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The train for Wan Chai goes to Chai Wan
I left Saturday morning after a night in a Capsule Hotel in Akibar'all very strange as the capsules snug that they are and well fitted out with TV and radios, you would never be able to listen to them as there are no door to the capsules, just a roll down curtain, so the place has a gentle (fortunately) back ground noise of Japanese business men snoring away. A painless two movie flight left me in Chek Lap Kok, Foster's grand airport on a man-made island, fortunately only 30mins away from Discovery Bay where I was staying with old friends. A few of the guides I have read laid into the large ex-pat community comfortably living a holiday lifestyle, where cars are banned save for mini bus taxis and coaches and most strange of all, golf buggies! The main source of transport is via a licensed white buggy fitted out with clear plastic sides for the occasional rain storm. To buy one, which is really the license costs over $80,000 US, so they are so sought after. For me, I liked Discovery Bay, as a place to escape the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, it felt like a permanent holiday resort .
A 20 minute ferry later and we stepped off at 'Central' and caught a cab up to the Peak for dinner, my timing was dreadful as it stood in blanket cloud, visibility was about 10 feet! It had improved enough on Sunday to see something of the towering buildings of the island
I left Saturday morning after a night in a Capsule Hotel in Akibar'all very strange as the capsules snug that they are and well fitted out with tv and radios, you would never be able to listen to them as there are no door to the capsules, just a roll down curtain, so the place has a gentle (fortunately) back ground noise of Japanese business men snoring away. A painless two movie flight left me in Chek Lap Kok, Foster's grand airport on a man-made island, fortunately only 30mins away from Discovery Bay where I was staying with old friends. A few of the guides I have read laid into the large ex-pat community comfortably living a holiday lifestyle, where cars are banned save for mini bus taxis and coaches and most strange of all, golf buggies! The main source of transport is via a licensed white buggy fitted out with clear plastic sides for the occasional rain storm. To buy one, which is really the license costs over $80,000 US, so they are so sought after. For me, I liked Discovery Bay, as a place to escape the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, it felt like a permanent holiday resort .
A 20 minute ferry later and we stepped off at 'Central' and caught a cab up to the Peak for dinner, my timing was dreadful as it stood in blanket cloud, visibility was about 10 feet! It had improved enough on Sunday to see something of the towering buildings of the island a short trip around the key ones, Fosters/I.M.Pei/IFC2, was followed by a great dim sum in a huge noisy restaurant, no ordering you watch what goes past and ask for 'one of those please' a very easy way to eat!
A journey to Wan Chai, the more colouful part of Hong Kong, along of the old trams, was a lovely experience, and at $2HK only pennies and no tourist is complete without a ride on the Star Ferry, a short journey across to the mainland to to be precise, Tsim Sha Tsui. The view back towards Hong Kong Island is really breathtaking, its not just the monster towers, I guess you can find them in many major cities around the world but I don't know of many that can offer so many in a single vista and with a stunning mountainous backdrop as Hong Kong offers.
Monday started lazily with a latte and pastry outside Uncle Russ's Coffee House, seemingly a local custom in Discovery Bay while awaiting the ferry to arrive, it gave me time to make a plan, courtesy of the Lonely Planet. I was drawn back to the Hong Kong & Shangai Bank, still described as the most expensive building ever built, but I presume that is in relative terms? and to I.M. Pei's Bank of China, who oddly enough upset everyone with his design not only using triangles in form and elevational treatment but topping it with a point, not good forms in Chinese beliefs.
The Peak Tram climbs over 1200ft in about 8 minutes, pinned to the seat with a coach of Chinese tourists I tried to work out who I would be able to push out of my way to get to the door if the car began to roll backwards as it paused half way up, it was a long moment! The beauty of this colonial legacy was now a secondary issue to the technology it used to climb the hill, 1888 is pretty old! Finally at the top the trams pulls into Terry Farrell's arch shaped station/restaurant/observation deck building, as an observation deck it works, but the rest is not popular in HK, and I can see why, a little tacky, but I expect little more from he who gave us the MI6 building and Charring X station. After achieving their tick in the box I could see my fellow tourists heading down the slope via the tram, or as I heard one American tourist, " I can walk a little way down as long as it is no more than 20 minutes" In contrast I followed the words of my mate LP (Lonely Planet) and circumnavigated the Peak along the trail to the east. The walk was really worthwhile, as it offered the best views of the Island and Kowloon and the New Territories beyond. Well you could just about make everything out through the mist, not a day for photos.
An hour or so later I popped out of the 'green' back into urbanity in the area of the Mid-levels. My destination was the longest external escalator in the world, though I didn't read my book carefully enough as the escalator is only a single, it runs down for peak time in the morning, then switches to up mode, it was a long walk down! Mid-levels is series of residential towers that step down the steep slope, a place I am advised is much sought after, and very expensive, as it is where you can escape the chaos of commercialism in the lower levels but be close enough to make that commute feel ok. I have to say it wouldn't be my chosen location, it lacked real character, probably just great views from floor 40 and above, well until the next developer chose to build in front of your prime window, 'nufin in the contract mate'! However, descending further, into Soho, an area which has only recently developed a restaurant/bar culture, there is a place which offers what Mid-levels couldn't, energy and life, streets cris-crossed with a cosmopolitan atmosphere. Further down the path of the escalators towards the base of the hill the picture postcard views of Hong Kong come into view, (the ones I had anyway) narrow streets full of colour and flashing neon, busy markets, people, and more people, air conditioning units bolted onto worn faded façades like a huge three dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Finally the slope runs out, at a point not only marked by topography but the change in surroundings, 'shopping' perhaps the prime activity for Hong Kong residents, never have I seen so many interlocked, interwoven, integrated shopping malls, 'and not selling any of yer dell and Rodney stuff neither' Gucci/Armani/Channel, only the top gear here.
My journey back to Central concluded with a ride on one of the trams, something more at home in Victorian English town, perhaps, than the steel and glass of towers up to 420m high, but they are steeped in character, and at $2, about 12p, very cheap transport!
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