Hong Kong Day 1 – After the E*TRADE Intervention

NOTE: If you haven't yet read "Hong Kong Day  - Before the E*TRADE Intervention", read that entry first.

Here was the day Helen and Willie planned for us:

Tram (not the one that goes up to the Peak) to IFC to grab lunch

Bus to Stanley and associated shopping

Tram (the one up the side of the mountain, not the narrow transit on rails downtown) to Victoria Peak and dinner at a Peak restaurant

Willie walked us all the way down to the street sent us on our way. We hopped a Tram back towards whence we came (IFC).

The Tram is ancient technology two story railed transport submerged within this growing urban jungle of technology and massive skyscrapers. And it isn’t there for show; people really use this thing to get around. And just like the buses and boats and MTR and Airport Express, the wait for the next arrival is never more than a few minutes. You board a Tram through the back and exit through the front, at which point you swipe your Octopus Card (again!). The Trams cost $2HKD - @$.30 US. Quite the value.

At this point we were starting to get the hang of HK and exited the Tram and found an entry up to the walkways to find our way to IFC Mall for lunch. Once you get into the walkways there are signs everywhere pointing you to all the different buildings for blocks and blocks. We were headed to Willie and Helen’s suggestion: Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop.

There are no 2-top or 4-tops in these restaurants. There are chairs. We were two and there was a table with two open chairs, so we were directed to that table. When we sat down the mother-daughter at our shared table changed from English to Chinese; well, the mother did. The daughter switched between the two depending on whether she wanted us to know what she was saying. We intermittently heard “Banff”, “Vancouver” and “Ontario”. We later figured out the 17 year old was probably educated in Canada, and she spoke with a Canadian/British accent. The mother spoke no English until our second plate arrived. At that point, in perfect English she turned to Karen and said of her noodle dish, “That item is very delicious”, and then returned to Chinese. Like most everything in HK, the menu was written in both English and Chinese, which made ordering stress-free. We ordered:

Beef and Rice Noodle Stir Fry 

Steamed Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Buns with Saucy Filling 

Beef & Black Bean Sauce Rice Noodles Stir Fry 

All three were tasty, but the star of the meal was clearly the pork buns. The bun was fluffy soft and light as air. The porky delicious filling was a deep flavored contrast to the bun. There was just enough filling to make each bite porky-licious, without any seepage or mess. Along with the tasty goodness came a ready supply of yummy hot tea that never reached empty due to the efficient service and incredible number of employees in perpetual motion. We paid the bill and headed out to find the bus to Stanley.

Stanley was the largest settlement on HK island before the British moved in. It is on the southern end of the island (HK is on the northern end). We located the Bus Stop and loaded the #260 from Central to Stanley – about a 35 minute drive. 

The route winds its way through the buildings of HK through Aberdeen Tunnel. When you emerge you have (mostly) left the hustle and bustle and are in rural areas that soon find the coast. The bus then winds its way around hairpin turns along steep cliffs towards Stanley.

We exited (as the Brits say “alight”) at the Stanley Market. And walked down the hill towards the beach and shops. 

The shops at Stanley sell the same crapulence (Jeff Carroll term) that they sell in all Chinatowns throughout the world. Slippers and trinkets and scarves and silk shirts – they even come in the same wrapping and cellophane. If we had come to Stanley for the shopping we’d have been might disappointed. But we came for the beach and water, and we were not disappointed.

We walked along the coast amongst the other tourists in search of the Tin Hau Temple; the temple honouring (British colonial spelling) the sea goddess Tin Hau. After getting lost in a mall (yes, they built a mall in a sleepy village), we were able to find the tiny little temple. 

It is filled with fruit and a metric ton of burning incense. There were two elderly people with the Chinese Temple Association working there whose responsibilities seem to involve lighting incense and moving fruit. And before you accuse us of being insensitive Americans, the signs said we could take photos inside the temple.

We happened next upon a butterfly garden. Karen had to explain to Eric that you can attract butterflies with certain flowers; Eric thought Karen was making this up. The butterfly excursion was cut very short when Karen saw this sign… 

…and fled.

From there we went in search of St. Stephen’s beach on which Karen could walk shoeless on the sand and into the water; the beach was gloriously snake free. Karen was not going to let the fact that it was 53 degrees out deter her from her quest. Eric stayed where it was warmer and dry and took pictures.

Karen on a beach, undeterred by weather

We went from there to Lucy’s on the water to grab a bite to eat and some tea. The guidebook suggested that eatery, but we are pretty sure we’d have chosen that spot no matter what, as a certain new friend named Mocha was also hanging there that day. 

Mocha’s owner was French and spoke no English. We, of course, speak no French. Mocha responded to neither English nor French from his master and instead went meandering in search of food – including into the restaurant building. We figure Mocha and his master must be regulars, as the proprietor seemed unfazed by Mocha’s presence. (Svetlana, please explain to Zacky that we aren’t trading him in, it’s just that he’s far away and we needed our dog fix).

We headed back up to the bus stop and this time boarded a double decker bus back to Central. The turns and steep drops are even more intimidating from the front of the double decker bus.

Interesting fact about the beaches in HK – they have a little shark problem. That is to say, they sharks like to come and visit. The HK people have a solution – shark nets. They drape nets all the way along their beaches. It is a low tech solution, but we didn’t see any carcasses so we assume it works.

We returned to Central HK and took the MTR back to the W Hotel to get warmer clothes, and then got back on the MTR to Central for a short walk to the Tram to the top of Victoria Peak. The Tram is a track based two-car train that rides up the steep mountain to the top of Victoria Peak. At some points you feel as though you must be at 45 degrees. It is disorienting to look over at the skyscrapers reflected at alarming angles.

Less than 10 minutes later (the Tram actually makes three stops along the way for commuters to disembark) you arrive at the Tram station, where there is, of course, a four story mall. In that mall is a Bubba Gump Shrimp. We guess when you are done eating your Big Mac and visiting Disneyland, you might be hungry for dinner.

We dined at The Pearl on the Peak restaurant. It had phenomenal views and average food. Of course, we weren’t there for the food. We struck up a conversation with the two women sitting at the adjacent table, an HK native educated in the U.S. and now working in Shanghai for Nike, and her friend, an America from Oregon. They gave us some tips and background on HK, and also Vietnam, where they had just visited and our last stop our trip.

We finished dinner and went four more escalators up to the viewing platform. The view is incredible. It overlooks HK and the harbor and Kowloon from more than 400 meters above sea level.

The view was great but it was COLD up there, so we headed back to the Tram, down the mountain, back to the MTR and back to the cozy confines of the W Hotel and our Heavenly Bed.