Hong Kong

Trip: Hong Kong & Macau

Hong Kong - the city of malls - has everything one seeks for. The so called financial capital of the world attracts all and sundry that money can attract. Hong Kong is not cheap. Yet the city of concrete is not all skyscrapers. To begin with, there is Victoria Peak at top of which you truly understand the geography of this city. Then there are islands far and wide, all part of Hong Kong SAR, yet so pristine that you will think twice if they are actually part of the bustling centre.

A view from Victoria Peak

We landed at the Chek Lap Kok Airport with a glimpse of endless sea. Trains run within the airport indicating the sheer size. The bus we took for Mongkok showed the our destination is an hour away. The route was beautiful with green hillocks interspersed with islands, archipelagos and few tall towers - none of which offered the true design of the city we were headed to. You catch the first glimpse from the Tsing Ma bridge and that is when you realise you are headed towards one of the most densely constructed city in the world.

Our booking was in a hotel at the periphery of Mongkok which is popular as the high street market in Hong Kong. Yau Ma Tei was the closest metro station which we took to frequently over next few days. Our first outing was to Victoria Peak although we learned late that Saturday afternoons are the worst time to visit the peak. The queue to Peak Tram was an hour long which exhausted us. As it was our first hours in HK, we trudged through and reached the roof of Peak Tower, a newly constructed viewpoint. Hong Kong was elegant and beautiful from here.

We came back to our hotel room exhausted and slept for a while. The overnight flight was taking its toll. Late in the evening we were fresh and ready for an excursion to the famed Tsim Sha Shui area, full of malls and restaurants. We covered Garden of Stars and harbour area quickly and settled at an Indian Vegetarian restaurant at the edge of the town with full view of Victoria Harbour. Food was good and sumptuous. We decided to take MTR back to hotel.



Next day we woke up late and lazily got ready for Cheung Chau. The island town demanded it. Cheung Chau is an island of 20000 people, around an hour from Hong Kong. Plush with sandy beaches and polite residents, the island is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of HK. On Sunday it was bit crowded but there was enough space for everyone. We sat at the far side of island for couple hours - facing the city of Hong Kong itself. It was evening when we came back.



Plan was to see the sunset from Repulse Bay but we looked like we will miss it. Thanks to an enthusiastic Uber driver who was good at conversation as well, we reached 15 minutes before and saw the majestic sunset from a jaw dropping background of Repulse Bay. The bay is kind of a mini Monte Carlo with towering residential buildings and office spaces on one side and the C shaped beach at the drop of height. We loved the whole setup and sat for an hour just like that.



It was late and getting darker when we decided to take a peek at the Stanley Market which is close by. The market is built on slope of Stanley Hill and boasts of a beautiful open lobby looking at the bay at the top of the market. We descended to the sea level where there were restaurants facing the sea. We settled at one of them to conclude the day with a good dinner. It was late when we came back and straight went to our bed.



We had to choose between Ocean Park and Disneyland and the kid in us won the battle. Next day we were at the Disneyland at Lantau Island. The beauty of Disneylands across the world is the vibrant atmosphere that the little jubilant kids create. The train to Disneyland was itself full of excitement. This one boasted of a new section dedicated Iron Man thanks to the newly bought Marvel Universe franchise bought by Disney. The best of the rides were Space Moutain and Big Grizzly Moutain Ride. We even took pictures with R2D2.



Coming back to the main island we decided to take a ride to the top of Sky100 which has a 100th floor observation deck. It was night and we loved the lighted HK. However the reflections from the lighted deck destroyed part of our experience. Next we visited the Ladies’ Market in Mongkok which is walking distance from our hotel. It is a China style road side market with amazing prices. All one needs is the superpower of bargaining. The market was huge and took us an hour to just go through it. We were tired and had to travel to Macau next day so we settled back at our hotel