Days: 1-2 (9 June 2017 – 10 June 2017)

Total distance travelled: 17,753.17 kilometres (11,026.81 miles)

Every year, in early June, the state of Victoria here in Australia (our home) celebrates the birthday of our official head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.

There is usually a Public Holiday for the occasion, and in 2017 this was the 12th of June, the perfect opportunity for a short getaway!

If you want to confuse things, in 2018 the holiday will be on the 11th of June. The following year, it’ll be the 10th.

We really adore these long weekends!

To complicate matters further, her actual birthday is the 21st of April, so go figure!!

The more important birthday for us occurs on the 11th, Sarah’s (with it also meaning she usually gets a longer break for her winter celebration)!

Now working as I am in the travel industry, it seemed the perfect opportunity to use my position to find a really good fare for us to take an extra day or so, and make a really good weekend away of it (there are not so many places close enough internationally, nor compact enough to choose from), so that’s how we settled on Hong Kong, somewhere I’d been in passing for work in the past, bet never truly visited.

I’d found some good flights which we were all ready to lock in… then Sarah’s boss stole my thunder and said we could utilise his Virgin Australia frequent flyer points of which he had a figure in the millions.

My thunder was stolen, but the price was certainly right.

That’s how we found ourselves on a flight during our Friday, bound for the islands and promintory that form Hong Kong (or officially, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, abbreviated to HKSAR).

Normally 9 to 10 hours would get us from Melbourne to Hong Kong (or half a dozen wines, 2 meals and 3 or 4 movies), but today, as the afternoon shadows lengthened, we found ourselves circling for quite some time.

It did allow us some pretty cool views of the still under construction bridge (and incredibly even some undersea tunnels) connecting Hong Kong with Macau, so it wasn’t all bad.

Upon landing, we were greeted by a smiling man with a machine gun… at least initially in sign form. There were actual people we eventually saw equipped as such, but they were neither greeting or smiling at us (they weren’t being menacing, they just weren’t paying us any attention at all).

One thing we soon discovered, was how easy it is to make ones way from the airport to downtown Hong Kong, whether you needed to be on the island, or across the water in Kowloon.

Their railway system is even that good, were we travelling in the other direction, we could have checked our bags (for an international flight), at the station before even making our way to the airport!

We were staying just off Nathan Road, the main thoroughfare through Kowloon, and after we got over the shock as the humidity smacked us in the face, we found our hotel and had a brief evening explore before turning in.

The morning was sunny enough, with no sign of rain, but the humidity, that was the real shock to the system!

From our room, surrounded as we were by high rise towers, we could fully appreciate the vertical, densely populated nature of this small, semi-autonomous city/region.

A layer of grime clung to buildings, not the sort of dirt that comes from neglect, but the sort you regularly see in tropical climes. There wasn’t much else to take in, but for the odd window slightly ajar, some form of drying device hanging precariously above the city leaving me to wonder how many strong gusts have led to the loss of knickers or an old pair of y-fronts…

Donning summer clothing and our regular walking shoes (flip flops), we hit the streets to explore this bustling city.

Despite the thick air, the sun was already hot, as we began our explorations with no real plan beyond heading back down Nathan Road in the general direction of Victoria Harbour.

We dodged what appeared to be a ridiculously large party of groomsman (clad in perfect attire for the weather, suited shorts), an eye on the various eateries around as I was keen on a traditional breakfast.

Skipping on the Michelin starred Yat Tung Heen, we settled for some traditional and delicious fare at Tsui Wah Restaurant (which we had no idea at the time was part of a chain).

Congee, Pork Buns, and an interesting, slippery noodle. Our new Hong Kong breakfast of champions! It was all cheap and delicious (Sarah especially warmed to the notion of BBQ Pork Buns as a breakfast staple).

With little plan, comes plenty of meandering, so that’s what we did.

I was surprised to see in such a modern city, scaffold for building made of thick bamboo and twine, and then down a small laneway, we took in a little mosaic.

It wasn’t abstract, or particularly interpretive, rather it was a series of childhood school scenes. Turns out this was a young Bruce Lee, and this, Tak Sun School was a place at which he was a student as a young boy (famous though he may be, neither Sarah or myself can ever recall actually seeing a film of his)!

A little ways off Nathan Road there was also a colonial relic… rather throwback is a better term, that I was keen to see, the Kowloon Cricket Club.

Such a vast, open sports field seemed odd, a vast swathe of green in one of the more densely populated cities on the planet. We couldn’t get in, but I did take a peek through the mesh fence (I’d hoped there may be some action taking place, but it was not to be).

Despite the modern city vibe that is Hong Kong, the humidity was a great reminder that we were in an Asian city. Throw in the odd man wheeling a bicycle basket full of raw chicken through traffic, and that reminder was solidified.

Perhaps that’s as good a reason as any to make sure everything is well and truly fried!

We took a right hand turn off the main artery through Kowloon, and after climbing some colourful steps, found ourselves in the suitably name, Kowloon Park.

It was an odd introduction, with various plinths scattered around the promenade at the park entrance, topped with a variety of large figurines that all looked to characters from comic books or television… we weren’t really sure.

Deeper within the park, a small lake and surrounding gardens provided a little respite from not only the heat, but also sanctuary to a variety of small tortoises or turtles who made the place their home (a subsequent google search tells me that they’re Terrapins, a small species of turtle and the same source also confirmed that the park is home to the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars).

They seemed to share the place with some of the largest, fattest Goldfish you might ever see, and took pleasure in popping their heads through the surface, or indulging in a little sunbathing atop various logs or stone walls.

After a brief rest and languid wander where we finished taking a peek at some resident Flamingos, we took ourselves out the other side of the park near a series of hotels and malls which fronted part of the harbour.

Now I’ve nothing based in fact when I make this assumption other than having read once that gold is a revered colour in Chinese culture (apparently symbolic of wealth of good fortune, or something like that), but one thing I noticed here which was reminiscent of a past business trip to China, was the amount of buildings clad in what I thought a horrible brown-gold glass tint. Surely this 80’s colour scheme can only be based on superstition… can’t it?

Anyway, we utilised the hotel mall in parts to get a taste of their air conditioning, before eventually finding ourselves out the back side and on the water, which was a concrete warren of columns jutting out into the water and the international shipping terminal, and not all that interesting.

At least it gave us our bearings, so we kept the water to our right and made our way to the main waterfront with its iconic views across the harbour towards Hong Kong Island, and the attached and bustling Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal.

We grabbed ourselves a ticket for the next available service, and it wasn’t long before a bouncing and smoking vessel was alongside the wharf on which we waited.

It looked even older up close. One of those boats that had a glossy and smooth appearance, thanks to goodness knows how many years of paint, each layer slapped on top of the former.

A plaque on an internal wall advised that this particular boat of The Star Ferry Co Ltd was the MV Silver Star and had been built back in 1965, a true veteran of the seas (well, possibly no further afield than the harbour, but you get my drift).

Perched on a bench seat, it gave us lovely views across the water, as it chugged and bobbed us across the harbour (somewhere below us was the subway that had brought us to Kowloon from the airport).

As soon as we hit the other shore, it felt like the Hong Kong I’d imagined. A blend of really new money and spruced up colonial buildings.

Sharply manicured trees, a little less hustle, and quite a bit more open.

We’d emerged near City Hall and Connaught Road, and I got my first site of the flags of Hong Kong and China side by side.

We meandered past the cenotaph and another immediate difference we noted was that suddenly, where Kowloon had been largely flat, here we were dealing with hills and inclines!

Wandering past the station for the famous funicular, we noted that the queue was far longer than we were prepared to wait at this time, so made our way across the road into a large, almost tiered park area to chill for a bit.

Apparently named Hong Kong Park, it was flanked by a few old colonial buildings (one which we briefly wandered through being a tea house museum), it also sported a statue to Victoria Cross winner, John Robert Osborn.

A Canadian (although English by birth), his was the only VC awarded during the brief, but brutal Japanese assault on the then colony.

We flicked through a local paper we found beside a park bench, speculated as to what the product ‘PooPoo‘ was and then chuckled as the real estate section revealed apartments for sale in South Yarra, a suburb of our home city of Melbourne!

I don’t think we ever got any wiser as to what ‘PooPoo‘ was…

Anyway, we explored the streets, where I took some obligatory photos of street lanterns hanging as I thought the red really popped and they looked really cool.

It may have appeared that I confused it with some sort of Hong Kong Chinatown (that sounds oxymoronic), but back home in Melbourne, we have a very sizeable one as well… it definitely wasn’t that!

This was more of a mall, fringed with a few designer shops.

We baulked at those, and got suckered in by some “Lego” lollies (yes, sweet, chewy candy shaped like Lego bricks).

What can I say, at heart I’m a big kid!

We washed it all down with a beverage that was completely new to us, Milky Soda!

It described itself as a ‘Lactic Flavoured’ drink, which we wondered if it may be like a Spider (a think known as a soda float, or ice-cream float in some places), but we truly had no idea.

Even now, I still have little idea how to describe it, but it was hot, we were thirsty and it really was a lot more enjoyable than expected.

We popped into a surprise church that we stumbled upon.

It’s not like St John’s Cathedral, apparently Hong Kong’s oldest was hidden away down a warren of streets, we’d simply not been seeking, nor ever heard of it.

Within, it was pretty spartan, although its high ceiling reminded me of a wedding we’d attended in Townsville once, its northern Australian humid climate, remarkably similar to here.

The business towers over this side of the harbour had a wealthier, newer look about them, although too many for my liking still sported that gold glass that immediately made me feel like I was 30 years back in time when the world was all brown and amber…

We were slowly wrapping up our day, as the humidity was really sapping on our energy levels, although we did sneak in a few shots at a signed location in Hong Kong Park that suggested it was a ‘Photogenic Spot’.

Our impression was that it was okay I suppose, but we think there were better.

Maybe it’s just a joke that all the locals were in on, and they’d count how many tourists stopped there for a shot?

Appreciative of the air conditioning they usually provided, and also the fact that many buildings were interconnected by bridges that cross the somewhat busy roads with a need to return to street level and wait at the crossing lights, we zig-zagged our way back towards the ferry terminal in this manner.

Hopping from building to building, it also allowed us to spot some pretty cool windows.

I’ll call them stained glass, but they look like a much more modern version, than the old school lead lighting you might find in an old church for example.

Still, I thought they were pretty cool.

Back across in Kowloon, we took a closer look at the harbourfront landmark that is the Canton-Kowloon Railway Clock Tower.

The original station was demolished back in the 1970’s, but the tower was saved after public appeal, and if nothing else can provide the time and a convenient meeting place for people down by the water.

We took in the views again, back across the harbour, deciding to return at night as well, as there is supposed to be a laser light show across the buildings and water most evenings after dark.

I waiting patiently to try and get a junk in one of my harbour shots, even though I knew the vessel was only plying its trade for tourists, I wanted to pretend we were in the city 30 or 40 years earlier!

If we’d turned 180 degrees, the old colonial Peninsula Hotel would have dominated the views back over Kowloon city itself, considered the Hong Kong equivalent of Singapore’s Raffles Hotel.

Opting to take a bit of a breather, we walked our way back to the hotel, grabbing ourselves a few cold beers to take back to our room from one of the fake 7/11 convenience stores nearby.

Just to sit for a bit under the air conditioning was quite the relief and the beers themselves went down very easily.

By the evening when it had cooled a little, we got up to wander the nearby markets and stalls for a bit of a feed, but Sarah wasn’t all that hungry.

I knew I’d need something, but given it was still warm, not too much seemed to appeal… so that’s how I settled on trying my first Hong Kong Egg Waffle with a nice dollop or two of nice cold ice-cream.

The waffle itself was tasty enough, but the cold, creamy vanilla ice-cream, bliss!

The dinner of champions?

Notes:

* Our return flights between Melbourne and Hong Kong were FREE utilising Sarah’s boss frequent flyer points.

* MTR’s Airport Express set us back $174HKD per person for a return fare.

* A ride on the Star Ferries cost us $3.40HKD per person one way on the weekends, or $2.50HKD weekdays (we later learned it was cheaper still on the bottom deck).