World Cruise - Day 68 - Mar 20 - Hong Kong

This morning is still cloudy and misty, although visibility has increased to about a mile or so.  Here is a view of Hong Kong Island from Victoria Harbour with Victoria Peak in the background (but not yet visible through the mist):

I’m not sure which building that is in the center, but you can’t even see the top, so you can see how we’re still fogged in somewhat.  We are docking at China Merchant Wharf on Hong Kong Island.  Hong Kong is basically three parts:  Hong Kong Island (where we are docking, the old part of Hong Kong, but also including the financial center pictured above), Kowloon (the newer part of Hong Kong, just across Victoria Harbor) and the New Territories.  We will be taking a HOHO (hop on hop off) bus tour today and tomorrow.  We are hoping to see most of Kowloon today, then Hong Kong Island tomorrow.  We are hoping the weather will clear up enough for the tram ride up Victoria Peak.

Here is the view across the other side of the ship from Victoria Harbor into Kowloon:

Victoria Harbour is a very busy harbor with boat traffic of all sizes going in what seems like every conceivable direction, a bit of organized chaos.  I got this pic of two local sampans (flat bottomed boats) trailing behind a cargo ship as we came into the harbor earlier this morning:

And this pic of one of the outlying fishing villages as we entered the harbor:

Hong Kong has one of the highest population densities in the world, with more than 16,000 people per square mile.  Hong Kong Island is known as the “concrete forest” due to the number of high rises and number of people living in such a compact area.  Although Hong Kong is part of People’s Republic of China since 1997, it is on a one country, two systems basis whereby it has local autonomy and a common law framework.

Hong Kong is known to be a shopper’s paradise, although not as much so in recent years as prices have increased relative to the US dollar.  The Hong Kong dollar is tied to the US dollar ($1 USD=$7.76 HKD) and remains stable relative to the dollar in currency exchange, but the relative pricing has increased in Hong Kong.  There are still bargains, but not the rock bottom pricing you would have found 20 years ago.  Hong Kong is known for its markets and we plan to explore several of them today and tomorrow.  Hong Kong is also known as a place where you can get a custom suit made in less than a day for about $200 USD.  I just don’t wear suits that much anymore to make that worthwhile.  But apparently you will have tailors approach you on the street with a tape measure offering to make a suit for you.  Maybe I’ll get a pic of that later today.

We have 22 currencies other than the US dollar to deal with during this trip:  Aruban Florin, Columbian Peso, Costa Rican Colon, Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro, Fiji Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Australian Dollar, Japanese Yen, South Korean Won, Chinese Yuan Renminbi, Hong Kong Dollar, Vietnamese Dong, Thai Baht, Singapore Dollar, Indian Rupee, Bahraini Dinar, Emerati Dirham, Omani Rial, Jordanian Dinar, Egyptian Pound, Croatian Kuna and the Euro.  In some of the countries, you can get by using US dollars, but the merchants typically do not give a good conversion rate, so I always prefer getting the local currency from an ATM (where you get the best rate of exchange).  The problem is using up whatever you have leftover at the end of the day.  So instead of exchanging it back into US dollars, then into the next currency, we usually either spend it on necessities (or non-necessities, in the case of the yucky boiled chestnuts) or hold onto the currency and exchange it directly for the next currency in the next port, therefore only paying the spread once, instead of twice.

Just got back from a long day out (it’s after 11p), here is a quick on our pics of the day:

I could make the entire blogs on “the skyscrapers of Hong Kong” if I wanted.  Block after block, mile after mile of skyscraper, the next one more brilliant than the previous.

Only downside is that the weather was still cloudy and foggy, so many of the pics today have that haze in the background.

This building is where the British turned over rule of Hong Kong to China in 1997 (the gold statue bottom left marks the exact spot):

This is one of the typical eateries along the streets of downtown Hong Kong:

They have these double decker streetcars that go between different areas in Hong Kong:

Even though the buildings are quite modern, you can get a glimpse of old Hong Kong down many of the side streets and alleys:

The Lippo buildings were quite impressive, both in size and architecturally:

We went over to Stanley Market on the HOHO (hop on hop off) bus and were surprised to see a sports stadium nestled in between all of the skyscrapers:

The cemeteries as well were occupying prime real estate:

We stopped along our way to Stanley at Ocean Park, Hong Kong’s answer to Sea World:

I spotted this and took the pic for Brandon to ogle:

In Stanley there was a small temple built into the cliffside near the beach:

This was a tree growing near Stanley Market:

Krissie bought a dress at Stanley Market, then we made our way toward Aberdeen on the bus:

This is the sampan that we rode in for a short harbor cruise in Aberdeen Harbour:

Each sampan is decorated by its owner to be extremely colorful, this was the ceiling of ours:

Jumbo Floating Restaurant is in the middle of Aberdeen Harbour and is world famous:

In Aberdeen Harbor there are a series of boats that serve as houseboats, which does seem rather strange in the midst of such overdevelopment:

People live on the houseboats and have for generations, just keep adding on additional boats for new rooms:

On our way back into downtown Hong Kong, we saw this terraced cemetery:

Then we took a funicular up to Victoria Peak.  This was the view from the top:

Pic of Krissie on the Victoria Peak Tram:

This is a better view of the tallest building on Hong Kong Island (which was shrouded in mist earlier in the day):

…and a view of the tallest building in Hong Kong (and fourth tallest in the world) on the Kowloon side:

When we came off the ferry in Kowloon, they were shooting a McDonald’s commercial.  After I snapped this picture, I walked through the background, hoping I would be part of their commercial:

I found this sign in the men’s room at the restaurant where we ate dinner.  My guess is that it says: “If you don’t plunge the toilet, you will make our plumber way too happy.”

After dinner, we went to watch the laser light show from the Avenue of the Stars:

Different buildings on each side (this is viewing Hong Kong Island) put on a laser light show choreographed to music…

…that plays in the background for about 15 minutes while the buildings light up on each side:

Then we went to the Temple Street Night Market to do some shopping:

It was a colorful scene of street vendors with their wares, ready to negotiate:

Lots of different items for sale along with food items of all types:

All in all, a great day.  I’m tired, going to bed.  Tomorrow is day #2 of 2 in Hong Kong.