Hong Kong (1)

Friday 13/10 (2/2)

Our hotel (The Bauhinia) is located at 500m from the ferries termainals, in Central, on Des Voeux street, where the double-deck trams ride. Very convenient location. Nice hotel, very comfortable.

We walk to the hotel, where we drop our luggage in the rooms. We go directly to The Peak, to see the famous view on Hong Kong (HK) from there. The weather is indeed nice today while the weather forecast for the next 3 days (the duration of our stay in HK) is awful (non-stop rain). We want to try to arrive there before the sunset (which is at 6pm today). We take the metro (the station is just 50m from our hotel) for one station and then walk to the Peak Tram. We see 2 of the famous towers of Hong Kong: the 367-m Bank of China Tower, by I M Pei, and the HSBC Bank Headquarters, by Norman Foster.

There’s quite a big queue for the Peak Tram. The 8′ ride is really impressive; it’s really steep! We arrive on top a bit before 6pm.

We still have to walk 10′ to reach a nice viewpoint. We indeed didn’t buy the tickets for the terrace. We rather go along Lugard Road for a tremendous 360 panoramic view on the island and its surroundings. Breathtaking! We enjoy it for 30′ and then go back to the Peak Tower mall where we eat. The most affordable option is the Burger King. Florence feels better but is still a bit sick so we go and eat our burgers outside (the A/C is too cold inside).

Ludivine and I then go back to the viewpoint to see the harbour’s ‘Symphony of Lights’, a light show which takes place every day at 8pm. But contrary to what the DK guidebook mentions, The Peak is definitely not the place to see it… We queue to take the tram back down.

We put the children to bed (10pm) and we go for a drink in the popular Lan Kwai Fong. It is not great (not trendy at all) but we wanted to see it to compare it with our memories. It has been indeed quite a while since we didn’t come in HK: Isabelle came in 1995 and I came in 2001 I think.

We go back to the hotel around midnight. I spend 1h30 on the phone with my partners in Peas&Love (Urban Farm Company) to discuss the AK. I can use WhatsApp; there’s no ban of such apps here in HK. What a change!

It’s also so great to be finally in a country where people speak English. It makes such a difference to understand people and to make ourselves understood.

 

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