Hong Kong
After a quick breakfast Ben and I met up with Yi-Chen and my parents to head over to Victoria’s Peak. The Peak was just a short walk from our hotel. We rode the tram up to the Peak some 1800 feet above Hong Kong. The views were as pretty as I remember from my visit with Joe. The top, however, had been significantly remodeled with more retail and restaurants. The five of us took a short stroll before Yi-Chen and I went back down on the tram. Dad, Mom and Ben stayed at the Peak to take a two mile walk. Yi-Chen needed to pick up some jewels for work before catching a flight to Taipei and I wanted to do some hoop hunting. The plan was for me to meet back up with my parents and Ben for high-tea at the Peninsula Hotel at 3PM.
The Bank of China Tower on our walk to the tram.
The view riding up the tram.
One of the many walking paths at the top of the tram.
Hong Kong City in the foreground and Kowloon in the background.
I thoroughly enjoyed my trek throughout the city. I made it to three of the four hoops I had hoped to find. At “Blake’s Garden” I met a very nice kid named “Kevin”. He was an 18 year-old from Guangzhou, China who was studying in Hong Kong to take his SATs in hopes of getting into UCLA or UCSB. It was clear he loved the game of basketball. David Stern would have loved him. We spoke about the NBA for a bit and his affinity for the league was palpable. Stern would have been proud as the NBA’s marketing is clearly working. Kevin told me “The NBA is where amazing happens.”
My new buddy Kevin on the Blake Garden basketball courts.
I made it to the Peninsula right on time. I couldn’t find Mom, Dad or Ben so I decided to get in line for a table. At 3:10PM I inquired with a waitress for the internet password. I sent an email to the three late folks and let them know I was in line. When 3:30PM rolled around I started to get a little nervous. Not nervous that something was wrong but that they had a table and I didn’t see them or that they were waiting in a different part of the hotel. I asked the lady in front of me in line if she wouldn’t mind holding my spot while I looked for my family for a few minutes. She obliged and I hustled to make sure they weren’t hiding at a table or upstairs. I didn’t see them, so I returned to the line. I was given a table at 3:40PM. At 3:50PM Mom, Dad and Ben finally walked in the door. I was relieved that they were fine and that I didn’t screw up the plan. I was also thankful that Joyce kept me company texting while I waited for the gang.
High-tea was thoroughly enjoyable once it finally started. Joe and I had done it last time. I remember the tea being good and the food being awesome. This time around my feelings were similar. The food may have been especially delicious since I was tired and hungry from running around to my hoops.
The lobby of the Peninsula Hotel.
The delicious tea sandwiches.
After tea Ben and I went to find the one other hoop I wanted to see, while Mom and Dad went to the flower market. We made plans to meet back at the Peninsula at 6:50PM. Ben and I had a nice stroll along the water and I was able to get a decent shot or two. Mom and Dad bought some fake flowers for an upcoming wedding Mom is doing. They also came back with stories of how EVERY stall in the market looked exactly the same.
Ben and my Dad wanted to see the light show on the harbor. We debated from which side we wanted to watch it. Mom and Dad had seen it from their room on the Hong Kong side, so we decided to stay on the Kowloon side to look back at Hong Kong. Mom and Dad confirmed that was the right choice. There are more bigger buildings on the HK side, so seeing it lit up was more entertaining. All in the show was probably worth seeing but it wasn’t life changing. As Ben would and probably did say, “It was okay.”
On our way back to the metro station we popped in a SOGO to look for the toy we wanted. It didn't have a toy department in this store. It did, however, have this sign. Evidently staircases are scary.
Our next stop was Tai Yuen Street which was supposed be a toy street. Unfortunately by the time we showed up at 10 minutes to nine most of the shops were closed or closing. It also didn’t appear like they had the models Ben wanted to see. We had seen a store the night before that Ben wanted to explore. Our next stop then became the store from the previous night.
I impressed even myself, which we all know is hard to do, by finding the store Ben wanted to see without a single wrong turn. We had walked by the store at the conclusion of our Night Market stop the previous night. Once in the store Ben and Dad had fun looking at all the models. Ben announced he was finished looking and my mom followed up with, “Are you sure there isn’t anything you want?” Ben said, “They don’t have any space stuff, so no.” I then asked what specific kind of space stuff he wanted. He wanted a shuttle or something similar, which I couldn’t believe this store didn’t have. I asked him if he was sure he had looked thoroughly. I wasn’t trying to be a jerk I just couldn’t believe they didn’t have any. He said he looked thoroughly. I said they had to have one. I then decided to ask the shop keeper. It took him roughly 10 seconds to show me the Shuttle Endeavor and some type of satellite. I didn’t get to see Ben’s reaction to the fact that they had “space stuff” but I wish I had. He decided he didn’t want to buy them as they would take a long time to build. This made me chuckle since we were in a mode kit shop. Needless to say we left the shop empty handed.
After our toy hunt we were all pretty hungry. We wanted some quick comfort food. Ben and I both thought burgers sounded good, so we decided to have McD’s. The burgers were good and we again had fun laughing at the soft hard yummy love.
After dinner Ben and I left the folks. I wanted to see what one of my daytime hoops looked like at night. We rode the subway to closest stop and then went for a 10 minute or so walk. Unfortunately we got there a couple minutes before 11PM when many of the lights on buildings are turned off. Some of the shots had the potential to be pretty neat, especially if the lasers from the light show were coming out of them, so I decided I would come back tomorrow night to try and capture that.
We’re now back at the hotel and wiped out after another action packed day.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Metro Ad of the Day:
I love this ad. Only in Asia would the scrawny smart kid be the one used to advertise a baby formula.
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