Hong Kong Lights

Hong Kong, China -- Day 2

It was really awesome to see the Intuitive folk that were here at the hotel this morning -- in addition to Mike Y there was Mike Ikeda, Paul Lilagan, Anthony McGrogan, and Jeff Brown, all people I worked with back home and in some cases have known for 10 years or more. In fact, if memory serves, Mike Ikeda actually interviewed me for my first job at Acuson way back in 1989! Unfortunately, Anthony and Jeff were heading back home after breakfast, so our visit was short but sweet.

Anthony, me, Mike, Paul, Meg, Dex and Kylie

Jeff and Anthony

The plan for the day was to head into the downtown area. We are staying a good 45 minutes away in the New Territories, specifically Sha Tin, which incredibly was nothing more than marshland 30 years ago. Apparently, this area qualifies as the suburbs of Hong Kong. It is comparatively less congested with more trees and open spaces and fewer cars and people.

The Hong Kong "suburbs" of Sha Tin

Mike Y helpfully volunteered to serve as tour guide for the day. Once downtown, we hopped on the famous Star Ferry for views of the city and a short ride to Hong Kong Island proper. Through four generations of boats, the ferry has provided service to and from the Island for 150 years. We then walked through a series of pedestrian walkways and shopping malls to the base of Victoria Peak. The line for the funicular (tram) tickets was gigantic, so we cavalierly decided to walk instead. We were fortunate to have Mike Ikeda join us for the day, though he may have questioned the wisdom of that decision an hour into the climb.

View from the Star Ferry

Heading up Victoria Peak

Impromtu vine swing

Although the steep paths winding up around high rise housing complexes reminded me somewhat of the walk up Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, the scale is entirely different. An hour and a half after we started, having lost our way and resorted to walking along the roadways, we finally arrived. As is often the case, the first order of business was finding some food. Even on a grey day like today, the Wildfire restaurant was a welcomed respite with great views of the city.

We finished off the day with a ride on a narrow, double decker tram and a stop at the harbor for the nightly light and sound show. In Hong Kong there definitely seems to be a competition for who can put the most colored lights and biggest LED displays on their buildings. The lights reflecting in the water were awesome. At 8:00 the show began involving synchronized light displays on buildings throughout the city plus giant green lasers blasting from the tops of skyscrapers. We somehow managed to get a viewing spot right up front overlooking the Harbour and the wall of buildings in Kowloon.

By the end, we were all getting a little weary. It had been a long day with, according to my iPhone, more than 30,000 steps, enough to rival our longest trekking days in Nepal. My feet were sore and Dex and Kylie were ready to be back "home." For the second night in a row, they gratefully agreed to McDonald’s Happy Meals, while the adults retired to the 30th floor lounge for drinks and dinner.