Hong Kong, China

Kowloon Typical shop

We are docked night number two in Hong Kong and are due to leave at 2:00 pm tomorrow. So far Hong Kong has been much more dreary and overcast than previously forecast so much so that you can hardly see the mountain or the tops of the buildings. Disappointed? Hardly, Hong Kong is a wonderful huge (7mil) and vibrant city with the Hong Kong island making one side and Kowloon Island the other. We are on the Kowloon side docked by the Ocean Pier and Harbor Mall. We have to get off the ship into the mall and walk for 15 minutes just to get out of the mall! Good planning on their part. The sites from the ship and almost anywhere on either side are breath taking. You really cannot explain if you have not been here and it is worth the travel to get here. At night the 100's of high rises on both sides light up with advertisements and videos on their large building landscapes.

Day One:

Cold although forecast for 74 degrees F it never even got over 67 degrees and windy. We wore shorts as we are cheery folk. Off through the mall and out to Star Ferry Terminal and somewhere in there we lost Dawn in the shops. Bill and Paul went walking and ended up with about 7 miles of waterfront, streets, and alleys. We got hungry but then after some of the fish shops we were no longer so. Great walking place with hordes of people at times and slack at others. The side streets are where it's at where you see the real backbone of the city. Met up with Dawn through email with occasional internet service about 2:30 pm for some late lunch of Bacon with Chimmichuri sauce, tuna Tartare, and crab cake in Harbor mall. Dinner that night was local with curry noodle and an egg net noodle thing for Dawn. After that we had a ship event where they hired a Star Ferry boat for a one hour tour of the harbor. It was too cloudy to see the buildings well so no pics but they had small desert on the boat as well as Proseco and some punch with no booze. Bad boy Harry however thought in advance and brought a water bottle full of Kettle one and spiked all our drinks, no complaints from us or Peggy! After that it was back to the boat and some Drambuie with Ron from Calgary. Sad night again as Harry and Peggy are getting off the ship after about 60 days and newcomer Ron getting off heading for other trips for a while. Almost a hundred getting off here and new people on.

Day two:

Long day today on our own adventure. We got off the ship and went to the Star Ferry terminal right next door. For $2.80 HK. less that 50 cents we took the ferry to Hong Kong Island Central terminal then moved over to pier #6 for Lantau Island. There are two Lantau ferries, the slow and the fast. We took the fast for about US $5.00 and it's a half hour vs. an hour. Arrived in Mui Wo on Silvermine Bay and walked around not knowing what to do. We had Tai O in mind but didn't know how to get there. After walking ended up at the Silver Mine resort and old and aging place. Dawn and Bill were walk weary so I walked the bay while they sought coffee or tea. Once back Bill was getting a massage for $380 HK (US $48) for an hour and a half. We cooled our jets and waited. In the mean time found out that there is a bus to everywhere on Lantau Island. We could take bus #1 to Tai O the old fishing village so when Bill was done we did. One hour bus ride less than a dollar. When there we found hundreds of local tourists by bus from the mainland. This little village of stilt house fishermen was packed and unique. Shop after shop of dried everything fish. Live fish and dead fish, dried fish and stinking fish. Lost some appetite but found a place that had some english. It was so small we had to ask where one would sit. They directed us through a little shop, through a little kitchen and out to a two table porch overlooking a slough. Very good lunch with coffee. Then back on the hour bus with narrow roads and mountains, back on the Lantau Ferry then on the Star Ferry and back through the mall and then the ship for some well needed drinks. We are going to a special breakfast with Emma Lee, the future sale director of the ship in the morning. This is not a sales event, she is a sweet heart and a friend from London. This gal is a real Hoot. The Penninsular Hotel has a bountiful brunch on Sunday that we well deserve as we have been good girls and boys and the brunch is on floor something like 50 or 60 overlooking Hong Kong harbor.

There is so much more to say on each and every port but only so much can be typed for each.

Cecilia and her husband decided to get off the world cruise with our little buddy Felix. She decided yesterday much to her husbands dismay that the World Cruise was no longer good for her five year old son. He was becoming a ships crew member and served us ice water and drambuie most nights. It had seemed to be ok previously but the bar crew just dreaded this as they were afraid Felix would get hurt and it would be their necks on the line. My take is that someone told Cecilia this and she got pissed. She ordered up two Rolls Royces in Hong Kong and off they went. They are a German couple and very sweet Cecilia gave dawn her big fur one night because Dawn was cold and then Cecelia went to bed not caring if she got it back. I think her husbands name ends in Benz.

Tomorrow we have a half day in Hong Kong and then at two we are off to Nha Trang where it is supposed to be 90 degrees, Yeah!