Haere ra Hong Kong

Wednesday 25th June 2014

Blog post by the mother

Well our last day of packing up and moving on has arrived.  We did the final 're-pack' this morning (much to the kids relief), a last flurry of lolly shopping and then headed off to the downtown airport  check in the Hong Kong train station.  The kids are all well used to negotiating stairs, streets, escalators and elevators with their suitcases now.  They really are quite incredible.

 After checking in for our flight and offloading our luggage we went off on the Star Ferry over to Tsim Sha Tsui. This was a bit of a change from our original plan of going out to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha but, as fate would have it, the cable car up to the monastery was closed for maintenance. At least we found out before we went all the way out there.
I love the Star Ferry - such a stately and sedate way to see Hong Kong. Worth every one of the 37 cents we paid for the trip.

 The rain clouds were looming over Tsim Sha Tsui but we did manage to walk along the Avenue of Stars and find Jackie Chan's handprint and also his statue.

 After our Star Ferry excursion it was back to our favourite Overseas Dragon for lunch and then we caught the Airport Express Train out to the airport.  Because we felt that we hadn't quite done Hong Kong shopping justice we decided to catch a local bus from the airport to a nearby outlet store mall,  The father scooped up a pair of new running shoes but that was pretty much all we had time for before we had to head back to the airport to go through security before boarding.  No worries about Mr 11's Doc Marten's this time - he got to keep them on! A few last minute Duty Free purchases and then through to the boarding gate for a slightly delayed departure.  New Zealand here we come!

Shopping and a trip up the Peak

Tuesday 24th June 2014

Blog post by the mother

Mission for the day - shopping!  We have not done a lot of shopping on this trip for both budgetary and luggage reasons.  We have been saying that we will wait until we get to Hong Kong and now we are here with no more reasons not to shop.  We set off in the morning with a list of places that were recommended for budget shoppers.Our first stop was Harbour City over in Tsim Sha Tsui. 
Suffice to say that Harbour City is HUGE!!  The father managed to purchase a new suit and we picked up a few bits and pieces for people having birthdays.  As always, we managed to spend far more time than was necessary in a bookshop and took time out for a long lunch.  By 3pm we were all shopped out and shattered.  Yes, we are shopping light weights! Back to the apartment we went on the MTR to unload our purchases and then head out again for the evening.

Our great plan was to catch the Peak Tram up to the top, enjoy the view and then maybe head back down to the harbour and go out on the Star Ferry to watch the nightly light show.  An hour in line for the tram soon put paid to that idea.  Contrary to what the photo might lead you to believe the tram terminus was jam packed with people.  It was so incredibly humid and crowded that we had to send the father off on an emergency fizzy drink purchasing trip while we waited in line - I was concerned that I was going to have children starting to faint from the heat and the crowds.

After a bit of a bun fight to make it onto the tram we finally secured seats for everyone and away we went.  The tram is the steepest funicular railway in the world and the views on the way up are incredible.

The views from the top are also incredible. We decided to stay up and watch the light show from the observation deck.  Unfortunately there were no fireworks but it was still pretty amazing seeing the city light up below us with all the neon lights.

By this time it was nearly 8.30pm so we succumbed to a dodgy dinner at McD's and then went to get the tram back down to Central.  The line to go down was almost as long as to come up - thank goodness the rain held off while we were queuing! When we got back down to Central we decided to catch one of the 'Ding Ding' trams back to the apartment.  The ride was great fun and Miss 9 thought the trams looked a bit like the Knight Bus from Harry Potter.

Humid Hong Kong

Monday 23rd June 2014

Blog post by the mother

So this is it, the beginning of the end of the grand adventure (for now at least).  The flight to Hong Kong on Cathay was ... fine. Nothing amazing and definitely less comfy seats than Air NZ.  Miss 9 wailed and complained "I can't sleep on these stupid planes!", the father and I listened, reflected her feelings, cajoled, threatened and finally snapped that she could stay awake all night if she wanted to.  Miss 9 stayed awake for almost the entire flight and watched way too many movies - but was not sick (one bonus).
Suffice to say that by the time we arrived in Hong Kong at 6.30 in the morning we were all rather frazzled and immediately hit by the stifling humidity.  The kids managed to make it out to the van for the one hour drive into the city and then all passed out.

On arrival at our sweet little apartment the kidlets made it up the lift to the 14th floor, claimed their beds and then sleep took over again.

The father and I allowed ourselves one hour of shut eye and then tried to get up and get moving before we all slept the day away.  The kids took some coercing to wake up and get moving but around lunchtime we did manage to get them all out of the apartment and out onto the streets.

This is the view from our bedroom down to the busy streets of Sheung Wan below.  What you cannot see from the photo is the incredible humidity and the range of smells and sounds that are so different to what we have become used to in Europe.  We dragged the somewhat reluctant children out amongst it all and, after a bit of walking, they started to perk up a bit.  We went to visit an ancient temple dedicated to scholarship (should have lit some incense and prayed for Mr 14's upcoming exams!) and then went up the mid-town escalators to the very top.  There were some protests that I made them go all the way up - but what's the point of only going to half way?!

A stop for gelato on the way back down helped to revive everyone for a little while at least.  Not quite the same as Italian gelato but it did the trick.  At the bottom of the escalators we went into the IFC Mall to enjoy their aircon and get a view out over the harbour. There was plenty to look at but most of the shops were out of our price range - think Armani and Prada.
Went to buy our Hong Kong Octopus cards for public transport and had a very late lunch at Overseas Dragon.  The father loves it when we can find somewhere to eat that is full of locals rather than tourists and Overseas Dragon fit the bill perfectly.  Once we worked out the ordering system it was all very straightforward.  No frills, minimal service but great food at very reasonable prices.  The dumplings and noodle soup are highly recommended!

Home on the MTR, a quick visit to the supermarket to stock up for breakfast and then time for some homework - how much work actually got done is very questionable at this point!

Dragged the children away from their technology and headed off to find some dinner.  Hilariously right downstairs from our apartment we have Monsieur Chatte - a French bakery and deli. Tempting though it was, we bypassed M. Chatte and went to another local hangout for dinner.  It was all a bit odd - starting with the lady who took our orders who was wearing what looked like a 1960's airhostess uniform complete with woollen hat.  Moral of the story is that it is better to eat the local specialities than the local version of a European dish because things often get lost in translation.

A rather full on day to begin our Hong Kong adventure but we will all sleep well tonight!