Day 20 – Hong Kong

January 13th 2009

No beeping motorbikes or hustle and bustle this morning, no maid ignoring the do not disturb sign, our room is soundproofed and blacked out, it's just heaven. Unfortunately though we've been waking up every day at 6:30ish to get to our pickups so by 8am – which makes sense as we've moved on an hour coming here – we're awake. No breakfast included here though and I wouldn't even like to think how much it costs either so we can take our time and I have the South China Morning Post to get through too, a publication I haven't seen for almost 16 years – it's very Beijing centric now in its news content, but with good snippets from around the world it's a gentle re-introduction to what might be going on elsewhere, we really have seen no TV, other than the odd bit of background in bars, the whole time we've been here – our sum knowledge is the odd football score and an understanding that it's been incredibly cold back home.

We leave the hotel at 11am and walk to Argyle Street where a trusty McDonalds furnishes us with a Sausage and Egg McMuffin meal for breakfast. What, Sausage and Egg McMuffin at 11am I hear you cry? Yes, available all day here, none of this only available till 10:30am nonsense here – and it's plenty cheaper too.

Then it's the MTR to the last stop on Kowloon side, Tsim Sha Tsui, so we can walk – via The Peninsular Hotel, woah, that's luxury – to our first Hong Kong iconic moment, crossing Victoria Bay on the Star Ferry.

When we get to Hong Kong island first impressions are unfortunately spoiled a little as the whole area near to the Star Ferry pier appears to be one huge construction site, so the views from this area are spoiled, oh well.

We do some more walking till eventually we get to the Peak Tram terminus. The funicular railway is Hong Kong's oldest public transport and while the ride itself is only 10 minutes the steepness of the climb and ever increasingly spectacular views make it a necessity for any visit here. Arriving at the top we do have a comedy experience trying to get out of the Mall which has been built up over the tram station. It of course turns out to be incredibly easy to get out if you know where you're going but there isn't a single sign for an exit, they're trying to herd you to the top floor viewing tower that you of course have to pay to get into. Finally, and with the help of a cleaner, we reach the outside world and take in the views.

After coffee overlooking said view, we take the tram back down the Peak and pass through Hong Kong Park which has 2 weddings taking place in the nearby registry office – both couples seem incredibly young, or am I just getting old?

Getting the MTR from Admiralty (near to where our old naval base used to be, ahhh, the glory days of Empire) to Yau Ma Tei which is one stop away from Mongkok – the nearest to our hotel – we're looking for an outlet of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The Hong Kong Jockey Club is, what appears to be at least, the monopoly betting outlet for the area. Here, and we do find one on Nathan Road which their website had suggested, we buy our Tourist Badges for the racing at Happy Valley tomorrow night which we're very excited about. It's only $10 to go in with the locals
(that's less than £1) but for $100 we get more freedom of where we can go and more access to bars etc. The tourist badges are only available to those who can prove they're in the country for less than 21 days, it's a clever idea that's for sure.

We walk back to the hotel for a quick change, but first we head up to the 41st floor to the gym/spa/pool area to book our treatments for Friday which we've set aside as a day of pure relaxation. This will all be a first for me, Sarah's been goading me to have a massage for years but I've always resisted. On Friday we'll be having a salt scrub and harmony massage – sounds interesting! The facilities all look incredible, the gym looks out over Hong Kong while the pool itself is on the 42nd floor, the roof!

For the evening we're heading back up The Peak to sample what has to be one of the best views in the world, Hong Kong at night. Although it's a little hazy due to the high pollution levels the visibility is officially classed as excellent and while there's no sign of any low cloud at this time of year my previous experience of this place says to grab the opportunity as soon as you can so off we go back up the funicular. I've told Sarah she's not allowed to look until we get to the top so she's forced to stare at the floor of the tram then similarly walk to the viewing point either looking down or away till I give the word. It's certainly a sight worth waiting for, quite breathtaking. I get busy with the camera while Sarah steadily freezes as she very patiently waits for me to get it all out of my system then after savouring the panorama for a few moments we quickly head into the Mall to get out of the cold and also find a restaurant, Japanese it turns out, that overlooks the view.

Diving onto a tram just before it leaves so we have to stand, itself an interesting experience at 45 degrees, we travel via the MTR to Wan Chai, Hong Kong's own “notorious” nightlife area. However, and maybe it's simply because it's a cold Tuesday night, the place is almost deserted so with no interest in passing through the curtains to see the dancing girls we settle for a drink in a couple of normal bars before heading back on the MTR to our hotel and, exhausted again, to bed.