"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report # 64 Hong Kong, People's Republic of China March 4, 2016 Friday Partly sunny & 71 degrees Part # 1 of 2 81 Pictures

Sent: Friday, March 4, 2016 2:33:14 PM
Subject: FW: Report # 64 Hong Kong, People's Republic of China March 4, 2016 Friday Partly sunny & 71 degrees Part # 1 of 2 81 Pictures

Report # 64 Hong Kong, People's Republic of China March 4, 2016 Friday Partly sunny & 71 degrees Part # 1 of 2 81 Pictures

Our third day in Hong Kong began with overcast skies, although the temperature was still pleasant. Doubt we see much of that promised "partly sunny" prediction in the daily newsletter. At least it is not raining.

During breakfast, we spotted our friend Maureen eating with Tom M, our host. They are buddies, both British, and frequent breakfast and lunch companions. All seemed right with the world seeing them together, since they spent a lot of time last year during AM and PM meals.

We hung around for a while after breakfast, watching the last of the Republican debates on TV. We hate getting the news reports later on, missing the talks, as they show what they want, not always the way things went down. Doesn't matter what station you watch, they are selective in their coverage.

Around 11am, we left the ship heading in a different direction. We walked to the Star Ferry Pier, which has been in operation since 1898. It appears that not a whole lot has changed with their ferry system in all of those years. We have been on these wooden ferries on past trips, and enjoyed the short rides, although they are not made for comfort. Since they are open-sided, rain can get you drenched if the wind is blowing sideways. That happened on a ride we took to Lantau Island many years ago. We had been given rain ponchos, but the wind was blowing so hard, we could not get them over our heads fast enough. People around us got buried in the plastic as they blew in their faces.

This area of the pier is always busy with folks coming and going. Added to the confusion, are dozens of vendors that are pushing tailor services. Need a suit, need a jacket, need a dress? That's all you hear as they try to push their cards at you. There's always some political protestors there as well, handing out flyers. They are lost on us, because we don't speak the language. You can also pick up many flyers here about things to do and see in Hong Kong and the surrounding islands. It was too crowded in that area, so we missed getting the information.

We strolled around the Victoria Clock Tower, which dates back to 1915. Today, it is all that remains of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Station. The harbor front promenade begins here, and takes you to the Avenue of the Stars….always a fun place to see. All of the Hong Kong cinema stars have their prints in the sidewalk, with Jackie Chan having the biggest star. Much to our surprise, this entire area has been closed off for re-modeling and major construction. There were still a few Chinese groups milling around, getting their photos taken with the famous harbor in the backround. A bridal party was in the process of posing the bride with her family members. Sure was a pretty scene, despite the gray weather today. Brides always look beautiful no matter what.

We crossed Salisbury Road, one of the few stop lights there. That took us right to a mall called 1881 Heritage. You stroll right into a plaza with an elaborate fountain. Escalators going up to two levels of the highest high end shops in town selling duty free items. Some interesting city relics are located up here. One is the Time Ball, a metal globe that was dropped at 1pm daily, and was used by the ships to set their compasses. It was important for them to have correct time in order to navigate their ships accurately. In addition to the time ball, there was a cannon that used to be set off exactly at 1pm. The cannon alerted the ships to the correct time, but with the sound echoing in the massive harbor, it was not that accurate. Thus the Time Ball came into use. It became the "GPS" for the ships.

Up on the highest level, we walked around the side of the colonial-style building, and found the stables from the old days. It has been converted to the Stables Restaurant, which has preserved the original barn doors. Although they were not opened for business yet, we did find that they served pizza. Too bad it was too early for lunch.

Continuing up the road, we came across the Peninsula Hotel, another oldie, but goody. Walking inside, we found the lower level full of tables and chairs where they were serving breakfast. Even this early, a four piece orchestra was entertaining the diners below. We did go up to the upper level to stroll past the high end jewelry and clothing shops. We learned from Greg and Heo at dinner, that they went with friends to High Tea at the Peninsula. These same tables were used for the tea time, and it set them back about $50. US each. They said that a three-tiered plate came with the tea piled with quarter sandwiches, scones, fruit, clotted cream, pastries, and all the tea they could drink. Very civilized, they said. The construction from colonial times reminded us of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore equally as elegant.

Crossing the street here became complicated, because we had to go underground to do it. There is a huge subway system which takes people across roads to different areas of the city. Would not want to be down there during a monsoon rain, as it tends to flood sometimes. Following the signs, we came out at Nathan Road. We had not walked this part of it the last two days, and then we remembered why. Going a different way up Nathan, we missed the beggars, vendors, and "real" Rolex watches and the authentic Prada handbags for sale. The first two blocks were jammed with these people. We just said NO, politely.

We ran into the lower end of Kowloon Park, where the Mosque is located. It was very busy with people going there, because it was a Friday, their day of prayer, we believe. Since we had missed this part of the park yesterday, we went back up several flights of steep stairs to the top. Ending up at the Sculpture Park, we saw dozens of red-uniformed children on their lunch break. They were so cute, and must have been around kindergarten age. Although they were supposed to be sitting and eating lunch, many of the little girls were teasing the little boys. We saw a lot of poking and hair-pulling, as kids are the same worldwide.

Further into the park, we went towards the ponds with the turtles. Halfway there, we ran into a group of professional photographers, waiting to get a picture of a blue bird in a tree. We stood with them and their cameras and lens on tripods, wondering what they were looking for. One of the fellows came over and showed us his picture of the bird. It looked like a small blue wagtail……nothing really exciting to us, but then birders are a different breed of hobbyists. We can say that their camera equipment was worth $$$$$$. We did not have the patience to wait as long as they did.

Going around the lake once again, we decided to take the bridge over Canton Road and back down the elevator of the Royal Pacific Hotel. That was close again to the Harbour City, the largest mall in Hong Kong with 450 stores. It was time for lunch, so this time we headed for another good restaurant called BLT Burger. It was not too crowded when we entered, but before we left, there were no empty tables. The burgers were ample and tasty. Sitting for an hour or so was great. Three days of walking Hong Kong was a workout in itself.

After downloading hundreds of pictures, we took a walk on the promenade deck. Many folks were relaxing on the teak lounges, including friends Jack and Shirley. They are excellent walkers, so we asked what they had done for the last three days. They told us that they had purchased the Octopus Cards (Elder), which for a small price, you can use the rapid transit underground, buses, and entries to many venues for super cheap. This allowed them to access Hong Kong Island, where they could get to all of the sites there. They did visit a botanical garden, which may have been the Zoological Gardens, where they saw many animals including an orangutan. We'll have to look into this pass next year, and expand our territory.

We stayed outside until the sun set around 6:30pm. It was not long before the buildings on HK Island began to light up the harbor once again. A strange thing happened to us last night that we forgot to mention. While going outside after dinner for our walk, we stopped to take in the harbor lights, always a delightful site. Something caught our eye overhead, something moved in the sky. It wasn't a bird, it wasn't a plane, no it wasn't Superman. Actually it was a drone with green lights and red lights flashing. It swooped down and made a sweep across the promenade deck, hovered for a few minutes, then took off towards the Convention Center across the harbor. It hovered in front of the windows there. Wonder if there was a camera on it? It was a spooky experience, like something out of a time warp in the future. It's no wonder that people feel like shooting them down if they are "peeping Toms".

All aboard time today was 7pm, even though our departure was scheduled for around 9pm. The Chinese officials had to go through each and every passport. Sometime around 7:30pm, Gene began announcing folks that either were not back on the ship, or their key cards had not registered on the kiosk. There had to be about a dozen folks missing. Until they called or showed up in person with the officials, we would not be leaving on time. Eventually they must have shown up.

We did go up to deck nine to watch the last of the buildings light up. The new one on Kowloon had a good laser light show at 7:45pm, with hopping rabbits, trees growing, stormy weather with rain falling, and much more, although if we stayed, we would have been rudely late for dinner.

Tonight, we had ten of us at dinner with Greg and Heo joining us once again. This is the first time we have had such a full table, but it was fun. By the time it was 8:30pm, most of the surrounding tables were empty, because we are sitting at the open seating dining. Great for us, because we get good service.

Unfortunately, we got out so late last night visiting with new friends, that we missed the local Chinese Dragon Show, which began at 9:30pm. Tonight, the entertainer was Clare Langan, the flautist, performing her encore farewell show. We did, however, pass her in the hallway at 8pm, and we can say she looked beautiful in her blue sequined formal dress.

By the way, we got gifts tonight…….two ballistic nylon carry-on travel bags…..quite useful, as we were hoping to get one to use on our overland in Sri Lanka. These bags are foldable and come in a fabric pouch with a drawstring. Easy to stash in a suitcase.

Also, today we begin another segment from Hong Kong to Singapore. We have passed the halfway mark of the world cruise now, and are on the way towards Vietnam now, a far different place compared to Hong Kong.

Bill & Mary Ann

Amsterdam docked for third day in Hong Kong