TSIMSHATSUI, HONG KONG

DAY 1-2:
The journey of a thousand miles has begun! We are dipping our toes into Asia with the first couple of days in Hong Kong, an impressive city indeed. Masses of humanity seem to co-exist in a surprisingly orderly way despite the sheer volume of people. It is not quite the stereotype I expected. Definitely seeing a lot of synthetic fabric: animal prints, polka dots and rompers.... the occasional yucky street smell... and more cigarette smoke than I would like. But people are friendly and patient with our non-existent Mandarin (???Cantonese), the crowds flow, and even the street hustlers selling their ‘rolexes’ leave you be after just a small shake of the head.

Buz and Jesse have crashed after our day of exploring. Zach, like me, doesn’t share that special ability to sleep at will.

A 4am wake-up (Aussie time zone still) saw us having races on the treadmills at the hotel gym. I didn’t win. Had a feast at the hotel breakfast, took a deep breath and entered the MTR train station. Whoa, the crowds. Felt like a mama duck, continually checking we were all managing to stay together (& lucky we did- as we witnessed one family getting separated as the train doors closed sharply in their face before all managed to board).

Boxes ticked: the Hong Kong Park (aviary, botanical gardens, fountains- enjoyable even if you’re not a senior citizen), the Man Mo temple, Antique markets, Temple Street night markets, trains mastered. Loved the Man Mo temple. Felt like a bit of an intruder watching the very devout light candles, incense, and pray while rocking/bowing... it was so beautiful inside. Market shopping always fun and the boys got a few small trinkets while attempting to master the art of bargaining. I don’t think any of us excel at this skill... yet. Sooooo difficult to walk past all the shops knowing our suitcases need to stay light... for now. Besides, I don’t think I can rock animal prints.

Boxes not ticked: Victoria Peak, as the line to enter the trams involved over an hour wait in the sun. Couldn’t be bothered today. Tomorrow is another day, though!

DAY 3:
Ngong Ping cable car ride to the Big Buddha was AMAZING and quite a lot scary. Secretly glad we didn’t opt for the glass floor carriage. Zach conquered a fear of cable cars only to ask to do it all again on the way back. There was even a bit of floss-dancing in the carriage on the way down. The Big Buddha did not disappoint in its size. The Po Lin Monastery was chockers with golden statues of Buddha, celestial beings, incense smells, whatnot. A definite highlight of HK.

Lines to Victoria Peak trams we’re still so long (poor Buz who loves mountains) that we opted for a revisit to Temple Street markets. The fidget spinner stalls did well from us.Read more