We arrived home from our trip to Hong Kong today, tired and weary. It was a great trip, and I'm glad we did it. However, Mrs FatBoy said that she wouldn't want to revisit Hong Kong in a hurry. It was a very busy trip, cramming a lot in, which probably didn't help the feeling of relaxation as holidays should be.
We flew out last Monday, from Hobart to Melbourne, and then direct to Hong Kong, leaving Hobart at 5:50am and arriving in Hong Kong some 14 hours later. Thankfully my Platinum Frequent Flyer status got us a better experience in the airports (First Class Lounge in Melbourne) and in the aircraft (noise cancelling headphones on the way home, as well as guaranteed choice of meals).
The first day after arrival was a Big Bus Tour. We were staying in the Mong Kok area of Kowloon, so got the courtesy bus down to the Star Ferry Pier to begin our journey.
Here is a photo of the Star Ferry arriving to take us over to Hong Kong Island. We stayed on Hong Kong all day, enjoying the heat (my lord it was hot and humid) on the bus, but the breeze when it came was lovely.
The view of Hong Kong from the ferry.
One of the Double Decker Trams from the top of our Double Decker Bus.
The tour also included a ride to the top of Victoria Peak (the highest point on Hong Kong Island) via the Peak Tram. This photo shows the angle that the tram climbs at!! You really have to ride on it to appreciate the gradient.
The view from the Tram on the way up. Hong Kong Central is in the foreground, with Kowloon across the harbour.
The view from the top with the old Kai Tek Airport in the distance (the long silver building is built on the old runway).
We continued the bus tour to Stanley, Aberdeen and Repulse Bay. On the way we went past this Ferrari dealership. I honestly saw more Ferraris in Hong Kong than I did Hyundais!! There were also a lot of Porsches, Bentleys, BMW, Mercedes and a few Teslas.
The next day we went to this place.
We did a few rides, saw a few characters (with a few photos), and left mid afternoon due to the heat!! We did come back a few days later to see the evening parade. That was very much worth the wait. This is the train that takes you to the Disneyland Resort area.
We did a few days of looking around the local area. We found out we were quite close to the Ladies Market, which were a lot of fun. This is a typical street near our hotel.
Here is Nathan Road in Kowloon. One of the main streets in Kowloon. Notice the number of busses!!
Now we are back in Hobart, on Argyle Street (yes, there is an Argyle Street in Hong Kong too).
We also had a cruise and seafood dinner booked one night, which departed from the Kowloon public pier. So we made our way there a little early to walk along the Avenue of the Stars. We saw this fellow in a typical pose.
We saw a few names we knew, like Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as well as a few that we didn't.
Here is the boat that took us to the fishing village for a seafood dinner. The dinner was quite nice (nine courses in all), with a good selection of fish, squid, shrimp, scallops and fresh vegetables. On our way back we went through the fish markets, where dinner is kept very fresh.
Our final day of adventuring found us going to another theme park, this one is called Ocean Park, and is more about the rides.
The park is split in two by a big hill, with the only way to get between the two is either a cable car, or train though the hill. We chose the cable car both ways. As you can see, the views from the cable car were spectacular (of the south side of Hong Kong Island towards Stanley). You can also see that it was quite hazy on that day.
All in all, it was a great trip. I liked Hong Kong and could quite easily live there (particularly with a top tax rate of 15%), although Mrs FatBoy said that I would be going alone!! I'd miss her!! The weather there was hot and humid, and sometimes very hazy/smoggy. The hotel was quite good, and attached to a shopping mall. Food was good and cheap, even at the shopping centre food court. Breakfast with coffee at a cafe would cost about $200 HKD (about $40 AUD) and lunch would cost about $100 HKD, and that was for four people (the FatKids eat like adults). We did get some Dim Sum from a street shop for $10 HKD ($2 AUD). Transport around the area was very easy either with Shanks Pony, or the very efficient and very clean public transport system. I would put it on par with the Singapore train system, with lines more like the Tube in London (a lot of interconnecting lines). We only used the trains, with a day ticket costing $55 HKD (about $10 AUD) per person. A short trip would cost about $4.50 HKD (less than $1 AUD). The trains during the busy times were only 1 minute apart, and you knew that you were not going to wait long for a connecting train.
One of the funniest events was when my youngest son (12 years old) and I caught a train to the Temple Street Markets for a look. We were walking behind the stalls when a lady asked me if I would like a "massage". My son was a few metres behind. He caught up and asked, "Was she a hooker?" My smile told him that she was.
