Day 19
It's the 15th Anniversary of the Hong Kong SAR. It would be hard not to know as there are banners along the roadsides, adverts on the tv and a special song composed for the event "Believe in your Dreams".
Dad has booked ferry tickets for us so we can watch the fireworks! We're meeting at Pizza Hut first at 11.30. Definately no snacks first.
#87D to Diamond Hill. First destination is the Nian Lan Gardens next to The Chi Lin Nunnery. The gardens are full of exquisite tree specimens and rock formations, landscaped under expressways. There's a sign saying "No graduation or wedding outfits" that would spoil the ambience.
Next door is the Hollywood Plaza shopping Centre full of shops but not much for us. The 3rd floor has a good food hall with many different fast food stalls; Thai, Malay, Sichuan, Hong Kong.
MTR to North Point where we are to catch the ferry and I know there will be local markets here. Dad opts to sit somewhere for tea. One end of Marble Road is full of fabrics and haberdashery and leads on to children's and women's clothes. There's the usual bags, make up and hair accessories. There are plenty of maids out today being Sunday, rummaging through the hawker stalls. Shops selling bottles of water for $4 (32p) and hot egg custard tarts for $2.5! Straight out the oven on a hot black tray and a small crowd swarms in. The sellers tip each individual tart out of it's metal case onto a slice of white bread as a tray, then cover it in a paper buncase, then they are bagged/boxed up. I get the last 4. They are scrummy and stay warm for about 45mins!
There's a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow parked at the edge of the market amongst all the rubbish.
Our ferry is less glamorous. Tickets were booked through a travel agency. The guide pitches up with his rucksack and sticks a bit of A4 on the wall. It's all in Chinese. He's wearing a mike. We just copy everyone else, hand in our receipt, I find our name on the list, then we have to walk half mile to the ferry. It's a vehicular ferry so hundreds can fit on the lower deck meant for lorries. I grab a chair and set it up for dad whilst we climb the very steep steps up to the passenger deck. Someone finds a way out onto a small deck so we follow. We've got a railing spot so don't move. We chug out into Victoria Harbour and what a great view we have. Party boats, big yachts, small yachts all jostle for position as the coastguards zig zag back n forth keeping everyone back.
It's a great sky with dramatic clouds for a luminous sunset. At 8pm the laser light and pyrotechnic extravaganza begins. Plenty of "Whaaaaars" and "Ohhhhhhs". We should get a couple of good shots out of the hundreds we've taken with 3 cameras.
20 minutes and it's all over. All the boats about turn. A small yacht speeds through at full pelt in the darkness.
Back in dock, dad says he had a good view and they were the biggest fireworks he has seen! Having watched several celebrations on the tv, he's not attended before.
A memorable occassion indeed for the 15th Anniversary.h