Thursday, August 21, 2008

Hong Kong

Landing in HongKong, the immigration procedure was very quick and easy, the airport express brought me to the centre and then it was a short taxi ride to the hotel. I stayed at the City Garden hotel in North Point, in a part of town which is very Chinese. In the evening, I found a good Sichuan restaurant and enjoyed a really spicy dish of fish with cabbage.

On Tuesday, there was the time for a long tour around Hong Kong island. Visited the main sights, the Man Mo Temple, walked around Victoria Peak after getting there with an old tram, visited Aberdeen Fishing Village where we had lunch on a floating restaurant called the Jumbo, did some bargain hunting at Stanley Market. In the evening, I tested the local Starbucks and tired one of their specialities adapted to the Asian market, Grean Tea Tofu Cheesecake, wondering whether Chinese people really eat it or if it is only something for expats.

On Wednesday it was the turn of Kowloon, the peninsula part of the territory of Hong Kong. Went to two temples, the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin and the Sha Tin which is also known as the Ten Thousands Buddhas Monastery. After a walk in Kowloon Park, I passed by the Tin Hau Temple on the way back to the hotel. For dinner In enjoyed pork spinach dumplings with Yunnanese noodles.

On Thursday it was time to leave Hong Kong, for Macau. There were ferries every 5 to 10 minutes, and getting a place without prior booking went very fast, immigration was cleared easily, and the boat ride took only one hour.