First Days in Hong Kong

I am realizing now that we are three days into our stay in Hong Kong, and considering I just managed to post my update about Taipei, that there is no way I can possibly chronicle the blow by blow of each day in the typical, detailed narrative that I like to journal. There just aren’t enough hours in this vacation to actually go out and sightsee, hit the gym, take care of Ewan, eat, sleep, review all my photos each day, check email and surf Facebook (yes, I am embarrassed to admit, this is a priority, but I love to stay connected while on vacation!) I’m going to have to start working on condensing my blog entries, and focusing just on the highlights of each day. This will be tough for me, but I will do my best!

Watching the view from our room.

We arrived in Hong Kong around 9:30 AM on Saturday morning, after a very early flight from Taipei. We managed to check in early to our hotel, once again enjoying the fun, hip ambiance of the W in Kowloon, across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong. Our room had an awesome view, not so much of the famous central Hong Kong skyline--we were down a ways from it, but instead we looked out onto the shipping docks, in full view of cargo vessels, cranes, tug boats, and high-speed ferries galore--sheer paradise for a little boy who planted himself on the couch, and pressed his nose to the window for the better part of the afternoon uttering gleeful exclamations of “Look, Mommy/Daddy a ______!” over and over and over again.

Central Hong Kong view, from the waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui.

That evening, we took a taxi to the waterfront in Tsim Tsa Tsui to take in fabulous night views of the incomparable Hong Kong skyline. We arrived at 7:30 and a crowd was already starting to gather along the Avenue of the Stars promenade for the laser light show over the water. We managed to squeeze into one of the last open spots along the waterfront railing so that we could have an unobstructed view. We hadn’t planned on watching the show, but figured since we were there and had a good spot, we may as well stay. The show was due to begin at 8:00, and so we had to wait, for what seemed like the most excruciating thirty minutes of our entire lives. It’s our own fault, really, and our neglectful parenting is to blame for the incessant whining that ensued for that duration. We should have fed Ewan a snack before we left, but we didn’t, and we forgot to bring something with us. You see, Ewan suffers from a chronic condition, admittedly passed down from my side of the family, known as “hungrumpiness.” This evening, he had a terrible case of it, which seemed exacerbated by the fact that we were in the midst of a huge throng of spectators, and his embarrassing complaints positively echoed above the din of the crowd. Nothing we could do or say would make him stop, and we couldn’t really leave, as we were trapped by the masses standing behind us. Mortified, as soon as the show ended, we made a mad dash for the nearest mall food court to appease this little beast, who turned back into his little angelic self after inhaling a hot dog, a quarter of Gavin’s pasta dish, and a scoop of chocolate gelato.

The next morning we took a taxi to the Star Ferry landing, where we boarded one of the familiar vessels and enjoyed the brief ride across the harbor into Central Hong Kong. We walked for 20 minutes or so to the Victoria Peak tram station, where we bought tickets and waited in line to board the Peak Tram, which is a funicular that runs up the steep hillside, taking passengers to Victoria Peak, one of the highest points of Hong Kong island, and offers breathtaking views of the city skyline and the harbor below. We stayed up there for the better part of an hour, taking pictures and people watching before boarding the tram for our return trip.

Top: Star Ferry sailing across the harbor;
Middle and bottom, on the ferry with Mommy and Daddy.

View from Victoria Peak.

That afternoon we met up with one of Gavin’s coworkers from Apple, Will, who was in HK for the day passing through on his way from Shanghai to Donguan. He instantly became Ewan’s new BFF, and the four of us took a cab from our hotel to the massive Kowloon Park, where we found a substantial children’s playground that was positively swarming with youngsters and their parents, locals and tourists alike, all enjoying the relative “cool” of the early Sunday evening, provided by an occasional breeze. Once again, I reveled in the people watching opportunities, as I so love to observe this particular slice of life. 

Tearing around Kowloon Park.

Ewan and his new BFF, Will, at Delaney's Irish Pub.

We concluded our evening at Delaney’s Irish Pub, one of Gavin’s favorite haunts he discovered on previous a visit. We enjoyed washing our particularly good British, stodgy pub-grub down with a pint (Ewan’s poison: pineapple juice), and playing a couple games of darts before heading back to the hotel and saying goodbye to Will, who had a van picking him up at 9:00. Ewan crashed in a big way, batteries completely worn down after the escapades of our busy day!