Sunday 2 June 2013

Wontons and Bruce Lee

Nothing can really prepare you for stifling humidity and 30 degree heat when you’ve just come from Wellington where the high has been less than half of that. Nevertheless, we had a day in Hong Kong and we were going to make good use of it!

Being on the11.59pm flight out of Auckland and having my amazing travel pillow on hand, I managed to get what vaguely resembled a decent night’s sleep.

We caught the airport train to Hong Kong Island and the free shuttle from the station took us to our hotel. The Ibis couldn’t check us in yet but they happily took our bags.

So out we went. Armed with a tourist map. Written only in Chinese. Apparently the hotel didn’t have any more English ones. Luckily the streets signs were all in English.

We somehow made our way to the Peak Tram without getting horribly lost and we didn’t even take any wrong turns! I bet the Hunk won’t believe me, but it’s totally true. Just ask Charlotte.

The tram that goes up to the Peak Tower is a bit of a touristy gimmick, but at 125 years old it’s really quite awesome. At times the incline became so steep that I felt like the back of my seat was the only thing stopping me from falling backwards.




The view from the top was amazing, but boy were we starving! We decided on a place called Mak’s Noodles which turned out to be delightful even though it was one of the only food places open on the Peak before midday. My craving for wonton soup was finally able to be satisfied.

Their bowls are a little bit on the small side, but the portions are surprisingly filling. I slurped down my noodles with glee. The soup was delicious and the wontons were just right the size.



No longer hangry, we spent our afternoon being tourists and finding touristy things to do.

We rode the mid-levels escalator, which starts near the bottom of town and works its way up past SOHO. Brilliant if you have tired feet but still want to explore.


We found a temple called Man Mo just around the corner from our hotel:




We saw some interesting dry food stuffs being sold:




And some interesting macaron flavours. Now I am a big fan of cheese, it's my favourite food group but I'm not so sure about this:



In the evening we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon. The ferry comes every 10-15 minutes and only costs about HKD2.50, which is less than $0.50! We wandered along the promenade and even found Bruce Lee!



I would have liked to have spent more time shopping and exploring, but we were both too knackered for that by the time nightfall had come. We have a day in Hong Kong on the way back though, so there's still time to shop.



Besides, if Charlotte's run in with the flight attendant on the way to Moscow is anything to go by, we will be needing all of the rest and brain cells we can get.

Flight attendant: Tea or coffee?
Charlotte: Tea, please
Flight attendant: Black or green?
Charlotte: White
Flight attendant: Huh??
Charlotte: *blank stare*
Flight attendant: We have black and green
Charlotte: With cream please?
Flight attendant: *blank stare*
Charlotte: *blank stare*
Me: I think she would like black tea with milk, please.

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