HONG KONG TOUR

Thursday night dinner





After we checked in, rearranged furniture, and rested a bit, we went to a restaurant, Fulum, across the street from the hotel for dinner. Entrance to the restaurant was on the first floor but the dining room was on the second floor. The restaurant had a good number of patrons, a plus sign in my book, and people were constantly coming in during our dinner. There were even some westerners in there. They had a lovely aquarium in the entrance with diverse sea animals...only it wasn't an aquarium. During our dinner, we saw the waiters go up with a large bucket, put a net into the tank, and fish out fresh dinner for the patrons. When they say fresh seafood, that's what you get. A very entertaining pastime while we ate. Our very delicious meal included eggplant hot pot, fried beef with peppers, fried beef with walnuts (recommended by our waiter) and fried noodles.




Friday May 10--half day city tour

My daughter had just returned from a trip to Hong Kong with a friend and the two of them had gone on their own without a tour package. Young and adventurous, they had a wonderful time exploring the city and she was able to share some of her experiences with us. But I find that when you have a limited amount of time, a city tour first thing into your trip is a great way to get your bearings. If you are lucky, you get a tour guide that will give you a good insight into the culture, history, etc. of the area.
In the morning we took a taxi to the designated hotel for our tour (about 70 hkd.) and waited in the lobby for our pick-up. The mini-bus arrived and we hopped on ready to begin. We shared the bus with a young couple, the driver, the tour guide and a photographer. He was to take pictures of us and then we could buy them from him at the end of the tour. Actually about half way through the tour we lost him. Five people with five cameras didn't seem to offer him any chance to make any money.


The bus took us up the mountain sides on roads that had beautiful views of Hong Kong below. Having only 5 people on the bus we were able to move around and see the landscape from both sides of the bus.











































We even got to see the famous Rubber Duck that is touring the world:




He is about 6 stories tall ( 54 feet) and they say you can see him from quite a few spots as he swims in Victoria Harbour. He is the brainchild of a Dutch artist who has taken him to Denmark, Sao Paolo, Sydney, and I think he has been to Japan, too. I took the picture above but it was an overcast day so I found some better pictures on line:

Rubber Ducky on a clear day.

A couple of days after we left Hong Kong, we heard he had expired. But latest word is that he is back good as new!



We made several stops on the tour:


Stanley Peak for shopping at local bazaars:

Endless rows of stalls!
A sampan tour of the Aberdeen fishing area:

















Jumbo Floating Restaurant

A tour of a jewelry factory and the finale: The Peak Galleria shopping mall













Given the choice of returning to the hotel with the tour guide, or staying in the mall, we opted to stay in the mall, had lunch, walked around, and took the tram back down.



Tourist center



A group of children on a day trip accompanied us on the tram.




Not quite ready to call it a day, we went to the Western Market. It was built in 1906 as the waterfront Harbour Office, went through several other functions, was closed down in the 1980's and reopened in the 90's as a small shopping mall with unique shops on the first floor and fabric shops on the second.
















We took a trolley as far as it went and then a taxi back to the hotel.

MOTHER'S DAY IN HONG KONG!

Thursday May 9

Side Trip to Hong Kong

After a slow morning of preparations and a homemade Mexican breakfast of chorizo and potato tacos, we started off for the Taoyuan International airport. We were travelling light with only one carryone suitcase for the three of us, so we took the city bus to the Nangang Exhibition Center, where we could catch a shuttle to the airport. For 115 NTD ($3.50 US) each we were driven clear across the city to the front door of terminal 2 for our flight to Hong Kong. A taxi would have run us at least five times that amount. The shuttle took care of our carry-on and offered a very comfortable, air conditioned ride. Unlike a taxi, there were more than enough seats for us to each take our own bench and stretch out and relax.


Since we were technically leaving Taiwan, we had to go through customs immigration and security. We easily went through both stations and got into the gate area without any problems. This airport is much bigger and busier than the Songshan one we used when we arrived in Taipei. On our way to gate B9 we saw the typical duty free shops and restaurants, a place where you could get a massage to relax and the prayer rooms. The waiting room had regular and reclining seats for your comfort.

Airport had three separate chapels for its patrons.

Our flight covered 501 miles/807 km in about 1 hour and 22 minutes. There wasn't much of a meal plan for such a short flight but we did get a tasty BBQ turkey sandwich and a cup of orange juice with coffee or tea offered. I note this because most US local flights don’t offer anything on short flights.

Arriving in Hong Kong we went through the immigration process with only a slight hiccup. They explained that it happened all the time. The airport in Taipei had given us the departure form instead of the very simial arrival form for entering the country. We filled out the correct form, and were officially in Hong Kong for an extended week-end.


As we walked out of the security area, we noticed signs about the H7N9 bird flu epidemic that is now (2013) hitting the area. There is even a heat sensor station manned by attendants wearing surgical masks. Seems it will sense your body heat as you walk by.






Although the Hong Kong airport is huge, there are signs everywhere that direct passengers to their destinations. We found the signs for hotel/tour shuttles and walked to the desk where we checked in for our tour package. A shuttle bus drove us to the Traders Hotel for our check-in.





Hotel quirk over debit card--My daughter had booked this hotel as part of a tour package as a gift for us and had paid for it on-line at the time of booking. It was an all-inclusive package that covered the flight, airport transfers, hotel, and a half day tour of the city. When we arrived at the hotel, we were asked for a $1000 Hong Kong dollars ($125 US) deposit for the room. She tried using her Taiwan bank card and our US debit/credit cards but they were all declined by the staff. It seems they only take credit cards. We explained that our debit cards could be used as credit cards but the attendant was insistent we could not use them. The only option was to pay cash and reduce our spending money. This also meant that on the day of departure we would have $1000 HK to convert back to Taiwanese dollars for an extra conversion fee. This would have been a good policy to note by either the hotel ( a ShangriLa chain) or the tour company on their websites. I don't think we are the only people that prefer paying cash over charging purchases.


Room size--The tour company listed the hotel as one of a few that had rooms that would accomodate the three of us, and my daughter had used this assumption when she booked us into a superior room with a view of the bay.

The room had a rollaway between the beds. That meant the beds were pushed up against the walls and it actually looked like one massive bed with a dip in the center. This did not allow much room for moving around and/or even getting into bed was a tight squeeze. We would most likely have to climb into our respective beds from the foot up. Doing some rearranging gave us a little more wiggle room and made it more comfortable.

As for the bayside view, our floor was too low to give much of a view because of all the other tall buildings in front of us.  We did have a lovely bay window that afforded a view of life in a huge city.  I did not really mind the view.  The pictures are a little foggy but that was the norm for most of the time we were there.  Weather was muggy and hot with daily showers.   

Laundry day

Flowers in the window

Window washer

One apartment in the lower right hand side shows a rooftop garden, common throughout the city.

No problem, though.  After all, we were in Hong Kong! And did not plan on spending our short visit in a hotel room.  AndreAna's generous gift is one memory that will last us a lifetime.

Souvenirs and Monuments

Tuesday May 7




We took the subway to Ximen, an area that was actually developed during the Japanese occupation as the entertainment area of the city. It is a nice area to walk around because there are a lot of shops along a pedestrian friendly alley/street.






















We saw small local cafes mixed with some of the popular American McDonald's and KFC's We turned into a side street and found a theater with restaurants in the lower floors. The theater covered floors 8 to 12. A department store covered the first five floors. The sixth floor had a Chili's and a Universal Tonkotsu Ramen Nagi. While the ramen house looked inviting, my husband's constitution dictated Chili's, much to my dismay.

After lunch, we walked through the street and window shopped for all kinds of merchandise geared mostly for a much younger clientele.







A very popular tourist attraction in the area is the Red House. The octagon shaped red building was built in 1908(?) by a Japanese architect. It started off as a food market, became a theater in the 1990's and has reverted to a market place for local artists and cultural awareness.












It was a very interesting stop for souvenirs.

Rooftop's Life @ Taiwan







Anime Pili puppetry characters



Then back to the subway and on to our next point of interest: The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. It is dedicated to the founder and president of The Republic of China (Taiwan).
















Third stop on our agenda was the Taiwan Handicraft Store and more souvenir shopping--of sorts. The store features art and handicrafts of the country's indigenous people. I had a wish list from my first visit there last year: puppets, a small bag with a certain design, and something with an owl to add to my collection of these wise old birds. Here is a link to their catalog so you can do some shopping, too:




http://www.handicraft.org.tw/catalog




This was a good day for shopping.