Hong Kong & Macau 2008 Day 2

Today we were going for a walk around the Peak, and along the way, revisiting some of our old favourites that we were all too familiar with. Firstly, a ride on the Mid-Levels Escalator and then lunch at the must-revisit roast meats shop along Wellington Street. Lunch was the expensive roast duck rice that always comes in big portions, together with the yummy watercress soup and iceberg lettuce in oyster sauce.

Breakfast of our dearly-missed milk tarts

On the Mid-Levels Escalator

View of the streets below

Roast duck rice and the yummy watercress soup

After lunch, we continued our ride up the escalator and made our way to the zoo. Most of the animals were where they were previously, except for the leopard which was nowhere to be seen. Think its exhibit was removed.

Relaxing on a bench in the zoo

Some of the animals at the mammal section

Espying a mini rainbow created by the water sprinklers

We moved on to the birds section of the zoo, where the colourful parrots were raising a squawking cacophony and the cages really stank of bird poo. Slug and I gazed at the mandarin ducks with wistful envy - they were so loving.

We just sat at the benches and basked in the sunlight for a while by the fountain in the zoo, before moving on to the plants section. A peaceful rest amongst the trees and water with minimal brain activity - I really could not ask for more.

Watching a majestic Black Kite encircling above us

Clean and scenic loos at the playground in the zoo

It was next to the plants garden where the carnivorous plants fascinated Slug.

Pretty orchids in bloom

Obscured view of the commercial buildings from the zoo

We ambled on to the tram station, and took the expensive tram ride up to the Peak. Although not the first anymore, the tram ride never failed to exhilarate me because of the bumpiness and the steep inclines.

Slug and I on the Peak Tram

Obscured view of the skyline from the Peak

Upon reaching the Peak, we found Starbucks waving to us and we had some comfort food there before going for a little walk around the area. From the Peak, we found and got on a quiet path called Lugard Road (shouldn't be called a road since it was too narrow for vehicles) that led us into the greenery.

Enjoying some frappe and pastries at Starbucks

The quiet Lugard Road

On a bright and clear day where you can even see Kowloon and the hills behind

The weird wok-shaped Peak Tower and the many visitors at the top of it

What followed was us enjoying the stroll, admiring the breathtaking skyline below, peeking into the heavily-fenced/walled up mansions along the road, and making a racket shrill enough to frighten the birds away. Slug lamented that he should have brought his binoculars, so that he could peek into those luxurious rooms and watch that elusive Black Kite.

Unobstructed views of Central and that shiny towering ifc building

As we walked towards the west, we were nearing Harlech Road which joins Lugard Road. The sun also began to dip, and we had to shield our eyes from those strong orange rays.

Views of Sheung Wan in the west

At a desolate park in the beginning of Harlech Road

Taking a rest on a rock

Surrounded by greenery

View of the Pok Fu Lam reservoir from Harlech Road

We continued our slow walk (more like trudge) along Harlech Road, this time too busy panting away to make any more noise. The road brought us back to the Peak, its shopping malls and its disgustingly massive throngs of people. To conclude, we finished the 3km walk within 3 hours! Quite an accomplishment for the day, though I wished we could have continued with the Pok Fu Lam Trail, but that would take us another 3 or 4 hours.

Out of curiosity, we ventured up Mt Austin Road, a short uphill road that led us to the Victoria Peak Garden and the ultimate peak - Victoria Peak (we never got there though). We sighed in envy at those extravagant condominiums on this side of the Peak, imagine the sweeping views and clean air that the residents enjoy! We just relaxed at the garden and watched a Christmas party for kindergarten children going on.

Victoria Peak Garden

One of the luxurious condos along Mt Austin Road

Me chasing sparrows

We watched with amusement at how cute and exuberant these kids (a mixture of Asian and Caucasian kids with such professional English accents that we deduced to have highly affluent parents) were, and also frowned at the extravagance of the party (they were enjoying Haagen Daz ice-cream cakes! Back then, we were happy enough to eat Hero cakes during preschool).

All of a sudden, a loud "Ho ho ho" startled us and we watched in incredulousness as Santa appeared from behind the bushes. All the kids shrieked and dashed towards Santa, surrounding him and hanging on to his pants. This lovely image of this homely patriarch smiling benevolently at these children was shattered when the kids started to accuse Santa of being fake. One frowned, "You are not so fat afterall", while the rest were hurling "Liar!" and "You are not real!" at the poor Santa. I totally could relate to this poor guy, who still continued to talk merrily to them.

The scrutinizing kids assessing Santa's authenticity

If I were Santa, I would have flung these kids out of the garden

Santa proceeded to the pavillion, where the kids and teachers had gathered, and started to give out presents (of course, without first asking the kids "Have you been naughty or nice?"). Upon receiving their allocated presents, the kids jumped off from Santa's lap and started to scratch and rip the wrapping paper off. We could not believe the value of those presents - Barbie dolls, bubble maker, action figures etc straight from Toys R Us, and they fricking did not look cheap. Lucky kids!

The delighted whoop from a boy who now had a spanking new toy to show off

The sun had set and it was time to go

We left the garden, and walked further along the road to catch our last glimpse of the Hong Kong skyline. I was horrifically disgusted to see a layer of brown smog hanging low on the island, thanks to motor vehicles and the industries from nearby China.

Extent of air pollution evident in this photo

We descended the road and returned to the Peak Galleria, where we had more comfort food at Mac. You may scoff "You went to Hong Kong to eat Mac?", but hey, the Mac here has a greater variety than that back home. This season, we saw the introduction of fish fingers, clam chowder and ebi rice burger. YUM.

Sun setting over Aberdeen

Me at the beginning of the Pok Fu Lam Trail (will attempt it someday)

Glorious sunset

At McDee's

I love fast food!

The Peak Galleria

One last look at the stunning nightscape

After dinner, we took the Peak Tram back to the Mid Levels. We were greatly pissed by two obese Middle Eastern tourists, who wanted to reserve the window seats of the tram for themselves and their families. One of them, as wide as the tram door, blocked everyone's passage into the tram and ushered his family in. He signalled for the other fat one to come over, and the latter used a baby stroller to push his way through the crowd. He was actually using the baby stroller wheels to poke anyone (and dirty their arms or shirts) who obstructed his path. Infuriated by such cheap doings, I pushed away the baby stroller and used Slug to push the first obese bastard away. We managed to stake our claim on a window seat (but so did they). Now that's true Singaporean spirit.

We visited Lan Kwai Fong, but it really isn't like the nightspots we have back home, so we got bored and left quickly. It was then on to the supermarket in ifc mall for some serious sweeping of Japanese snacks and confectioneries that we cannot get back home into the cart.

ifc mall

It was quite amazing to see, at 10pm, there were still quite a number of office workers hanging around the commercial buildings, with some returning to work after a quick puff downstairs. No wonder they looked like zombies. I could not fathom how they could live such a lifestyle. Couldn't help sniggering inwardly because I was on a vacation!