Lovin' Hong Kong

The weather finally cleared up today. We arrived very late on the 22nd and wandered around looking for our planned hostel. We didn't find that but we did find another hostel, just down the street and about $100 HKD cheaper! It's a quite place and we have our own bathroom.

Our first day we went up to the 43rd floor of the Bank of China building. The guidebooks say you can go to the 47th but that is an error. The view was good but not great as the weather was a rainy cloudy day. We went back up today and it was much much better. After that we walked down to the Harbour. There was what I though was a homeless man, shaving in the reflection of a compact disc. From there we walked up to Lan Kwai Fung. We relaxed at Al's Diner and then stopped in at Insomnia.

The next day, Tuesday, we again headed into Central (the name of the neighborhood)and took the tram up to Victoria Peak. Again it would have been a great view if not for the rain and clouds. We hiked up to the top of the Peak along a road and down via the Govenor's walk which was more like a trail. It was very nice. Of course, I had a slight panic when I saw a snake lazing on a rock nearby. Later on we passed a waterfall. While Tim was considering on whether to take a photo, I rested against the railing. Rather, I rested until I felt something brush my hand and then saw a huge spider with very long legs. It was the biggest one in the wild I have ever seen! It didn't scare me as much as the snake though.

After riding the Tram down from the Peak we walked over to the Aviary in Hong Kong Park. That was a real treat! All kinds of beautiful birds. After that we went to the zoo and saw ring-tailed Lemurs and a racoon, as well as other monkeys and one jaguar. Afterwards we stopped in at DDs in Lan Kwai Fong.

Tuesday night we double checked on whether we needed a visa for Vietnam or could just get it at the airport. For some reason we were under the impression that the airport would be no problem.

Wednesday morning we double checked on that and discovered we needed one. Luckily there is an embassey in HK so we dropped off our passports at 1 pm and went over to the Times Square Mall to hang out until we could pick them up at 5:15 pm. The mall had a cool art exhibition going on. It also has free internet access terminals but you have to stand up to use them and time is limited to 30 minutes. I think its a pretty good deal compared to what internet everywher else costs. Really, there aren't that many IT cafes here. After we picked up our visas, we headed back to the hostel to freshen up and then went out at about 9 pm to check on the night life. We stopped at one place listed in my book called Brechts, but it, like everything else was pricey. We left after one beverage and then wandered around until we found the Barn. The prices were much more reasonable. Alot of people there were playing a dice game at there tables. We struck up a conversation with a 22 yr old girl working there. She showed us how to play the game. She is from mainland China and came here about 2 years ago with her family from Beijing. She said she likes Beijing better than HK.

Thursday we took the Ferry over to Kowloon to check out the views and the markets. The views were great although a little too cloudy and rainy. We walked up to the Ladies Market, which isn't just for ladies and then we went to the bird market. The bird market was facinating with many types of beautiful birds which I had never seen before. Also alot of old men come to the park with their birds. The bird cages and the cute little wooden carved affairs, not the ugly metal boxes we see in the US. The bird feeders are little decorated porcelain bowls, not those plastic things we have. Of course, I don't think these beautiful accomodations make the birds feel any better about being caged. After that we headed back via the pet fish market. Tim was a little disappointed because I didn't tell him that the name for the market was the goldfish market, he thought it was a fish market, with the guts and heads and stuff. We waited for it to get dark and watched the lights come on, on Hong Kong Island. We took the ferry back and I was exhausted from all the walking. The guide book suggests that you take the subway up to the markets, etc. Sometimes I think Tim is fooling me when he looks at the map and says its just a 15 minute walk. We went back to the Barn and wrote some postcards.

Watched a little David Lettermen, what's with the shirtless father and son?

Today, Friday, we again made our way up to the Bank Tower and over to Kowloon by ferry to get some decent photos.

Internet time is not cheap so ttfn.