Most of the reason I was in HK was to get the Indian visa, as I discussed before. I had to be at the consulate early on Monday, and just made it in time. Since it's so far from the office, I decided to just bum around Monday afternoon. I figured I'd see Victoria Peak at a minimum, but try to make it to Hong Kong Park and the Zoological and Botanical Gardens too. I went to Hong Kong Park first, as it was kind of on the way from the MTR stop to the Peak Tram. The park is pretty cool, and has some natural landscapes, like a dry, desert like area and a very humid and jungle type area. Unfortunately, my camera died after all of 4 pictures. That's what I get for not charging it. It was early though, so I ran back to the hotel and charged the camera for 2 hours. You will all be happy I did.
I took a pretty large number of pictures, and there's one thing you'll see in many of them. That's the Bank of China Tower. It's not the tallest building in Hong Kong anymore, but it's very impressive looking, both day and night. It was designed by I.M. Pei and takes design cues from bamboo. I didn't go up the tower, maybe some other day.
The building on the right is Two International Finance Center (or Centre), currently the tallest building in Hong Kong. The name is horrible, but whatever.
Another shot of the BOC Tower, with the clouds reflecting in the glass. I took all of these as I was walking up to the Biological Gardens.
This is St. Johns Cathedral. When it was built, it was decried as an eyesore. Now it's one of the only buildings left from the late 1800s.
Just down the hill from the Biological Gardens is a little piece of home away from home, literally.
When entering the gardens, one of the first things you see is King George. I tried to get lots of pictures in the zoo and aviary, but I didn't want to use my flash much, so some of the pictures turned out really blurry.
An orangutang. Not the best picture, but entertaining.
Flamingoes!
Leaving the Zoo.
After I left the Zoo, I walked over the the Peak Tram. Let me tell you, if you come out to Hong Kong, you'd better like walking up hills. It's nothing but up and down hills. Some of the roads seem to drive straight up the hillside, which is pretty weird. The walk from the Central station to the Zoological Gardens sucked, especially in the heat. It's not even that far, just straight up the mountain.This was another cool building I saw. Lots of neat architecture on the Hong Kong side.
I didn't get a picture from the base of the Peak Tram. It wasn't that impressive. The tram runs at nearly a 45 deg angle up the hill sometimes. It stops part way up the hill, so I took this shot. It's better to sit on the right side of the tram, which I learned after the fact.
Hong Kong from above. Oh, and a picture of me.
Looking southwest from the end of the tram.
That's actually Victoria Peak. The tram doesn't run to the top, just most of the way.
A view over Central, the harbor and Kowloon in the background.
I wanted to see the view both at day and night, as the night view is supposedly spectacular. There's a little mall at the top, so I ate at The Peak Lookout restaurant. You definetly pay for the view, not the food. Seriously overrated. But the wait was certainly worth it.
After that, I took the tram back down the hill, and headed back to the hotel. A couple more shots of the Bank of China Tower.
I like this one, with the other building in the reflection.
Wednesday night I headed over to Kowloon to find a tailor. The prices on the Kowloon side are a bit cheaper, with suits around HK$2000-2500. I had a recommendation, so I went and got fitted. It turned out okay. I probably would hunt around more for anyone who visits.I walked to the waterfront, and got this picture of Hong Kong.
This is just to the left of the previous picture. Unfortunatly my camera is a bit limiting, so you can't make out what any of the neon says. Believe me, it's a still picture, but nothing is still! All the neon is constantly changing color and flowing. It's super cool.
Thursday I was back in Kowloon, and made a trip to Temple St, which is a shopping arcade. It was okay, with lots of bright lights, but they were mostly selling trinkets and stuff, so I didn't buy anything. I guess there are better shopping districts elsewhere.
A restaurant on Temple St. Everything you see was alive and moving. When they say fresh seafood, they mean it!
This was the last picture from the night. Nothing special, except in nearly gave me a seizure. All of the lights were moving very fast.
Saturday was just spent catching the train back to Guangzhou. So I hope you all had fun in this little adventure. I know I did! I'm really looking forward to moving to Hong Kong. My boss and I discussed a timeframe for moving, and it looks like it will be whenever I want! It will probably be around the first or second week of August, depending on how quick the internal stuff gets worked out. I've already begun the process.
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