Hong Kong
FEAST
I slept in this morning after staying up late last night finishing several days of entries in the Food III section.
Lunch was fantastic downstairs in the fancy mall. I'll even give the place a GI tract!
I've got about three hours before the sun sets to hope for the clouds to go away! Here's a cloudy view of Victoria Harbor.
No dice on the sunny skies, damn it! It was a nice consolation, however, going to this terrific seafood joint across the harbor east of Central.
February 3, 2018
"You're my blue sky, you're my sunny day...." Yeah, right....
Victoria Harbor
Victoria Harbor
HarborAtNight
HarborView01
Well, after a quick, two-hour flight to Hong Kong, I'm back where I started six weeks ago. After checking in, I bolted to the China Ferry Terminal here in Kowloon to catch a 1:30 boat to Macau. Thankfully, I made it with a few minutes to spare but only because they docked late. Surprise, surprise, Macau was cloudy, but it was still a nice afternoon spent in this Portuguese-influenced, autonomous territory of the Republic of China.
If you visit Macau, be sure to have your passport with you as you have to go through customs in each direction of the trip. There were lots of gaudy casinos all over town, but a quick cab ride to the ruins of St. Paul's Church was very nice. From there, using only a tourist map I got at the ferry terminal as my cellular signal wasn't working, I managed to walk all the way back to the terminal for my 6:30 ride back to Hong Kong. While meandering, I walked through the MGM Grand with all its fancy shopping and stuff, and that was pretty cool.
I grabbed dinner at the ferry terminal. Believe me, don't knock these places before trying them. I didn't realize the return trip would bring me to the Hong Kong side. Luckily, it was just one stop on the subway back to Kowloon across the harbor.
I finished up the evening by having a few drinks at the bar way up on the 118th FL. It claims to be highest bar in the world within a building at sea level, and the view really was spectacular.
February 1, 2018
"Hello, fancy-hotel receptionist. Don't mind these bummy clothes and this backpack. I'm actually one of those Internet billionaires."
View of Victoria Harbor from my hotel room.
The ruins of St. Paul's in Macau.
The view from what used to be the inside of St. Paul's; it was destroyed in a fire and only the facade remains.
Durian at a fruit stand in Macau; it didn't smell too bad.
View of Kowloon from ferry returning from Macau. My hotel sits in that skyscraper.
View from the hotel bar on the 118th FL. It's supposedly the world's highest bar.
Golly! It's cloudy, again! I headed to Victoria Park this morning just to check it out. It's not large, but it's quite nice with a small tennis stadium on premises. From there, I headed to swanky Central to ask about a lunch reservation at the Italian restaurant, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana. Luckily, they had a table available at the front of the store near the bar, i.e.- the riff raff section. The meal was sublime and a welcome departure from all the Asian food I've been consuming the last six weeks.
After yelling at Tom Hanks on the television for not telling Meg Ryan's character that he's the one who's been e-mailing her in "You've Got Mail," I headed downstairs to the fancy mall at the base of this skyscraper for dinner at a Vietnamese-Thai joint. It was OK.
February 2, 2018
"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam...."
View of hotel's inside bar.
Fountain at Victoria Park.
Greenery at Victoria Park.
Mall flower display.
Another shot of Victoria Harbor from hotel room.
Night view of Hong Kong.