Lucky me!

Monday 21st November 2016

After a fitful sleep we were up fairly early.  Helped our selves to toasted English muffins for breakfast at the hotel which was a nice surprise as we expected Danish pastries.  We were tramping the streets before 9am heading towards the ferry to Hong Kong Island (where most if the skyscrapers are).  It was hot and humid with low clouds. 

We were wowed by the views across the Pearl river delta.  Janice informed me that Hong Kong actually means 'fragrant harbour', I didn't know, it's another thing to add to the ever increasing list of things I don't know.  However, I have several nuggets of historical information to pass on but I will hold back till tomorrow.

We crossed on the Star Ferry to the Central District pier.  It was a fantastic experience to do something that seemed so iconic.

Our ferry is the one on the right. It cost 25p each way.  Not bad!

We had a great walking tour.  We walked past the HSBC tower and the Bank of China tower but I don't have an account with either so couldn't go in.  This photo is in Hong Kong Park which was pretty and included a Tea Cup museum in the colonial house of the British Military Commander, a large plant conservatory and a large covered aviary that you could walk through.

Whilst walking through the aviary I became convinced that I am going to be lucky this holiday because a bird crapped on my head! This last happened when I was on holiday at Cleveleys with my parents aged around 6.

Here is one of the suspects.  It's a Bali Myna bird.  I interrogated it and told it that 'it didn't need to say anything' etc but no cough (police slang for an admission).  

Our next experience was to go up to Victoria Peak which is the hill (nearly a mountain) overlooking the city.  There was a long queue for the funicular tram, so we walked.  It was steep.

Most mountain tops are tranquil but this is Hong Kong and although it isn't quite the top it is very close.  The views could have been better without the low cloud but this is as good as we got...not too shoddy and well worth the walk.  We were ready for a cup of tea at the top.  Janice had Chrysanthemum tea and I had Osmythium tea, I hope it has some secret medicinal benefit?  I can't really describe it other than it was flowery and sweet.  I quite enjoyed it actually.  

The photo below doesn't really capture the view.

We walked back and the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Museum.  Who, you are asking?  Here is his statue.

He is considered to be the founder of modern China.  He was the provisional President in 1911 when he was instrumental in the unification of the Chinese Provinces and the forced standing down of the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.  He was only provisional President for a couple of months in a transition period to a Chinese Republic.

We walked on to Man Mo Temple.  We hadn't seen much evidence of Chinese religion to this point.  There have been a couple of Christian Churches and the odd Mosque but we wanted to see some Buddhism.  

We were almost overpowered by the joss stick poisoning.  The top of the photo shows a group of giant 'incense' coils.  There were lots more and they were all smouldering and smoking.  Surely they must be a fire hazard at the least or a cause of secondary lung cancer!  Only joking, it was a good visit.

We walked back into the centre and looked in some dried foods shops that had a wide range of strange products including ginseng, dry fish, dry creepy crawlies and black sea cucumbers.  A Chinese shop worker couldn't quite explain what the sea cucumbers were and what they tasted like but I thought they probably tasted like they looked..... 'shit' (sorry for the image and the language).

We returned to Kowloon peninsula by ferry and back to the hotel for a well earned rest and reflect on the fantastic things we have seen today especially enhanced by the fact that everything was free except for the flowery tea and the 25p ferry fare.

After an afternoon snooze back at the hotel we went out for a meal.  We had decided to have a nice meal at a proper restaurant rather than eat on the street.  We did the normal thing by walking past several restaurants, checking menus and eventually plumping for one restaurant because it looked pleasant and the price was ok.  We wanted a set menu and saw one at 318 HKD (£32) thinking that was the price we would each have to pay.  To cut a long story short.....we didn't enjoy it.  Three of five courses were very soupy, the duck course had no identifiable duck and there was no rice!  I complained and refused to pay the service charge.  After three refusals the service charge was taken off.  Never mind we always laugh when the food choices are poor.  On the plus side, the price was for us both so it was cheaper than expected.  It could be more street food tomorrow.