March 28 Wednesday & March 29 Thursday
The "correct" Pier # 3 where I will catch the boat for my Harbour Cruise
The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre across the Victoria Harbour
The Hong Kong Conference Centre on the Kowloon side
The Clock Tower beside it
Hong Kong skyline across the harbour
The first statue along the "walk of stars". The "lady lamp" is wearing a real of film.
More of the movie statues along the waterfront
Bruce Lee's star
Jackie Chan's star
Bruce Lee statue
Me at the Director's chair
The point where I had to turn back along the 'promenade" 
The tallest building in Hong Kong and some of the Kowloon skyline
Looking back at the Convention Centre and Clock Tower
The small white pier on the right is the "first Pier # 3", beside the Pacific Club Pier.
The second tallest building in Hong Kong on the right, with the rest of the Hong Kong skyline
The HK Convention & Exhibition Centre... looks a little bit like the Sydney Opera House in Australia
A ferry transporting at least 8 huge cement trucks, all full of cement since the barrels were turning
Some of the different architecture of Hong Kong highrises
Any building over 40 stories high must have "empty safety floors" for evacuation purposes. Very strange to see an open area in between the floors of extremely high buildings.
Even in very expensive highrises, people hang their laundry out to dry.
Fishing boats in one of the marinas we entered
and small yachts as well
A sanpan with fishermen aboard
At the west end of Victoria Harbour, we saw the only part of Hong Kong that looked like "poor" housing, houses on stilts along the waterfront, juxtaposed with the expensive highrises in the background.
This is the site of the previous airport in the harbour (it was one of the most dangerous to fly into) which is being redeveloped for a huge mixed-use complex.
Looking at the "Walk of Stars" along the Kowloon "Promenade" but this time from the harbour
When we got back to pier # 3 we said our good byes as each of us were going to different locations. I was taken to a meeting point where I joined Pat, a lady from Australia (who was travelling with her daughter who was here on a business trip) and a man and woman from Washington DC who were here attending a 2-day conference. We shared a nice Dim Sum lunch at a posh restaurant on the Kowloon waterfront. We had a short amount of time to walk around and spotted this next sight.
Cartier Jewelry store with a carriage in front.
Views from Victoria Peak, looking down at Hong Kong, and across the harbour at Kowloon
It was a partly sunny day but the mountains were shrouded in clouds, making it difficult to get clear pictures.
Packed highrises, but each one with a very different architectural style, and not all in a row either.
Feng shui is a big part of their life, and of building design.
The top cable car terminal at Victoria Peak
The vantage point from which I took the photos
The garden walk way along the peak
View from the backside of the peak
The courtyards and buildings at the peak. Check out the cantalevered cable car terminal. And for a bit of perspective, can you see the people standing on the roof? You can barely see them.
We were riding in a sanpan just like this one behind us.
and this one at the restaurant.
Talk about a narrow highrise, only two rooms wide !
Check out the scaffolding on this building, made of bamboo rods, that they've installed while renovations are being carried out to their condo. This was about 15 stories up ! Obviously not the same type of safety laws as we have.
Still in the Aberdeen village, among the fishing boats and sanpans were HUGE yachts. Check this one out. Bruno and Monique: I think it is even bigger than the ones we saw in the Saint Tropez marina.
When we got back onto the bus we were driven to the south eastern part of the island to Stanley Market. Oh, and on the way we drove past Repulse Bay… no stop, no pics except what we could take from our speeding bus. Stanley Market was a series of streets with lots of shops selling cheap stuff to tourists. Didn’t buy anything here either.
A glimpse at "Repulse Bay". When I asked why "repulse" I was told it was named after a ship.
Another glimpse at the bay, with shark nets to protect bathers.
Here is a great example of different architecture. For Feng Shui purposes, they have left an opening for the dragon to escape from the mountain at the back and have access to the water in the bay. OK !
This round building is of a quite different design as well. Would love to see what it looks like on the inside. Big doughnut shape with an inner courtyard?
Streets of Stanley, looking towards the market area.
Stanley waterfront at the southeast point of Hong Kong island
A small temple near the waterfront
The sun is starting to go down on Stanley Harbour
Beautiful flowering tree. I've seen these all over the islands.
Another view at Repulse Bay on our drive back to Hong Kong and Kowloon
And that was it for the city tour ! I was very “disappointed” (Helene & Sandra… pronounced just like Emily used to say!)
Huge cemeteray in old Hong Kong
Hong Kong streets are starting to light up
Stuck in traffic on the Kowloon side
The streets are alive with people
And hanging your clothes outside your window seems to be the norm. It's everywhere !
My room at the Stanford Hotel on Soy Street, Kowloon
Went to have a nice buffet dinner at the hotel restaurant. ROAST BEEF ! I’ve been dreaming of roast beef for the past few days.
Thursday
Stayed in and rested
Wednesday
Busy day today so I start off early for breakfast, then catch the bus back down to the harbour for my cruise of Hong Kong Harbour & City Tour. It takes less than 20 minutes to get to the ferry stop so I have about 45 minutes to wander around. I decide to walk along the Kowloon water front.
The "correct" Pier # 3 where I will catch the boat for my Harbour Cruise
The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre across the Victoria Harbour
The Hong Kong Conference Centre on the Kowloon side
The Clock Tower beside it
Hong Kong skyline across the harbour
The first statue along the "walk of stars". The "lady lamp" is wearing a real of film.
More of the movie statues along the waterfront
Bruce Lee's star
Jackie Chan's star
Bruce Lee statue
Me at the Director's chair
At 10:15 I’m back at Pier #3 waiting for the boat for the Harbour Cruise. I can see it sitting in the middle of the harbour, bouncing around on the waves. I MY GOD, I think I’m going to lose my breakfast just looking at the boat. There is another lady waiting for the same cruise; she’s from New York. She sells real estate in Manhattan and is here for a real estate conference. Can you imagine the prices: real estate in two of the world’s most expensive places to live. Tried to insert a film clip of the rocking boat in the harbour, but it did not work. You'll have to take my word for it.
Photo of the rocking boat I will be riding on in a few minutes. Thankfully after it left this spot in the harbour it wasn't too bad.
We are on the boat for about 2 hours and I meet two gentlemen from Wales, Dave & Kosta. Kosta is originally from Bulgaria. Both very interesting and very funny. The four of us shared a lot of laughs and stories while we watched both the Kownloon and Hong Kong sides of the Harbour.
Looking back at the Convention Centre and Clock Tower
The small white pier on the right is the "first Pier # 3", beside the Pacific Club Pier.
The second tallest building in Hong Kong on the right, with the rest of the Hong Kong skyline
The HK Convention & Exhibition Centre... looks a little bit like the Sydney Opera House in Australia
A ferry transporting at least 8 huge cement trucks, all full of cement since the barrels were turning
Some of the different architecture of Hong Kong highrises
Any building over 40 stories high must have "empty safety floors" for evacuation purposes. Very strange to see an open area in between the floors of extremely high buildings.
Even in very expensive highrises, people hang their laundry out to dry.
Fishing boats in one of the marinas we entered
and small yachts as well
A sanpan with fishermen aboard
At the west end of Victoria Harbour, we saw the only part of Hong Kong that looked like "poor" housing, houses on stilts along the waterfront, juxtaposed with the expensive highrises in the background.
This is the site of the previous airport in the harbour (it was one of the most dangerous to fly into) which is being redeveloped for a huge mixed-use complex.
Looking at the "Walk of Stars" along the Kowloon "Promenade" but this time from the harbour
When we got back to pier # 3 we said our good byes as each of us were going to different locations. I was taken to a meeting point where I joined Pat, a lady from Australia (who was travelling with her daughter who was here on a business trip) and a man and woman from Washington DC who were here attending a 2-day conference. We shared a nice Dim Sum lunch at a posh restaurant on the Kowloon waterfront. We had a short amount of time to walk around and spotted this next sight.
Cartier Jewelry store with a carriage in front.
We were all taking the Hong Kong Orientation Tour in the afternoon, but it turned out that none of us were in the same groups since they loaded us up in different buses (depending on the area of the city where our hotels were located).
Met another Australian lady who was travelling alone. The afternoon tour was really disappointing. It was another “drive by” tour and two of the four stops were for shopping ! If I want to go shopping, I’ll go shopping; when I take a tour it is because I want to see and learn things about the city. We took the Cross Harbour Tunnel (2 km in length and 24 meters under water at it’s deepest point) to get to Hong Kong Island. Our drive up to Victoria Peak was so fast that it was impossible to take pictures on the way up. Although Ivy, our guide for the afternoon, tried to provide us with a bit of information while we were on the bus.
Hong Kong: over 7.1 million population within 1,100 sq km. There are approximately 260 islands that make up the Hong Kong area, but only 30 are inhabited. They speak 3 languages here: Cantonese, English and Mandarin. Mandarin was added as a compulsory language when China took over Hong Kong, but two of our guides said that their Mandarin was quite limited.
Views from Victoria Peak, looking down at Hong Kong, and across the harbour at Kowloon
It was a partly sunny day but the mountains were shrouded in clouds, making it difficult to get clear pictures.
Packed highrises, but each one with a very different architectural style, and not all in a row either.
Feng shui is a big part of their life, and of building design.
The top cable car terminal at Victoria Peak
The vantage point from which I took the photos
The garden walk way along the peak
View from the backside of the peak
The courtyards and buildings at the peak. Check out the cantalevered cable car terminal. And for a bit of perspective, can you see the people standing on the roof? You can barely see them.
While I waited for the rest of the passengers to gather for our departure, I spotted this display advertising a "Dessert Crepe" restaurant. Hope this is a franchize and that I will find the real thing during my travels in the city. YUM YUM !
After our drive back down the mountain we were taken to a jewelry factory workshop. Well forget the workshop part, it was simply a showroom where we could buy really expensive jewelry. Don’t worry, I didn’t buy anything.
One family on the tour bus had two little girls. Not that they look like Sydney and Emily (Sandra's little girls) but they played together and giggled a lot. That really made me feel home-sick for the girls.
From there we drove to Aberdeen Fishing Village for a ride on a “traditional sampan”. Well not so traditional since most have been converted to take tourists on boat trips; and we were expected to pay the boat man for this ride separately. It was a short 20 minute ride on the water, between rows of house boats, fishing boats and yachts. The departure point was near a famous “HUGE” floating barge restaurant called “Jumbo”.
We were riding in a sanpan just like this one behind us.
and this one at the restaurant.
Talk about a narrow highrise, only two rooms wide !
Check out the scaffolding on this building, made of bamboo rods, that they've installed while renovations are being carried out to their condo. This was about 15 stories up ! Obviously not the same type of safety laws as we have.
Still in the Aberdeen village, among the fishing boats and sanpans were HUGE yachts. Check this one out. Bruno and Monique: I think it is even bigger than the ones we saw in the Saint Tropez marina.
When we got back onto the bus we were driven to the south eastern part of the island to Stanley Market. Oh, and on the way we drove past Repulse Bay… no stop, no pics except what we could take from our speeding bus. Stanley Market was a series of streets with lots of shops selling cheap stuff to tourists. Didn’t buy anything here either.
A glimpse at "Repulse Bay". When I asked why "repulse" I was told it was named after a ship.
Another glimpse at the bay, with shark nets to protect bathers.
Here is a great example of different architecture. For Feng Shui purposes, they have left an opening for the dragon to escape from the mountain at the back and have access to the water in the bay. OK !
This round building is of a quite different design as well. Would love to see what it looks like on the inside. Big doughnut shape with an inner courtyard?
Streets of Stanley, looking towards the market area.
Stanley waterfront at the southeast point of Hong Kong island
A small temple near the waterfront
The sun is starting to go down on Stanley Harbour
Beautiful flowering tree. I've seen these all over the islands.
Another view at Repulse Bay on our drive back to Hong Kong and Kowloon
And that was it for the city tour ! I was very “disappointed” (Helene & Sandra… pronounced just like Emily used to say!)
The drive back to Hong Kong Central, the tunnel and the drive through downtown Kowloon took a long time since we were now in the rush-hour period. By the time I got back to my hotel it was dark, so I did get to see a little bit of the city lights.
Huge cemeteray in old Hong Kong
Hong Kong streets are starting to light up
Stuck in traffic on the Kowloon side
The streets are alive with people
And hanging your clothes outside your window seems to be the norm. It's everywhere !
My room at the Stanford Hotel on Soy Street, Kowloon
Went to have a nice buffet dinner at the hotel restaurant. ROAST BEEF ! I’ve been dreaming of roast beef for the past few days.
Thursday
Stayed in and rested
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