As we sailed northwards towards Hong Kong the it had been getting noticeably cooler, not surprising really, from being virtually on the Equator we are now getting back towards 20 degrees North. Nothing like the weather being experienced back home. We had attempted our weekly FaceTime with everybody and been surprised to find all four gleefully answering at once. Heavy snow closing roads across the Lincolnshire Wolds had caused Matt and the boys to abandon their journey home from Norwich and overnight with Claire in Newark. Not, we suspect that, any of the junior members were complaining about the enforced sleepover. That was about all we did establish though other than that they were having hot chocolate(what's that?), the satellite link being even worse than usual and soon giving up entirely. Pigeons were so much more reliable than all this new technology. Anyway, their journey was not in vain, Norwich continue to progress, another win under the belt as they continue to edge towards the 40+ points which will hopefully ensure a second season in the Premier league, not that we ever doubted it! Sorry, another digression.
Back to Hong Kong. The early morning approach is remarkable despite the damp, overcast conditions, with much low cloud not only obscuring the hill tops but the upper levels of many of the skyscraper buildings. Even so it is quite spectacular! Oriana dodges the many ferries scurrying around the anchorage as it makes it's way, for once, to the cruise terminal in the centre of Hong Kong. Today both of your correspondents have managed to get up nice and early, now there's a change, I hear you mutter, but I am not offended.
The cruise terminal is impressive, more an extensive, glitzy, shopping mall which ships moor alongside than anything we have experienced before. We are not detained by the shops however, for the simple reason that at 8.30 (now how early is that, this is sleep walking territory for some of us) they are still 90 minutes short of opening.
We have our wish list of places to visit, not really expecting to cram everything in, so much is there of interest. Money change first, they show a disturbing reluctance to do anything with our 1.3 million Vietnamese dong other than finger it suspiciously and shake their heads ruefully that anybody is fool enough to admit to have any of it in their possession. We recall that even the Vietnamese preferred to be paid in US dollars, there but for the grace of the EU goes the drachma.
Having traded US and UK notes, which draws much more contented looks from the little man in the booth, we move off to the famed Star Ferry terminal next to our dock and hop aboard for the 5 minute trip to Hong Kong Island. The network of elevated walkways, alive with the multi national throng of sharp suited workers headed into the city centre, enable us to get easily to the bottom station of the funicular tramway which runs to the The Peak, some 1400 feet or so above the harbour. Of course, we would have walked up had there been more time, but you have to make sacrifices every now and then if you are going to fit everything in to your busy schedule. At the top it was still a bit misty and some of our photos will lack their normal clarity, our comments however will remain as pithy as ever, and I am deeply wounded that you think that might be a spelling mistake. The views are well good and the Government wi-fi is free and completely reliable, as we subsequently discover it is throughout the city. By 10 o'clock the upper viewing deck is open and the various tours are arriving thick and fast, so after a quick look round at this top level we head back down to sea level, where the queues for the Tram are now much, much longer, hence the well known saying about early birds getting to the head of the queue.
We now make for Soho, no nothing like that. This is the older part of Hong Kong, much of it now gentrified with designer shops, but still with the original narrow streets, many very steep, clogged with slow moving traffic. Indoor markets abound and are well worth a visit. At Central Market you will be amazed by the sight of a gentleman in stained apron, kneeling on the floor chopping up a joint of meat, he presumably felt, as we did, that the footpath was cleaner than the butcher's block his colleague was using in the stall. On the upper level is the fast food court, Chinese style, with many small tables crammed with local workers tucking in to local delicacies, all menus on the walls in Chinese and not a European face in sight, we duck out of taking lunch here.
We head towards the Western Market by the waterfront passing through Aberdeen Street with its' many small, family owned shops trading in items used in traditional Chinese medicine, unrecognisable to our eyes and not very pretty many of them. In the Sheung Wan area are the tea, rice and noodle merchants. On some footpaths a variety of seafoods, looked like dismembered starfish to us, are laid out to dry, the variety of smells are amazing. Wing Lok St. is home to shops trading in birds nests, dried abalone, dried herbs, roots ,fungi, gingseng and sharks fin.
By midday we have reached Western Market, an old fish market now given over to an amazing array of fabrics of all colours and hues, clothing and food stalls. A little bit of retail therapy here, the silks are irresistible! The choice is almost overwhelming.
We eventually manage to get back to the Star Ferry terminal to head back to mainland Kowloon. A late lunch on the boat is the quickest if least adventurous option, but enables us to devote as much time as possible to exploring. Why waste time on eating when there is so much more to see.
The Clock Tower on the Kowloon waterfront is all that remains of the old railway terminus, where once you could catch a train to Paris! Along the waterfront is the cultural centre with outdoor displays and museums all backed by the elegant facade of the Peninsula Hotel, built originally to service the railway passengers arriving from Europe, it is now dwarfed by the surrounding commercial high-rise shops and offices, but still noteworthy as one of the stopovers for one M. Palin Esq. on his round the world journey. You know by now our predilection for local markets. Kowloon has several to offer and so it is north on the MTR to take in first the Flower Market, every conceivable type of bloom, plant and vegetation on display, especially orchids at giveaway prices, even down to long stemmed multi-coloured cabbages not a patch on those grown on Weelsby Rd allotments I'll have you know. Which reminds us, when will we get time to order the seed potatoes? A short walk sees us at the Bird Market, all sorts of song birds for sale, plus a large aggressive parrot, very much not dead or sleeping so obviously Mr. Palin didn't make it up here. Locals bring their song birds here in cages to hang up alongside others to encourage them to sing; it works, and how. By now it's around 4pm and we had promised to try FaceTime again before the little ones go off to school back home. It works faultlessly, much to the interest of market patrons who occasionally peer over our shoulders to see who we are talking to, and then bring their birds over for the camera for the grandchildren to see.
Nathan Road is the main north/south artery in Kowloon, the main shopping street. It is unbelievably noisy, jammed with double decker buses and the wide pavements are heaving with people - a real assault on our senses. The majority of the shops seemed to be jewellers and watch shops, interspersed with small food stalls - not our scene really. By now, apart from a coffee in Starbucks at 11am and a quick salad for lunch on Oriana, we had been on our feet all day. It was 5pm and time to head back to the ship. Traffic, the noise and the crowds of people were becoming tiresome so the plan was to walk back through Kowloon Park to Ocean Terminal; but we couldn't find it and there was no time left to go searching. It must have been tucked in between the high rise buildings or maybe it had already been built on. One final market - a quick trot through Temple Street Market where it is possible to buy pretty much anything, which was just gearing up for the night trade - open till midnight. A new screen protector for the iPad was needed - £2.50 fitted!! Feeling a bit tired after 10 hours on our feet and in need of the WOW factor restoring, we joined other passengers in the Riviera Bar on Deck12 outside for the 'sailaway' from Hong Kong. Difficult to put into words really, but probably one of the most amazing sights in the world (on a par with Bryce Canyon 30 years ago), certainly that we have ever seen, are the skyscrapers on the steep hillside of Hong Kong Island, which are illuminated as night falls, in an amazing display - changing colours, strobe lights snaking up the Bank of China Tower, tableaux of colourful greetings for the Chinese New Year, advertisements for all the high tech electronic companies and financial institutions in full technicolor - it was a good place to be and we raised a small glass to mark the end of a very special day. Wouldn't want their electricity bill though!
We have written this on our 2 sea days en route to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, heading south across the South China Sea between Vietnam and the Philippines. Whilst Hong Kong was cooler in the low 20s, the temperature is climbing steadily with the humidity and the strength of the sun is fierce - too hot for us to sit out in. There are plenty of shaded areas on deck at the back (oh, aft) of the ship where the breeze makes it very pleasant. The many Australians who joined the ship in Hong Kong are scathing about the Europeans' determination to fry themselves to a crisp in the sun all day!
We continue to enjoy the company of our fellow six passengers at dinner, a friendly bunch with a good sense of humour and fun. We swap SD cards with one couple in order to get the best photographic memories of our trip - yes, sad really! Tonight we are deserting them to try the Asian and Malaysian Buffet in BHS (sorry, The Conservatory). What is our laziness index? The fact that Ian is reading a book a day! But this is counterbalanced by the 12 laps of the deck we walk every sea day. Some of the Aussies count us round in amazement, wondering why we don't want to join them in getting hammered with the same number of tinnies as we do laps!