A day in Hong Kong

My day on Saturday, June 18 went something like this.

4:15 a.m. Alarm goes off at hotel room in Xiamen. Up early for the 7:45 a.m. flight to Hong Kong. Was told by hotel staff that I needed to leave the hotel 2 1/2 hours before scheduled departure time.

5:25 a.m. Arrive way too early at Xiamen airport. Security line doesen't even open for 10 more minutes. Plenty of time for immigration, security clearance, and a cup of coffee before flight boards.

8:00 a.m. In the air for one-hour flight to Hong Kong. Delighted by service on Dragonair (and on Asian airlines in general), with breakfast and fresh orange juice anad coffee served quickly, which is complimentary in economy class (on a one-hour flight!). Quickly read as much as possible of guide book outlining plan for day in Hong Kong.

9:30 a.m. Spend 20 minutes waiting to clear immigration to exit airport. Leave valuable carry-on bag (containing computer - not fully backed up) and other luggage with baggage service at HK airport. Pray that service attendants are not thieves and that my bag will not be given to anyone else that day.

9:45 a.m. Begin 25 minute journey on Airport Express train into town. Glimpse slivers of city view as we get closer into town and marvel at number of skyscrapers.

10:30 a.m. Spend 45 minutes (I am not joking) trying to figure out how to exit below-ground train station and the mall that is above the train station. I will learn more about HK's web of malls throughout the day, but at this time I try not to get frustrated that I absolutely cannot figure out how to get to street level. Enjoy wonderful tall drip coffee from Starbucks during this maddening time and am so, so pleased by beautiful, clean (free!) restrooms and the chilly air-conditioning throughout the mall.

11:00 a.m. Am finally up on the street, but spend more time getting lost before realizing I am getting close to the harbor. Second-guess my intelligence and normally good sense of direction (again) and wonder how many miles I have walked already.

11:30 a.m. Wander through the edge of the shopping district, surprised by the entrance lines to get into the high-end stores (Prada, Gucci, etc.). The scene was similar to that of a nightclub with a bouncer at the door. Shoppers were only permitted to enter when others left.

11:45 a.m. Finally at the harbor! Stunning views all around, and I continue to marvel at the number of high-rises clustered along the edge of the land.

Below are several shots of the view looking from Kowloon side over towards the HK side.

11:50 a.m. Wonder if it is tacky to take tourist photo of this adorable wedding party, but decide that it is OK to do so. There are puddles of sweat pooling down my back and legs, so I wonder how the wedding party feels all dressed up in the humidity and heat.

12:15 p.m. Board Star Ferry for short trip across to HK side. The Star Ferry was similar to the Staten Island Ferry in NY. Continue to be amazed by large amount of skyscrapers

Views of buildings in the Central district on the HK side.

Below you can see the walkways connecting the skyscrapers. I got the sense that most of these buildings housed shopping malls on the first half dozen floors, with office space and maybe apartments on the remaining floors. Each office building had a marked name on the tourist map and it was easy to get from one to the next.

Below is the interior of one of the shopping malls. I didn't go into any of the shops, but I did find a fancy grocery store (like a really nice Whole Foods) on the top level of the mall with a food court of prepared food that was interesting. So I stopped for a tasty lunch of an Asian chicken and vegetable salad. All of the restaurants in these high-end malls were table-service with long lines of people waiting, and being alone I opted for the food court style. Easy, cheap, and delicious.

2:30 p.m. Walk through the Central district and up the hill to the entrance to the Peak, which is the tram that would take me up to the top of the HK side. The peak tramway is a funicular railway that has operated on the peak since 1888. I read that the peak is one of the wealthiest areas of Hong Kong (maybe like Nob Hill in San Francisco?), where the richest maintain apartments for the amazing views of the city. The incline of the track is ridiculously steep, ascending a distance of approximately 1,300 feet to the top in just a few minutes.
This is the view of the track from the top.

I thought the skyscrapers were amazing when I was in the city below, but they were completely overwhelming on the peak.

To say that the sight was incredible is almost an understatement. Below is the view towards the other side, looking out towards the outer islands.

I asked a friendly-looking woman to take my photo. This is the only picture I have of me on the trip to China, and the look on my face is one of hope, specifically that my skirt would not blow completely up while this person was taking my picture. It was windy on top of the peak!

In addition to the observataion deck there was large shopping mall (surprise, surprise) at the top. I bought a lemonade and opted to walk through the lovely nature trail adjacent to the tram track instead. It was neat to peer through the trees and leaves at the modern skyscrapers below.4:30 p.m. After taking the tram back down the peak, I walked to the street car line to take a ride on the infamous double-decker trams that run through the Central district. I didn't really have a destination in mind, but was just glad to be off my feet and view the city for a while.

5:00 p.m. Exit tram and walk around this interesting pedestrian market, which consisted of open-air stalls selling random items, street food, toys, household goods, and shoes. Enjoyed looking at all the junk and purchased a few souvenirs for the kids (including a Lego kit of Chinese army men on a tank for John that I thought was very cool).

Bins of dried mushrooms and other natural medicines in what looked like a pharmacy. There must have been one of these on every block.

6:30 p.m. Ride subway back to Kowloon side and walk around street markets some more. Try for the 50th time that day to remember that the cars are on the other side of the road and that I need to be more careful when crossing the street.

7:30 p.m. Decide that a Mister Softee would taste better than a hot dinner at this point, and make myself think that ice cream twice in one day is OK (I had one earlier on the harbor) since I have probably walked 5 or 6 miles during the day. Love the fact that really delicious and inexpensive soft serve ice cream is widely-available in China and in Hong Kong.

8:00 p.m. Walk back to train station that has a stop for the Airport Express. Watch 15 minutes of the Celebration of lights laser light show that streams lights across the skyscrapers of the buildings lining the harbor before going to train.

8:45 p.m. Ride the Airport Express back to the airport. My feet are aching, I smell like sweat, and I begin to worry about my carry-on bag again.

9:15 p.m. Arrive at the airport and am delighted to find my carry-on intact exactly as I left it at the baggage service. Wonder why I was ever worried about it in the first place.

9:35 p.m. Locate shower and relaxation lounge in the entrance hall to the airport. Pay about $20 US Dollars for the use of a bathroom for 30 minutes. I take a shower, wash and dry my hair, and put on a clean pair of clothes. It felt so awesome to get the smell of the day off me and feel clean for the long journey home. Wake up a bit from the shower and chug a bottle of water.

10:00 p.m. Get boarding pass, check remaining bag, go through security and passport control, and head directly to the place I had been thinking about ever since arriving at the airport.

This tasted so good after my long but very enjoyable day in Hong Kong! I debated whether I should have a few drinks before the long flight home - I rarely ever do that as I love to read and relax on long flights - but having been up for almost 24 hours I knew that this would help me sleep and that I would probably get very little reading done at first anyway.

10:45 p.m. Dinner, the hot kind (finally). Some kind of vegetarian Japanese noodle dish, with seaweed, corn, mushrooms, carrots, and herbs.

11:45 p.m. Stand in line to board 12:30 a.m. flight to San Francisco. Marvel again at how hospitable the crew of Asian airlines are (this time Cathay Pacific) and how pleasant the fliying experience is.

12:30 a.m. Take-off! Feel thankful for an amazing trip, but am glad that I am finally happily headed for home.