After a fab couple of weeks partying in Australia, it was time for a bit of a rest in Hong Kong. We arrived a bit too early to check into our hotel on Queen Street West. Handily located right next to HKU MTR station on the Island Line of the most excellent metro system. Dumped our bags and went for a wander to check out the local food outlets. The challenge of choosing where to eat was a bit too much for our hungry jet lagged bellies, so we opted to return to the hotel for brekky.
Duly fortified, we went for a walk around Hong Kong University, right on the doorstep. That did the job of blowing away a few cobwebs til we could check into our very nice room on the 20th floor, and a pretty amazing view.
After a bit of a rest, we decided to orient ourselves by walking over to Western Market and its surrounds. The bakery was a big hit! En route, I was totally fascinated (some might say obsessed) by the wonder of the bamboo scaffolding propping up the many buildings under construction.
Day 2 was spent getting over the previous days’ journey and the previous couple of weeks’ hedonism. A lie in, followed by a swim in the rooftop pool with more amazing views, followed by a (very) late lunch in a local establishment (lovely), and more lolling about were in order. Re energised from a good days’ lolling, we headed over to visit Temple Street Night Market. Here I was able to indulge another of my obsessions – wallets (that perfect wallet is out there somewhere dammit!).
Haggling done, wallet(s) secured, and stomachs rumbling again, it was time to hunt down some scran. Spoilt for choice we randomly ended up in a great place serving delicious fish, steamed in all manner of wonderful things, and finished off at the table. Yum…
Didn’t fancy these giant clams on display a couple of doors down though – they were a bit freaky for me, and they looked like they were making a break for freedom anyway… (or maybe the ones on the right were just trying to escape having their arses sniffed!).
The remaining days included:
…A ride on the peak tram up to Victoria Peak with more stunning views of the city from the top…
… A day trip to Macau taking in its Portuguese colonial history and general vibe, including seeing some Chinese Reggae on the TV at Bricks Burgers… (On that note, I gotta give a shout out to the waiter who was massively helpful in sorting out something I could eat. Way and beyond the call of duty. I don’t speak Chinese but he persisted in trying to understand me miming that I can’t eat anything containing eggs, got his phone out, and eventually with the help of Google translate, we got there)…
…Wandering about in the city in the evening to gaze upon the beauty that is the night time city skyline (prosaic that, innit)…
… Riding the bus out of town to the Hong Kong Wetland Centre. Water birds, mud fish, amazing plant life and butterflies in one direction, massive appartment skyscrapers 180 degrees in the other…
En route to the wetland centre
… Promenading along the waterfront promenade at sunset…
…And to round of the trip, another bus ride out of the centre and a hike to Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir, (mostly) following the route on the Hike Hong Kong blog.
After a bit of confusion at the start, we were eventually on our way. Beautiful walk, amazing views, low flying birds of prey (or high walking humans depending on your point of view), enormous butterflies (seriously they were the size of small bats!) with dazzlingly iridescent wings, mountain bikers, and impressive views of Repulse Bay (very enticing)…
All in all, a fantastic few days which started with me thinking “mmmn, maybe 6 days in Hong Kong is overkill”, and ended with me thinking we could easily have filled another week.
Ahh the memories are all flooding back and bringing back happy times to see me through the 9-5’s. 😉