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Hello from me only then...
Our last days in Hong Kong were indeed well used. After checking into our pretty poor room on Hong Kong Island we vowed to spend as much time away from it as possible and it turned out pretty well. The first day we went to the south coast of the island to a little village called Stanley, clustered around a little bay. The main attraction there was the market that was huge and had loads of good trinkets for sale. We managed to splurge and limit ourselves at the same time so were very happy. Then went up Victoria Peak for our turn at the famous view of Hong Kong, but it was lightly raining which put a cloud over the whole area, so we saw basically nothing, especially when it got dark. Fuelled by a cheescake crepe from the Peak's shopping centre, we went and had a wander around Central, the district with expensive shops and businessmen during the day. We had a quick ride on the Mid-Levels Escalator, about 800m of uphill escalation, though in various stages, then found ourselves in Lan Kwai Fong, the trendy nightlife district. We tucked ourselves into a Latin bar and spent a good couple of hours nursing our pricey drinks, though a highlight was getting free drinks simply because the barman disturbed us to get at a drinks cabinet! Got home and passed out happy.
Next day we got up early to get a dim sum experience in a nearby restaurant that was superb. Was great to see the Chinese taking time over their meal and enjoying themselves for a change! Good food got us stuffed as well. Then wenipped on the star ferry and went to Kowloon to see the Tin Hau temple there, with large spiralled incense sticks. Did some internet stuff in another loud-as-you-like gaming internet cafe, star ferry back to Hong Kong Island and I dragged Isey to the Hopewell Centre for a surprise treat of high tea in the revolving restaurant on the 66th floor, with stunning views over everything. Strange and nice to do something fairly posh when you're a traveller...though the green tea cheescake was a bit much for me. Then improved on our previous evening by heading half way up the Peak, where there's no cloud, and got a stunning vista of the colourful city. Having said that, my lasting image of Hong Kong's skyline was more a sea of dark buildings with lots of little lights in them that I thought was very pretty.
The ominous last day came and we had a calm stroll around Hong Kong Park, with the aviary being the most interesting bit, including a couple of pelicans and pigeons the size of turkeys, with big mohawks! Had a teary goodbye at the airport and I got my Boeing 747 flight to Tokyo. I read up about Japan, played some computer games and scoffed my lunch happily, before arriving confusedly in Japan. I've been here two whole days now and I'm still convinced I'm in China - very strange. Yesterday I jumped on a free tour of the Meiji Shrine (of which the photo is part, one of the 'torii' gates to the area) where the Emperor who pushed out the samurai shogunate is enshrined. The wandered around Harajuku, a funky shopping area with some very strangely-dressed people. Then went to Shinjuku to go up the Tokyo Met Govt Building for a free observatory view of the city, though sadly not quite as far as Mt Fuji. Then did the long walk from there to Shibuya, where it's really happening. There's a massive junction there that has now inspired the Oxford Circus crossing, and there are LOTS of people! Great place to be, with great little streets heading off selling interesting things. Came back to Ueno and had a quick wander around before slipping my shoes off at the dorm entrance and having my sleep.
Then today I've seen the Senso-ji Temple, with massive pagoda and big Kenreimon Gate, though not much to really do so a bit of a let down. Walked to Ueno Park where I talked to a nice building engineer with poor English and sauntered around the lake and another very small temple. Then just before the light faded I made it down to the Imperial Palace, which you can't go in, but it is possible to get great views of the simple buildings inside. Plus I SAW THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN and his wife, as they drove past waving..I thought that was pretty cool. They even print the current year as '22' over here as Emperor Heisei has been in power for that many years, so he's a pretty important guy. Then did another long walk to the Akihabara electronics district, bought myself a stubble perfecting machine and got the most stunning dinner in a teeny weeny restaurant, where the egg was poached in my bowl as it was handed to me - tasty!
Tomorrow I'm off to Nikko and think I've got a good idea of what I'll be doing for the next couple of weeks. Nice temples and stuff there so should be a nice rural difference to Tokyo. This place is nice, with amazingly clean streets, silent road surfaces, helpful people and efficient everything. I haven't found its real character yet but will hopefully be with it when I come back here at the end of Japan time.
Love to all then and let's all pray for a shorter memoir next time!
Dave x
P.S. Due to difficult computer connections I'm getting as many photos as I can up onto Facebook as fast as I can. Add me as a friend if we're not already and you can see!
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