Day 2: Hong Kong
When we finally woke up on Tuesday morning, we knew the first thing we needed to do was find a Pacific Coffee for espresso and free internet. Wyatt had so cleverly emailed me the link that listed every Pacific Coffee in the vicinity of our hotel, so I’d already mapped out where a few were located. Our espresso cost $51 Hong Kong dollars, about $6.50 U.S. dollars.
After a breakfast at an outdoor café called The Big Apple, we started to wander. Hong Kong is very pedestrian-friendly. It’s an easy city to explore on foot. But they drive on the other side of the road, like Great Britain, so it took a certain amount of concentration to cross the street!
Our wanderings brought us to the Peak Tram. The Tram dates back to 1888 and takes passengers to The Peak (I never found out any other name for this hill except “The Peak”). At The Peak there are historical displays, a stunning view of Hong Kong, restaurants, and oh, yes, shopping. We had lunch at a restaurant that hung out over The Peak.
After we took the tram back down The Peak, we found our way to Hong Kong Park. Hong Kong Park was opened in 1991 and was formerly a garrison of the British Armed Forces named Victoria Barracks. It now houses a walk-through aviary, ponds, and conservatory. It also had a memorial garden to the medical personnel who died fighting SARS in 2003.
It was getting pretty warm and humid at the park, and we found ourselves in the middle of a martial arts movie that was being filmed at the Park. We decided that it was time to go back to the hotel and regroup (take a nap).
What we were discovering about Hong Kong is that there doesn’t seem to be organization to the streets or buildings. There are “districts” (and I use the term loosely) of goods – an area that has many stores that sell plumbing supplies, and another area that sells stationery. And the wandering and circuitous streets make St. Paul look like it was designed by a Prussian.
That evening we ate at Curry House, in the Causeway district, not too far from our hotel. We spent the rest of the evening walking around the markets (yes, they’re open into the evening), and realized that, like many cities, Hong Kong truly comes to life later in the day, and into the night. And that goes for the outdoor markets, as well as the upscale shopping arcades. We were learning that Hong Kong is about shopping. We also learned that every shopping arcade had public restrooms, which we hadn’t read in any of our travel literature.
http://www.pacificcoffee.com/eng/home.php
http://www.thepeak.com.hk/en/home.asp
Currency Calculator web site: http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html
