The
Star Ferry |
Tell
me, what trip to Hong Kong could ever be complete without riding on
the Star Ferry between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island? Not a trip that
I'm on. It's not the fanciest ferry boat I've ever been on. It's not
the longest ride. It's not even the scenery which, I might add is
spectacular, it's just the magic. Yes, riding the Star Ferry, to me,
is a magical experience. Perhaps it's my fondness for the movie Suzy
Wong that creates this magic, who cares, I just enjoy the ride and
wouldn't feel like I'd been in Hong Kong if I didn't ride it at least
once. And once is all we had time for this trip ... a disappointment
as I would have liked to have taken a few more rides across the beautiful
Hong Kong Harbor. We begin our short walking tour by riding the Star
Ferry to Hong Kong ... |
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Anne
(center back), Phil and Beth Rosenberg, and
Tom Dupuis (foreground) riding the Star Ferry |
The
group assembling by the Panda umbrella
on Hong Kong Island |
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The
city of Hong Kong today is a modern city with many beautiful and
world recognizable skyscrapers,
crowed streets and small parks. It's narrow streets and alleys can
keep you interested for hours on end.
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Double
deck buses and streetcars, reminiscent
of another world famous city, are the norm |
We
didn't walk for a long time. Just up and down a few block and then
we visited a famous hotel, the one where the Royal Family stays when
visiting Hong Kong. Sorry I can't think of the name right now. After
our walk we took the subway back to Kowloon and then Anne and I walked
around the waterfront and waited for the Sun to set. |
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The
group on the subway, left to right: Fay and Tom
(Cincinnati), Alicia, (NJ), Phil (NY), Anne, Nancy (Ca.), Frank
(Fl.), Jean (NM), Carol, and Roy (Va.) |
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Centerpiece
of the
promenade on the
Kowloon side |
Sunset
approaches |
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the Kowloon side of Hong Kong Harbor there is a large promenade with
excellent views of Hong Kong a short distance away across the harbor.
Anne and I decided to take our time and wait for the Sun to set. We
enjoyed watching the people, including one guy dressed in drag and
meticulously putting makeup on. We were rewarded for our patience
with a pretty good sunset. |
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Hong
Kong at sunset |
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Victoria
Peak at sunset |
Skyscrapers
on Hong Kong Island |
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Hong
Kong Island |
The
Bell Tower on the promenade, Kowloon |
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The
Star Ferry with Hong Kong Island in the background |
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What
a beautiful sunset it was, maybe not the most spectacular we've
seen, but beautiful nonetheless. Perhaps the magic and romance of
such a wonderful city helped to make it more than it was.
You'd
have thought that after such a full day of sightseeing we'd have
returned to the hotel and collapsed in bed. We didn't. This was
one of the few nights on the trip that we were on our own for dinner.
Before leaving on our trip I had thought we'd take the hydrofoil
ferry to Macau and introduce my sister and her family to Henry's.
Henry's is an absolutely wonderful restaurant and I would have loved
to have gone there, but we just couldn't do it. There were some
other nice restaurants that we'd been to before, but none of us
felt like dressing up. So we walked down Nathan Street looking for
a restaurant until we found one. Can you believe after three weeks
of eating Chinese food almost exclusively we selected a Chinese
restaurant to have dinner in? We did and it was very good.
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Let's
continue to the next page for some pictures of the Hong Kong bird
and flower market and then take a ride to a fishing village in the
New Territories ... |
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