Tag Archives: Hong Kong island

Travel

Old Wan Chai

One of Lonely Planet’s suggested walking tours in Hong Kong was the old market district of Wan Chai. Not too far from there, I’d noticed a Telescope shop and thought we could make a trip of it to see what we could see.

Cathay has the advantage of being able to check in your luggage from the CBD which is then shot off to the airport. You just have to turn up later when your flight is due. Very convenient given that we had a day to kill but had checked out of the dorm first thing.

The Telescope shop was a repeat of the Ginza Leica experience (closed!) but did afford us a chance to have a good look around. We also had the chance to catch some of Hong Kong’s double decker trams.

A lunch date with a family friend at the Macau Jockey Club followed, and after they graciously chauffeured us around a few other markets for a bit of a look see.

Then it all came to an abrupt stop as we played the inevitable travellers’ ‘waiting for the next connection’ game.

 

Travel

Hong Kong Peak

It always astonishes me how drastic and rapid change can be. Granted, it was a little over 10 years since I’d been to the Peak (and it was fogged in that time), my memory is from 2 decades before that when there was a nice little restaurant and viewing area.

Exiting through a gift shop, one is accosted in the face by stuff to buy, stuff to see, stuff to eat, and all manner of other stuff. Chinese if nothing, are not known for their subtlety. And it would not have been so bad had all the stuff on offer not been available almost everywhere else you might go. Australian airports are no different to any bogan shopping mall these days.

An international capitalist homogeneity replaces what used to be a localised unique experience.

Ignoring all that, I found the view from the Peak breathtaking. Sadly, we were on a schedule, so look left, look right, look up, look down. And back on the bus.

Travel

Hong Kong Island

Greeting us at the Star Ferry terminal was an extraordinary amount of construction works. Par for the course in Hong Kong where a landmark is not a travel marker in case it becomes a completely new building overnight!

The terraced and stepped streets brought to mind very early childhood memories, and a Starbucks provided us with free internet and a small break before going onwards and upwards.