hong kong..such a remarkable city, really.. busy..lots of people, a ton of huge buildings..ya..it never sleeps, i dont think!
we had booked our flights back to spend a good chunk of the day in hong kong and leave for vancouver at midnight. we had gotten some info from our friend suzette in manila (thanks zette!!) and were headed out wednesday morning.
as we woke up and had our last breakfast in the philippines for a long time, the tears began.. saying goodbye to mom and dad and emma was hard..living across the world is so difficult..however we hoped the time til we see them all again is not as long as this last time..
papa dropped us off at the ninoy aquino international airport nice and early (9am) and we availed of his lounge passes again - this time, first class lounge.. :)
jonathan had an upgrade for his seat, again, to HK..i let him have the pleasure, even though he said i could have it.. :) sharing is a good thing. :)
just before 1pm we got to hong kong..after we passed thru immmigration (and another stamp in our brand new passports!) and got our carry-ons put in a locker for the day, we headed out on the airport express to hong kong island..the airport express takes only 24 minutes to get from the airport to hong kong island - a 35.3 km transit trek - and the train is QUIET! and the seats like those of a high end charter bus!! woot!
the peak tram..a tram that goes up to victoria peak that overlooks the city. we decided to take a cab, as it was a bit of walk and with only a small window of time to tour around HK, a red taxi cab, which they all are red, seemed to be the best way. for a few dollars, we were taken to the peak tram (the cab driver was psycho!! fast and sharp corners..hmmm.. altho there was a tv like thing on the back of the front passenger's seat..kinda cool! maybe to distract from the driving!) we got our tickets and stood in line to wait.
the tram takes only about 7 minutes..and at one point, as you can see a photo, the buildings are at almost a 45 degree angle...totally crazy!!
once we got to the top we went thru the peak mall up many escalators to the very top for the breaktaking view of the surrounding buildings...so crazy cool. the kids looked thru some binocular thingys.. :) .. caleb even took our photo up there..(thanks son!) and after we had lunch at bubba gump's restaurant, that overlooked the view, we found a cab to take us down to aberdeen, the harbor onthe south side of hong kong island where the famous JUMBO floating restaurant is. when we got there, we found a guy to take us on a tour on his sampan. we saw the JUMBO, we saw rickety house boats, with huge towers and buildings behind them - such a drastic comparison - and then a bunch of fishing boats. so much red, and bright red!!
when we got off we looked for another cab which is cab # 3 who is a psycho cab driver!! we were going to get dropped back at the airport express, to get to kowloon, we were to get on the MTR, not on the airport express. needless to say, we missed going to kowloon altogether and were back at the aiport..thats ok..we hung out in cathay pacific's first class lounge, the wing. :)
rosie and i had a good laugh in the mom and tot bathroom..and the amount of funny signs we saw...i wish i could have taken more of them..."wash your hand, please." so are they just wanting you to wash one? heheh...you get the drift.. :)
so that is the last blog of our holidays..hope you enjoyed our trip..we had a great time..thanks again mom and dad for having us and for giving us airmiles to come. it was so great to be with you. and to finally meet little emma.xoxo
a few pics from hong kong..click here.
2 comments:
Wow - Trace, you took some really great photos (as always) and captured your trip from so many neat perspectives! I'm sure the kids will cherish this time for a long while! What a great experience - thanks for sharing! I was one of your journey 'followers' :)
Oooh! Hong Kong. Wow. So jealous.
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