March 28-29 Hong Kong Architecture

Some that I liked.  All should be geotagged, although the GPS had intermittent problems with the fix because the very tall buildings as we rode around in the HoHo bus.


The Admiralty building.  IBM had offices in this building when I visited HK in 1984 and 1985 during the Clone Wars.

 Second tallest building in HK

 War memorial, nearly identical to the one in London (so said the enrichment lecturer)

 Not all of the high rise buildings are elegant.  Lots of people have to live in the city

 I think the HoHo narration said this building had bad feng shui, since all the chi flows out with all the angles.

 This picture taken from Victoria Peak

 Upside down gin bottle

March 29 Hong Kong

The day was forecast to be sunny, but it turned out to be cloudy, and quite cool.  Since we left Saigon the weather has turned much cooler, but no rain on us yet.  We went from 100 to 60 in about a day. 

We retraced our steps of yesterday, except this time we rode the MRT all the way to HK.  Leaving the Central station through the A exit (they have wonderful maps of the exits, as well as the entire route) we went up to the elevated walkway that led us all the way to the Star Ferry pier.

 We got on the Big Red Bus again, this time the green line that went to the southern part of HK island.

There was a stop at the Peak Tram, and here at 10am the lines are already around the corner.

We Hopped Off at the Stanley Market on the southern end of the island.  We spent several hours wandering around the shops.  I wandered, Cynthia shopped.

 Perhaps I don't get out enough, but I don't think I've ever seen this in the US -- a heater for hot drinks, just like the refrigerated drinks you see at the check outs in US supermarkets.  Tea and Nescafe available.

 On a promenade at Stanley there was wedding photography being performed.

 We at lunch along the beach front.  We did not drive off in the car in the foreground.

Beach scene, shot from the HoHo bus by Cynthia, through a window.  We had seated ourselves under the cover of the upper deck since it was looking like rain any moment (that moment never came). (Cynthia adds....and I shot this over my shoulder, rounding a curve!)

 Chinese cemetery on the hillside.  A major holiday, Grave Sweeping, will occur while we're in Shanghai.  It promises to mean a LOT of people traveling to visit the graves of their ancestors.

 The Chinese and Hong Kong flags.  I'm not counting the Official Flag of the Hong Kong Observation Wheel.

March 28 Hong Kong

The boat skipped Sanya and continued on to Hong Kong, allowing us to arrive 5 hours earlier than planned.  Everyone on board was happy with that choice, as Sanya didn't seem to have much to offer.  Except perhaps very restrictive rules on face-to-face meeting times with immigration authorities.

Entering Hong Kong harbor was scenic.  This is a view ahead to our eventual dock, the brand new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.  HK repurposed the old Kai Tak runway and built a terminal there which is miles away from the center of town.  

 Not everyone lives in glamorous high rise buildings in Hong Kong.

 Victoria Harbor

 This is the airport inspired passage way that connects to the ship.  To walk through it is over 500 feet just to get the 100 feet from the ship to terminal.

Once in the terminal it was a half-mile walk to the customs area from which you could exit to the outside.  Then another quarter-mile (back in the direction you had just walked) to where the shuttle buses were parked.

There was a free shuttle provided  to an MRT stop, but I'm sure it was subsidized by the shopping plaza at the subway stop (Plaza Hollywood).  After driving for 15-20 minutes, the buses dropped you at the shopping plaza, and you were still 30 minutes away from the Star Ferry via the MRT. 

 As we later learned, you could drive to the Star Ferry directly in about 30 minutes.  But we didn't know this from our research.  We had actually expected to dock at the Ocean Terminal, which is right next to the Star Ferry.  Then we were told we would anchor and tender, but once again it would have been to the Ocean Terminal.  I think that would have been better choice than where we berthed.

And being a new terminal, there's nothing available there.  No shops.  One money exchange booth.  A taxi line that was over 30 minutes long both mornings we went past.  The Kai Tak terminal may become really good, but it needs an MRT station and more services before it's good for the traveler.

So we shuttle bused to the shopping plaza, found the MRT station, bought tickets, took the green line into Tsim Sha Tsui, changed to the red line and exited about 5 blocks from the Star Ferry.  The whole trip took a little more than an hour.

At the Star Ferry pier we bought Hop On Hop Off bus tickets for the Red Bus, which included ferry tickets.  Over to Hong Kong island we went.

Star Ferry at the other pier

At the Big Bus hub in front of the Central Pier (right next to the Star Ferry terminal) we boarded the double decker bus (on top for the view, of course).

 We did a long tour of the central area. I'll publish some architecture pictures later, but here's some other things.  

Famous Hong Kong double decker buses

 We Hopped Off at the Peak Tram Station.  Our 48-hour tickets included the Peak Tram tickets, and it was a good decision.  The lines were horrendously long, but the BB rep took our vouchers and led us into the side entrance where we skipped the ticket line, and we had to wait for three cars before we could board for the trip.

 The view from the top.  I could publish a couple dozen from here.  You have to see it yourself.

 Cynthia saw this on the hillside.  Nice house.  Enlarge the picture and look at the pool.  The koi fish must be 6 feet long

We balked at the long lines for the return trip and walked back down the hill.  My leg muscles didn't appreciate it, particularly the next morning. Back on the bus for more of the island....

 We ate dinner at Ocean Terminal (Dan Ryan's Chicago Restaurant, and not Mac's as you would expect).   Everything was expensive in HK, and the meal was no exception.

We stayed on the TST promenade for the sound and light show.  It was worth the price of admission, but after you've been to Illuminations at Epcot in Disneyworld, you keep wanting the fireworks to go off.

 The Death Star engages

After the show we retraced our steps...walk to MRT station, train 1, train 2, shopping plaza (which did have a grocery store and we did stop and buy some things), shuttle bus, one mile walk through the terminal and gangway and finally back to the room.  My fitbit said 20K steps today.  About half of them in the terminal I think.

Second day in Hong Kong coming up after I eat lunch.

March 27 Bonus: Vietnam motorbikes, Yankee Station

Sanya cancelled so it's a sea day

Bad weather and a late departure have caused the captain to cancel our stop in Sanya China.  We're happy about this as it will put us into Hong Kong at noon rather than 5pm tomorrow.  We'd much rather have the time in HK than Sanya.

So here's some more motorbike pictures, this time from the north end of Vietnam.

 OK, technically not a motorbike.

 Six passenger minivan version of the motorbike

 

March 26 Hanoi

Up very early for another adventure, 4:30am.  It's a three hour drive plus comfort stop ("happy room") from Halong Bay to Hanoi, and we had to go both ways today.   We had dined, checked out, tendered and were seated in the six-passenger van by 6:15am.

This is the last sight a fish would have before being trapped in this great net

 Rice farming is very labor intensive.  We saw lots of people in the fields tending their crops.

 It's also stoop labor.

 Temple of Literature

In the Confucian temple.  Note that among the offerings to Confucius is a box of ChocoPies.  There were several boxes on every alter in this temple.  For the record, based on the box art they are Moon Pies.  I didn't take one from Confucius to taste.

 In the large courtyard of the temple, some middle schoolers were taking surveys.  They were really there to practice their English with native speakers.

 Mother and child explore the mysteries of something

 There was a class celebrating their graduation at the temple.

 The infamous "Hanoi Hilton" was originally built as a French prison to house Vietnamese political dissidents.  According to the pictures and stories posted in the rooms, the French treated their prisoners horribly.  The American POWs held there, however, were treated like hotel guests.  Pictures showed them playing basketball and volleyball, eating a large Christmas meal, smiling and joking with their guards.  I think James Stockdale, John McCain and many others would differ with that depiction.

 Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

 Complete with all of the military pomp and formality

 A flowering tree, the "fighting cock's feet" according to our guide

 Pagoda on a pole

 The Old Quarter of Hanoi.  Three million people in one square kilometer.

 Our guide's college colleague grew up in this building.  Seventeen families (all related as the newlyweds move in with the others) and more than 7o people on three floors.

 In the market this young girl was skinning a hog leg.  I think.

We begin the long drive back to Halong Bay.  Crossing the Red River we can see the infamous Paul Doumer bridge, also known as the Long Biên Bridge.  It was constantly attacked by US pilots during the war, and was just as resolutely defended and repaired.  Many people died attacking and defending this bridge.

 Individual vegetable plots

 Only one and a quarter hours late, we tender back to the ship