While in Hong Kong, I thought it would be fun to go and see the horse races. Unfortunately, we were unable to go to Happy Valley, the oldest racecourse in Hong Kong. We went to Sha Tin, which is a modern facility and a beautiful racetrack. On the day, we lost a couple hundred buck, HK, but it was a good time. Here is a video, which just happens to be our most successful race.
As far as I have heard, there are two main watering areas in Hong Kong; Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai. From the information I have been given, Wan Chai is a bit seedier than most places in the world and is rather open about the business that takes place there.
Lan Kwai Fong is a good place for business men and women to gather for a beer that is priced out of this world. Happy hour is reasonable at around 30 HKD, but regular price is something like 80 in the nicest of bars. We ended up getting stuck into one of those and spending more on a beer than we would need to one a dinner for 8 in Beijing. After that experience, we started taking trips down to the Seven-Eleven to get our drinks and then we would just walk around on the street. We circled the horse-shoe shaped road a few times, making small talk with people before heading back home. Since it was Christmas, there was a small Christmas show on the street. Actually, it was a French guy blowing up rubber gloves on his head. We saw him later at the ferry terminal in the TST performing during the daytime. Turns out he was staying in the same place as us as well. Small world!
Here is a picture of drunk Santa's at Lan Kwai Fong.
One of the places in Hong Kong which I had never been before is a place called Stanley. It is almost directly opposite o the city on the island and it takes a while to arrive. The Lonely Planet suggests taking the double decker trolley from central to it's termination point and then hopping on another bus from there to go the rest of the way to Stanley. My Lonely Planet is ancient, 3 years old, when dealing with the swift changes which sweep through China. When we finally arrived at Stanley, we found out that there were buses which go straight from Central to Stanley instead of our round-about route.
The trip to Stanley was the most interesting part of the trip as it was my first time to travel on a double-decker bus and it was my first time to travel all the way through Hong Kong city. The electric double-decker trolley is amazing and so well measured that it passes by oncoming trolleys with mere inches of separation. Here you can see the video of the bus ride.
Here are some more pictures of the scenery along the way.
The funniest thing that I have ever seen was on the bus right next to us. Luckily, we were stopped and I could get a picture. What a fabulous team we have found.
We finally arrived at the end of the road for our little trolley. We searched high and low for the proper place to get the next bus and people pointed us in every different direction. We ended up walking to the dock and deciding to try another route. Here are some pictures from the dock. I think those are the coolest fishing boats. I read somewhere that many people make their homes on those. Not sure of the truth of that. I bet this place would be the cheapest seafood in town.
By this time, my bladder was about to burst. I said, we are going to have to wait for our trip because I need to pee like NOW! So, we decided to go towards the big buildings, which might have been a hotel or a nice apartment complex...either way, it might have had public facilities.
When we got underneath, we found that this was where the bus we needed started. How is that for dumb luck? I guess it pays to follow your Johnson! There were no facilities however and I had to hold my water for another 30 minutes or more of winding mountain road before I could get relief. When we got to Stanley, I did my business and we had a nice afternoon of walking around the "boardwalk" and chewing on some nice western food. None of it was cheap, but it was all pretty good. The government had restricted swimming because of big Jelly Fish, but I think they did not want to staff the beach in the cooler weather. You can see pictures of Stanley by following this link.
We got to Hong Kong in the early afternoon after a pleasant train trip. The weather was, of course, far different than it had been in Beijing. We had to put our jackets into our bags as we exited the train. We went into the train station and bought new SIM cards as we realized that our old ones were no longer in service. (The Hong Kong SIM card worked through Macau, Guang Zhou and all the way to Shanghai, it also called overseas.) We decided to walk from the train station at Hong Hom to TST to find a room at Mirador Mansions. I knew the general way and we actually made it very easily. My first trip to Hong Kong I also walked, but I followed the bay at that time and it was a long and hot July walk in Hong Kong that time. This time was pleasantly warm and we ended up right at our destination.
On Christmas Eve, we went to watch the lights at the Harbor. We heard they were going to be fireworks, so we were slightly disappointed. The place was jam packed, even more so than usual. We watched the 20 minute show and then tried to leave the area and head back to Nathan Road, which had been blocked off for foot traffic. As we tried to leave, we realized that the police had changed the exit and so we had to follow a massive crowd the long way around. It was rather orderly and polite for a mob trying to find a way out, but that is Hong Kong. Here you can see the light show from the Harbor and a little clip of us trying to walk through the crowd.
When we finally got back to Nathan Road, we did what everyone else was doing. We aimlessly walked around, shopping and eating and drinking and seeing what we could see. I think we were the only ones drinking. HAHA. Here you can see some of the interesting sights we witnessed that evening.
For dinner, we decided to save money and time, so we ate the Hong Kong street food. They call it Ma La Tang in Beijing. I am not sure what they call it in Hong Kong, but it was tasty and not as spicy as the northern version. Here is a clip of our Christmas dinner.
At the end of the night, after almost everyone had gone. There was a still a group of local immigrants dancing and having a good time. Here you can see that.
I will post a bit more about Hong Kong before moving on the Macau. Happy New Year everyone.
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