Hong Kong - February 19

15 degrees, cloudy in the day, light rain and fog in the evening

This morning we are docked right in the heart of Hong Kong. This is fantastic, as we can walk right off of the ship and into Hong Kong and there’s no need of long bus rides just to get to the city. The dock we are using is attached to Harbour City – Asia’s largest shopping mall, it was definitely huge and we didn’t really explore much of it. Much of what we did see was very high end, much higher end than any mall we have in Calgary.

We start today by heading to Victoria Peak and its tram. This is a high hill in the middle of Hong Kong that can be accessed via road, but we get to the top using a tram. It’s about an 8 minute ride to the top. Once at the top we can see views of Hong Kong and its harbour. There’s a small mall where we check out the Starbucks…latte for 10.00 and McDonald’s, not sure of the McDonald’s prices, but they did have a sweet potato ice cream cone – we didn’t try.

Next was a brief stop at Repulse Beach (named after the ship HMS Repulse) – mostly a photo stop.

Finally we took a sampan (old-fashioned fishing boat) ride on Hong Kong’s harbour in the Aberdeen area. Years ago, this was a bustling fishing area. The boat is a very simple/rustic thing sailed by an old Hong Kong woman who speaks no English. We get in, she sails us around…we are done – what more could there be.

Lunch was back on the boat and quick nap before heading out back to the tram. The plan was to take the tram up again for a couple of drinks and the view at the top of Victoria peak. We weren’t super interested in the tram again, especially considering that the line was huge. We decided to stay with the bus to get to the top – I think this was a much better decision. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperating and we weren’t able to see much of any of the view. Every so often the fog/clouds would move so that we could see some lights, but not too much. It was still fun to be up there for a drink and a snack.

Then back to the boat for dinner. By the time we were done dinner it was around 10, but we couldn’t let an overnight in Hong Kong go by without checking out Hong Kong at night. We knew there was Ozone - the ‘world’s highest bar’ on the 118^th floor of the International Commerce Centre as part of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Getting to this bar was our goal. When we set out on foot there was a mist that occasionally got heavier, but it wasn’t cold. The streets were bustling. Once we finally found it we were pretty blown away. There is a minimum charge to get to the bar which is taken off of your bill. A glass of wine and a beer set up back about 60.00! Yikes…we didn’t have more than one, but it was worth it to be up there. There was an outside observation deck with heaters, but not much shelter. The fog and clouds were still impeding the view so we didn’t stay long there. It’s hard to tell from the photo of me, but I’m on the observation deck. By the time we got back to the ship it was after 1:00 – we were beat, but it was quite an adventure getting there and back on foot.