Walked a while until we found the cable car that takes us to the highest point on HK island, Victoria Peak. The Peak is home to stiff breezes, dazzling hikes and scenery, and up until 1888 people were hauled all the way up to their mountain estates in sedan chairs by burly Chinese slaves. Today it is a 10 minute cable car ride that is alarmingly steep and slices through lush forest topped off with breath taking views of the city for as far as the eye can see. Madame Tussaud has a wax museum up here but we skipped it and had coffee and read an English newspapers instead while looking out over some of the world’s most expensive real estate.
Back on the sidewalks, we skipped over to the docks again and took the ½ ferry ride over to Lamma Island. Lamma is a leafy, low-stress island where no cars are allowed and the seafood is so fresh it may still be flopping around when it comes to your table. This place is more casual and laid-back than Key West and it was a nice break from the chaos and noise of HK. I had some fish n’ chips at least four inches thick and Jenn had a pasta dish with free-range chicken. We ate in peace and listened to the light waves while Jenn made plans to get the most out of our last night here. The ferry ride back was choppy and clouds were rolling in but the views were enjoyable because the city was just lighting up for the evening.
For our last bit of HK, we struggled through a 45 minute stop and go cab ride to the Happy Valley racecourse. HK is crazy about their horseracing! This place used to be a malaria-ridden marsh but now it’s a monster of a racetrack. It is the only legal gambling available here (you have to go over to Macau to hit the tables and pull slots and roll dice), and in just one season of racing here HK’s spend about 91billion HK dollars. That’s only about 11 billion in US but you get the idea. In ONE season.
It is a gorgeous track and for about 10 HK (less than $1.00) you get a racing form in English and access to the front rail infield, everywhere but the upper balcony executive boxes, and we could smell the horses flying by us for each of the eight races this evening. The party is at the infield on Wednesday nights and tonight is foreigner night apparently because we don’t hear any language other than the Queen’s English and our English for a few hours. We bet on the ponies, won a few and lost a few more, but end up having a great time although we did lose a little money - which I guess is the irony of gambling anyway. Incredibly beautiful track and the light rainy drizzle made the night air sparkle and the grass almost glow.
As we headed home, hopped off the tram and had one last western dinner at the Spaghetti House where the bbq ribs were fall-off-the-bone good and Jenn had some spaghetti with meat sauce that was equally as delicious, along with some light and tasty garlic bread. Got home late and looked out over Victoria Harbor and called it a vacation.
As we were leaving we had to convert the rest of our Hong Kong dollars back to Yuan that we can use back here in DanYang. I put some pics of the money in the blog because I believe it is some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
We said goodbye to Hong Kong both agreeing that we could live here easily and that we would research teaching jobs when we were ready to cross that bridge again later next year.
Will write again after the 22 hour train ride back to Shanghai and we get back to our quiet town in DanYang.
Zie Jiang
This is West Hong Kong island, an area that they call the Central area. There are thousands of these shops in this district that sell anything and everything related to seafood. Shark's fin soup is the specialty here along with other edibles that I could not recognize.
The shops were spotless, well-lit, and everything they sell is extremely organized and easy to read (in Cantonese of course).
This is an area called Soho, this is around lunchtime and it is bustling with both ex-pats from Britain and USA, etc. right along with huge crowds of hungry Chinese. We had a gourmet burger here that was the best we have had in China, a place called GBU. Also a good area for shopping.
A typical street scene, busy, hot, crowded, but fun and lots of energy. We loved the old neon signs and you can imagine how cool they look at night all lit up!
This is Hong Kong island as seen from a ferry as we head over to a small island called Lamma. There is a whole village full of ex-pats and locals and they are known for their fresh seafood restaurants. We ate. They were right. Delicious!
Hong Kong island, North West area as seen from Victoria Harbor.
This is a special boat used just for Dragon Boat races, a very popular sport here in China. The boat is filled with men who paddle like crazy - it is huge here. They also have these races in Tampa believe it or not...
This is the bay of the small island, Lamma. It was basically paradise here, albeit quite remote. There is a school and as we got off the ferry we were mobbed by dozens of school kids all in their little catholic uniforms, long hair, speaking English with Australian and British accents. Reminded us we really are world travelers...
This lady stood out here on the rocks and fished for about 3 hours, her basket was full when we left. She was pulling in small, silver fish that looked like mullet. I'm sure they are tasty because they eat everything from the water here.
Some of the seafood from one of the restaurants. You just walk up, point to what you want and they throw it on right there for you and voila, you've got a meal.
There is a temple on the island, believed to be over 150 years old. It was burned down in 2004 but the villagers, about 5,500 of them helped rebuild it. These are large coils of incense that burn for hours...
This is the favorite sport of Hong Konger's - horse racing. Happy Valley racecourse is hugely popular and it's the only legal gambling available here on the island.
For a small entrance fee you can stand right on the rail and watch the ponies warm up for each race (these guys are headed to the starting gate) and once they are off you can feel the hoofs thundering by you - it is a fantastic evening and a gorgeous racetrack.
The real race, we won a bit of money on this one...
I thought the money in HK was just beautiful. This one has the phoenix on the left, which is one of the symbols of royalty (emporers) here.
Check out the detail in the huge lion head on the left of this 100 HK note.
An interesting mix on the 50, a combination of a dragon and a sea turtle...:)
There are some scenes on their notes too...this one is an ancient pic of HK island...the pic doesn't show the detail - amazing.
The blue fish almost looks like a dragon too..
This scene is taken from the top of Victoria Peak. There is an additional plaza that is on the very top of the peak that offers splendid views for just a few cents xtra. The tram is one of Hong Kong's best achievements.
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