It’s 11.19 pm and Sarah has just informed me that I have to write the blog tonight. It would have been nice if she told me a bit earlier. You told me at about 8.30pm that you were planning to do it. I said I’d call the blog Ilin (which is your new Chinese name apparently) but you said as you were writing it, you’d name it. I should have realised that you would have forgotten. You are forgetful like that.
The plan for today was to use our hop on hop off bus tickets for the second day. We left the hotel mid morning and walked the short distance to the ferry. Not long later, we were across the harbour and preparing to go on the green loop tour.
We sat up top in the open air once again, despite it being a cool, overcast day. As we got on the bus, 4 of our friends from our trivia team on the ship appeared out of nowhere and boarded as well. Soon we were on our way, listening to the commentary as we went. Our friends got off at the first or second stop as they were planning to take a public bus to the top of the peak. We waved goodbye and continued along our way.
We covered new territory from our journey yesterday and came upon Ocean Park, an amusement park which some bright spark has built on top of a mountain. In spite of my love of roller coasters and amusement parks, I had already decided not to go there as there isn’t that many rides there.
We continued on through narrow, winding mountain roads toward the small town of Stanley. We passed by a lot of pretty bays and beaches and some very expensive houses and apartment blocks. Apparently this area is very sought after and is some of the most expensive land in Hong Kong.
Eventually we came upon Stanley, where most of the people got off the bus. We stayed on to make the return loop back home again, because the only thing of interest in Stanley is a market. Not really our cup of tea.
Back along the winding roads again, although this time we had much better views of the scenery. It was cold. And windy. And the wind was cold. I think I was frozen solid.
We returned via the area known as Aberdeen. The journey was very slow because of a one lane road and very heavy traffic. The town is built on the side of a steep mountain and very tall apartment blocks surrounded us on all sides. After struggling through the traffic, we made it back to the ferry wharf.
We got the ferry back to Kowloon and had some lunch before returning to our hotel room to figure out our next plan. The bus tour of Kowloon was due to leave soon so we walked downstairs and one block over, which is where this tour leaves from. Nice and handy!
This bus ride was relatively short and took us through shopping districts and market areas. We were back within little more than an hour.
An afternoon nap was on the cards after that, and someone may have accidentally drooled all over his wife’s pillow while sleeping. It’s okay, I’ve swapped the pillow with yours.
After missing the night tour yesterday, we made sure we knew exactly where it started from and at what time today. We went to the start point (the same spot as this afternoon) and once again there were our American trivia friends. I think they’re stalking us.
Luckily it wasn’t too cold a night, so I didn’t turn into an icicle while sitting in the open top bus. I was prepared though, wearing 2 jumpers and a jacket. I also has my beanie in my pocket just in case my head started to freeze.
A lot of the night tour was through the same area as the tour of this afternoon, but it was great to see all the night lights and everything.
After the tour finished, we bid farewell to our friends. We don’t expect to see them again, although you never can be too sure.
We had spent quite some time earlier this afternoon researching where would be a good place to get a decent authentic Chinese meal within walking distance from our hotel. Just before we left, we had a recommendation from Heather, the assistant cruise director from the ship. We thought we’d give it a try.
We found the place without too much trouble (even though Heather’s directions were to go downstairs, Alan headed in another door to go up so yes, I found it without too much trouble) and went in only to find we had a 35 minute wait for a table. That’s ok, we didn’t really mind waiting. They seemed to be putting all the locals ahead of us, although they may have already made bookings for all we know.
It was worth the wait. We had some awesome food, especially the crispy skin duck which was just scrumptious. We decided to steer clear of the jelly fish and strange taste chicken.
I suppose I should get some sleep now. Tomorrow were planning on going to Macau for the day. Not really sure what we’ll be doing once we get there, but we’ll figure it out, I suppose.
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