food started showing up. And tea of course. Quite a few locations of this tiny chain has Michelin mentions. And they very well deserve it!
After lunch we walked to Hong Kong Park where we got caught in a rain storm. We were all prepared so when the worst of it passed we walked to the bottom station of the Peak Tram. We were heading to the top of Victoria Peak to see the best views of the city.
Our expectation was a little different than what was there. It is a mega-mall in the shape of a flat martini glass. It was loud and crazy and busy, but whenever the clouds moved out, the views were breathtaking.
In the neighborhood of the bottom tram station we went to a classic Sichuan Chinese restaurant that was able to accommodate all ten of us. The feast that was placed on the turntable in the center of the round table was excellent.
We opted to get lost in the city on our walk back to the hotel. Electronic maps are pretty useless since they can not figure out on which level you are, suspended walkways, ground level or a lower level. It was frustrating and fun.
After a final drink for the night we got our well deserved rest from the more than thirty thousand steps for the day.
Hong Kong is definitely a city to experience.
