Day Three:
Up and down and back again - and down again.
Well, Friday the 2nd of was certainly my busiest day so far - I did a huge amount of walking, and saw a whole of of incredible things.
My aim for the day was to go up to the Peak, but I wanted to be there around sunset, so I had plenty of tiem to explore. My day started with a walk from my hostel down to the ferry at Tsim Sha Tsui - about a half an hour's trip down Nathan road, but it's never boring. I grabbed some breakfast on the way down, and stopped in Kowloon park to eat - lots of tai chi and old people on their morning walks, it's a really nice bit of peace and quiet in the middle of everything. I took the ferry across the harbour (it's a much more scenic (and cheaper!)option than the MTR, which runs underneath the harbour. My first stop on the island was The Hong Kong Planning and Infrastructure Exhibition Gallery - I know, fascinating stuff (I was the only person there). What can I say, I'm a planning and infrastructure nerd :p Actually, I found it really interesting, and the 18 metre long model of the city was incredible.
Having gotten a bird's eye view of the city, I was ready for the real thing - but it was only early afternoon, so I decided to take a wander through the streets and lanes behind Central district. I walked up to St John's church, which is a beautiful anglican colonial joint, then headed to expat central, Lan Kwai Fong. From there, it was just a short hop to the mid levels escalators.
Now, I'm gonna have to explain the Mid-levels escalators a bit. So Hong Kong Island is split in two by a big 'ole set of hills - think the Dandenongs (similar height), but steeper. Anyway, The bulk of Hong Kong's businesses, as well as a lots of apartments, shops etc etc are on the North side of the islad - which means there jammed pretty hard up against the hill - again, imagine if you moved Melbourne's CBD to Ferntree Gully to get an idea of what I'm talking about. Given this situation, over the years, apartments have started to creep up the side of the mountain. These are huge buildings, with hundreds of residents each, and they cost a -bundle-. But it's a real bummer to have to walk up a steep-ass hill just to get home after work. So they built escalators - a whole system of them, linked by covered walkways and protected from to elements, and travelling all the way from Central district on the harbour, about half way up the hill. This is a -long- set of elevators - it took me 15 minutes to get from the very bottom to the very top of them - but it's a damn sight better than walking.
On reaching the top of the escalators, I proceed on foot, winding my way back down the hill. I came upon the zoo, but I didn't stay for long - it's not much fun (or very good for the conscience) staring at monkeys in empty metal cages - Hayley would've been horrified. I moved on to Man Mo temple (which I had visited once before - in a video game, though they got it all wrong in real life :P), which is an amazing place - dedicated to the Taoist civil and martial gods (Man and Mo), hundreds of people go there to burn incense, leave offerings of oranges (apparently, HK has the world's highest orange consumption per capita - maybe because they're giving them all away to the gods :p) and hit bells (I'm really terribly poorly versed on Chinese religious traditions - it was all quite confusing to me) In addition, dozens and dozens of incense coils are hung from the roof, and slowly burn around in a spiral, giving the whole place and incredible smell. There were a few tourists there, and some had there cameras out and were snapping away - which I think is a fairly rude thing to do, to be honest - my general rule is, if people are prayin', put the camera away. So no photos from inside Man Mo - but it's an incredible place.
On leaving the Man Mo temple, I went back down to the bottom of the Mid-level escalators, so I could do it the whole way through (I had hopped on part way up before) - in addition, it was getting late in the afternoon, so I wanted to head up towards the peak. I decided not to take the Peak Tram up (psh, that's for tourists :p), and instead walk up the old peak road from the top of the escalators. It's a heck of a walk to the top - the old peak road winds around and up - but I've cut my teeth on the hills at home, and I managed just fine. The view from the peak, of course, is amazing - looking out over the whole of the the city, the island from East to West, then out to Kowloon as well (If you can see through the haze) - my camera (and my new lens!) were put to good use. But as well as having an amazing view, the observatory at the peak is a total tourist trap - plus, it's not the highest point on Victoria peak (although it does have the best views), anyway, I walked up to the real Victoria Peak, highest point on the island, and wandered the governer's gardens, site of the Governer's residence before the Japanese burnt it to the ground in World War 2. On my way back down, I was afforded more spectacular views, this time as I rode down on the Bus from the peak to Central. I hopped on the ferry back to Kowloon, and made it just in time to see the mind blowingly incredible light show - The Symphony of Lights, where the Harbour's tallest buildings all participate in the world's largest light show.
And last of all for Friday the 2nd - I had a triumph! I moved up the food chain, from supermarkets and convenience stores to fast food - now if I can just conquer the sit down places, I'll be happy :P
Up and down and back again - and down again.
Well, Friday the 2nd of was certainly my busiest day so far - I did a huge amount of walking, and saw a whole of of incredible things.
My aim for the day was to go up to the Peak, but I wanted to be there around sunset, so I had plenty of tiem to explore. My day started with a walk from my hostel down to the ferry at Tsim Sha Tsui - about a half an hour's trip down Nathan road, but it's never boring. I grabbed some breakfast on the way down, and stopped in Kowloon park to eat - lots of tai chi and old people on their morning walks, it's a really nice bit of peace and quiet in the middle of everything. I took the ferry across the harbour (it's a much more scenic (and cheaper!)option than the MTR, which runs underneath the harbour. My first stop on the island was The Hong Kong Planning and Infrastructure Exhibition Gallery - I know, fascinating stuff (I was the only person there). What can I say, I'm a planning and infrastructure nerd :p Actually, I found it really interesting, and the 18 metre long model of the city was incredible.
Having gotten a bird's eye view of the city, I was ready for the real thing - but it was only early afternoon, so I decided to take a wander through the streets and lanes behind Central district. I walked up to St John's church, which is a beautiful anglican colonial joint, then headed to expat central, Lan Kwai Fong. From there, it was just a short hop to the mid levels escalators.
Now, I'm gonna have to explain the Mid-levels escalators a bit. So Hong Kong Island is split in two by a big 'ole set of hills - think the Dandenongs (similar height), but steeper. Anyway, The bulk of Hong Kong's businesses, as well as a lots of apartments, shops etc etc are on the North side of the islad - which means there jammed pretty hard up against the hill - again, imagine if you moved Melbourne's CBD to Ferntree Gully to get an idea of what I'm talking about. Given this situation, over the years, apartments have started to creep up the side of the mountain. These are huge buildings, with hundreds of residents each, and they cost a -bundle-. But it's a real bummer to have to walk up a steep-ass hill just to get home after work. So they built escalators - a whole system of them, linked by covered walkways and protected from to elements, and travelling all the way from Central district on the harbour, about half way up the hill. This is a -long- set of elevators - it took me 15 minutes to get from the very bottom to the very top of them - but it's a damn sight better than walking.
On reaching the top of the escalators, I proceed on foot, winding my way back down the hill. I came upon the zoo, but I didn't stay for long - it's not much fun (or very good for the conscience) staring at monkeys in empty metal cages - Hayley would've been horrified. I moved on to Man Mo temple (which I had visited once before - in a video game, though they got it all wrong in real life :P), which is an amazing place - dedicated to the Taoist civil and martial gods (Man and Mo), hundreds of people go there to burn incense, leave offerings of oranges (apparently, HK has the world's highest orange consumption per capita - maybe because they're giving them all away to the gods :p) and hit bells (I'm really terribly poorly versed on Chinese religious traditions - it was all quite confusing to me) In addition, dozens and dozens of incense coils are hung from the roof, and slowly burn around in a spiral, giving the whole place and incredible smell. There were a few tourists there, and some had there cameras out and were snapping away - which I think is a fairly rude thing to do, to be honest - my general rule is, if people are prayin', put the camera away. So no photos from inside Man Mo - but it's an incredible place.
On leaving the Man Mo temple, I went back down to the bottom of the Mid-level escalators, so I could do it the whole way through (I had hopped on part way up before) - in addition, it was getting late in the afternoon, so I wanted to head up towards the peak. I decided not to take the Peak Tram up (psh, that's for tourists :p), and instead walk up the old peak road from the top of the escalators. It's a heck of a walk to the top - the old peak road winds around and up - but I've cut my teeth on the hills at home, and I managed just fine. The view from the peak, of course, is amazing - looking out over the whole of the the city, the island from East to West, then out to Kowloon as well (If you can see through the haze) - my camera (and my new lens!) were put to good use. But as well as having an amazing view, the observatory at the peak is a total tourist trap - plus, it's not the highest point on Victoria peak (although it does have the best views), anyway, I walked up to the real Victoria Peak, highest point on the island, and wandered the governer's gardens, site of the Governer's residence before the Japanese burnt it to the ground in World War 2. On my way back down, I was afforded more spectacular views, this time as I rode down on the Bus from the peak to Central. I hopped on the ferry back to Kowloon, and made it just in time to see the mind blowingly incredible light show - The Symphony of Lights, where the Harbour's tallest buildings all participate in the world's largest light show.
And last of all for Friday the 2nd - I had a triumph! I moved up the food chain, from supermarkets and convenience stores to fast food - now if I can just conquer the sit down places, I'll be happy :P
posted by Jono Russell at 2:40 AM
1 Comments:
so this one has a comment... hi! congratulations on venturing so much further in your eating habits :P ... anyway, must post more comments.. need so much stamina! :P
Post a Comment
<< Home