Hong Kong 2011

We were lucky as it was crystal clear on the day we headed up to Victoria Peak.  This is the third of Asia's famous cities we have visited on this trip.  Each is exciting and dramatic but Hong Kong like San Francisco and Rio has a stunning mountain and sea setting.  A huge advantage from a visual stand point. The building continues.  In front of our hotel it looks like they are putting 5 or 6 buildings on reclaimed land and soon the JW Marriott will not have a harbor view. At the moment I am sipping tea and watching the big ships sail past.
In Kowloon they are busy building up the old airport land. 

This house sold for 50 million US dollars to a secret buyer from mainland China in 1997.  When he applied for a building permit the government was appalled to discover he planned to tear it down. So they traded him for land right next door and now they are renovating this house as a museum. This is about 3/4 of the way up the mountain to Victoria Peak.

 This guy would faint if you jumped in his rickshaw and asked him to run down the mountain.  He just wants to make money by having his picture taken or taking your picture with Hong Kong in the background.


                                 Aberdeen fishing junks

 Actually these are sampans and they won't be there much longer because the marina is squeezing them out slowly but surely.  Fishermen live on the water but the lifestyle is dying out as young people don't want to live like that.  Right now they make their living ferrying tourists out to the village.

              Important to have AC in a shanty

Ocean Park and the Panda

An An

We went just to see the panda and had such a great time at this amusment park we stayed for 3 hours.  We left just as the crowds came.  Good timing. An An was worth the price of admission.

Then we rode the monster submarine and were attacked by a giant octopus.  We really thought about Michael, Dario, Evan and Richard then.  Boys love a giant octupus. Avery and Tanner and Aiden might have been scared.

From the top level of the park great views abound in all directions.  The rides are located up the mountain so they appear even more scary.

The normal dolphin show is on side of mountain with sweeping views of the harbor and all the big ships sailing past behind the tank and stage.  The locals are very very big into ecology here. There is a big push everywhere in China not to eat shark fin soup and to not polute the waters. That surprised us, along with the fact there is no littering here and no smoking in public places.  If you litter or smoke in a non designated area, you receive an instant fine. 

Cool jellyfish aquarium with lots of mirrors so it was a bit like the fun house.




 Not exactly Rome but these are everywhere and I was taking no chances here either.  I didn't want to anger any gods because we were headed to the cable car and from the ground it looked prettty dramatic.  It is 1.5 km long on the side of the mountain.  Loving heights as much as I do I knew it was going to be long 10 minutes.

Okay, it was fantastic.  Like a 4 lane highway of flying bubbles.  The thought did cross my mind that it was a long way down everytime we creaked and swayed over the pylons.  It also stopped a few times so then we got a real good view.

Stanley market is where I got to shop for a few hours and Jon got a good beer as a reward for being patient (thirsty).

                                                       Could be anywhere

The symphony of lights show from the boat on the harbor.  Listed as one of the top 10 travel experiences by Nat Geo.  We can see why.  Better photos have been taken but here are a few of Jon's just to get the idea.

                                 A boat so of course the flag must fly.

Odds and ends; and stray thoughts.
So many people are surprised we are travelling to these places on our own.  It is every bit as easy to travel in the Far East as anywhere in the US.  The hotels are the same and the service is beyond anything we see most places.  The shopping centers have the same stores.  It is harder to find good local food than Starbucks. All the signs everywhere are in Roman alphabet and most in English.  We met some Brits on holiday in a bar last night and the 6 of us were commiserating that the world is becoming too homogenized.  It is harder to get off the beaten path to find really local places.  Jon and I also note again that speaking English we can go most anywhere.  As the Brits said," It makes one a bit lazy about languages."  So true.  We did also thank them for spreading the language around so we can all speak a common language.  Rule Britannia and all that.Now I do know my cousin Kent and Susan get more local as they are headed to Bhutan in March and have been to Kathmandu plus Burma and other places more colorful.  The further off the beaten path the more issue the language is but then no major language helps.