We Hong out at the park

JULY 17TH, 2018

We began the morning with a trip on the Star Ferry to Kowloon. We enjoyed our ride, but were even more interested in learning about their history. Apparently, it was a fare raise on the Star Ferry that led to the Hong Kong riots of 1966 after a student went on a hunger strike to protest the fare increase. Also during WWII, the Japanese commandeered the fleet and used them to transport prisoners of war. Several were bombed and sunk by the U.S. but two were recovered and put back in service.

We got to the Tsim Sha Tsui area and walked around along the coast, taking in the view of Hong Kong Island. This is also usually where the Avenue of Stars is, but it is under construction so we didn’t see this area. We walked around a bit and the area seems to be mostly high end shopping and hotels, with some people trying to sell Chuck watches and custom suites.

We headed back to the island to Hong Kong Park and soon discovered how confusing it can be to get around here. We would randomly realize some streets had various levels (like upper and lower Wacker Drive but more confusing) and there is a maze of streets, making us appreciate our city’s grid system a bit more. We also discovered that at any point you can walk in a door and be inside a huge shopping mall which could be used to get around the area without ever walking outside; which makes sense for a such a humid area. Finally we made it to the park. We wandered around, relaxing by the pond and watching turtles sunbathing. The park is home to an aviary and we enjoyed walking through and seeing all the birds, many of which we had never seen before.

For lunch, we found a local spot thanks to a website that finds non-tourist restaurants by area (thanks Max). It was a noodle shop with only about 4 items on the menu. The noodles and broth were incredible.

Beautiful birds we don't get to see in the U.S.

Next, we took a junk boat cruise through the harbor. As we cruised along we were in awe over how large the city really is. We were finally able to put into the perspective all the places we had been and yet how much more there was to explore. It was a never ending skyline.

We were also warned that there was a Level 3 typhoon warning, which we didn’t exactly know what that meant, but sounded scary. We ventured out to dinner anyway and found Dim Tai Fung for more dim sum. This was a much better experience than our first attempt at dim sum in Hong Kong and we enjoyed everything we ordered.