Hong Kong19 - 20 December 2010     

The kids were very ready for the three weeks winter break. The snow chaos in Europe put us off going back home, Elliot wanted a beach, Peter some peace and quiet anywhere and I had long time dream of going to Luang Prabang in Laos to the monks and jungle…and our shopping queen Matilda wanted big-city shopping anywhere…but she also exclaimed that it is no winter holiday with out snow… Not an easy task to please everybody! 


I spent a couple of days turning the computer inside out for good travel deals, and it being already November, didn’t make it any easier. Shortly before giving up, I managed to get it all together via various travel-booking websites and enquiries to different hotels. There are no travel agencies over here that help you with these kind of tailor made trips, they do package tours but with no room for flexibility, complete with guide and flag in tow – no thank you! Besides, we once tried to book one of those package tours to Okinawa in southern Japan, but they made it clear to us that if we were not fluent in Japanese, (even though we said we only wanted the air ticket and hotel room, no sightseeing) they refused to book us :(


So off we went with on a bargain ticket Cathay Pacific to Bangkok with a two nights stopover in Hong Kong, which gave us a full day in Hong Kong. As I have been in Hong Kong a couple of times before, I made up a program a la Japanese style i.e. “see everything in no time”! Well, it included the H.K. highlights and I also made some table reservations ahead at some popular restaurants, as we were there a weekend.

No time for temples or hiking to the family’s relief. We started down town in Tsim Sha Tsui and had a look in some shops and outlets, sorted Matilda’s X-mas present and some smart clothes for Elliot for New Years Eve. We walked down to the harbour and took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour from Kowloon over to Hong Kong Island.


  From  there we jumped on a bus that took us to the base of the Peak Tram. This being a Sunday, it was very busy, and we amused ourselves by observing the Chinese way of “queuing” - quite different to the Japanese way :)


Once on top of Victoria Peak, we had a magnificent view of Hong Kong and the surroundings. We were lucky it was a considerably clear day with not too much pollution. We went for a walk along the mountain before we had lunch with yummy dumplings up at the Sky Terrace building with an amazing view. We took the cable car back down again and Elliot, our train nerd, loved the double-decker trams - they are so Hong Kong! 

It was now afternoon and Peter and the kids returned to the hotel for a little rest while I took my camera for a walk and “lost myself” for a while in the myriads of narrow alleyways and street markets in the bustling Mong Kok area. I lost track of time but made my way back to our hotel, Royal Plaza, and had just enough time to have a quick look in the adjacent shopping complex "Grand Century Place" before it was time to leave for dinner. The hotel had a free shuttle to the Tsim Sha Tsui area and its end stop was by coincident right on One Peking Road, where the super cool Aqua restaurant is located! What luck!! 
If you ever come to Hong Kong, don’t miss this place both for the view and for the food/bar experience! It is on the top floor, all windows and with a magnificent view of the harbour skyline.
I had booked the place for 19.30, so we were there right in time for the spectacular laser show which starts sending rays from the skyscrapers at 20.00 every evening.

We got back to the hotel late in the evening, happy and tired after an amazing and very intensive day in Hong Kong. The following morning it was time to pack our bags and head out to the Airport to continue our adventures.