Saturday 27 July 2013

Hong Kong Sightseeing

Having left Disney behind a small group of us decided to head to the Lantau Buddha, a huge sculpture atop a nearby mountain. However having seen the Cyclone warnings in place at the park we weren't sure we were going to make it, but we ventured out anyway.


In a nearby shopping mall where one of the group had to by new sandals. His had broken on day. Oops. Whilst we were in there the heavens opened up so we sought refuge in here and decided to have lunch.


I plumped for the spicy frog. Yep, when I'm abroad I have to try new things and I'm certainly not going to rely on KFC and McDonalds like some of the club were doing. Having ordered we discussed whether it was on the menu as a joke, this was compounded when the manager came over to us and asked if we really wanted it. I did say "yes" and he did make it. It was odd but too picky to get to the meat :)


Having finished lunch we decided to head off to the mountain...er, what's left of it. The storm had left pretty crappy clouds taking out the top of the mountain. Even if we could get up there the view would be rubbish.


Our decision on whether to proceed was made for us by the cable car station which was still closed. A firm arms crossed in an X shape from the girl at the foot of the escalator made that clear.


The cyclones must be a common event here, they had posters and everything ready. This one was at the metro station. Deciding not to visit the Buddha we decided to head into Hong Kong properly.


In the downtown area and the heavens opened again.


People taking refuge where they could, blocking stairways all over the place. The rains did take the edge off the humidity making it easier to walk around outside, so it wasn't all bad.




The Apple store in Hong Kong.



These are some of the buildings that make up the wonderful sky line view that Hong Kong is famous for.

A "Mind Your Head" sign in the strangest of locations.


Catching the ferry across the harbour. This is a regular commuter route and makes a nice change from being underground. The metro uses a system similar to the Oyster card in London ,called Octopus. For £15 you can buy the card charged with £10 worth of travel. The other £5 is the deposit on the card which is returned when you're done. Unlike the Oyster card the Octopus can also be used to make purchases on some items.


The clock tower is a famous landmark on the northern side of the crossing. It marks the location of the original train station.

What a horrible looking cruise ship.


Hollywood would have you believe that Hong Kong is just full of these boats. They're much better than the cruise ships though.


On the movie walk of fame. A Hong Kong attempt at the stars along the road in LA.


A lot of the stars were unknown to me but I did find Samo Hung, Jackie Chan and a few others that I did recognise.


Bruce Lee has a pretty decent statue.


This is McDull a famous Chinese cartoon character, a bit like Homer Simpson to us in the west.




Leaving my compatriots behind I decided to head in-land to Dragon City, a mall with a rollercoaster on its top floor. The ride has been SBNO (Standing But Not Operating) for sometime but I thought I'd check it out regardless)



The coaster is still there and its quite obvious why it closed. It's just too high up, and Dragon cars are easy to get out of . The safety net they have in place isn't that strong and I suspect someone could easily fall the 10+ floors if they panicked.



A shame because as powered coasters go it's got a good layout, as with most indoor rides in fact.


I recall seeing this in Singapore and it still made me chuckle here.



Back to the harbour where I was hoping to see the light-show that takes place here on most nights. Having seen this on TV so many times it was great to finally be here.


The clock tower at night.


The crowd begin to gather ahead of the lightshow, which never materialised due to the continued weather situation. As the PAs told us the show was cancelled we all dispersed and I decided to head back to the hotel.


Here's what it looks like and whilst not quite Jarre concert material I'd have still liked to see it.


Not slippery but slippy floor.


Cool light show at a small sports venue across the road from the hotel.

Whilst I only had one day to see Hong Kong, I still managed to get around most of what I had wanted to see. I know I'll be coming back in the future so I'm not worried that I only spent the one day here. The metro is really easy to use and it works, something I'm always reminded of when I get back home and have to endure the London underground system.



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