Hong Kong is beautiful! We were here before at the beginning of our trip but stayed exclusively at the Disneyland Resort. Now we are on a different Island and have seen a lot more of Hong Kong.
We arrived on Friday evening by train. Because Guangzhou is host the Asia Games in October there is a lot of construction and changes to their travel security. One passenger told me that it is different everythime he travels which is regularly. In the train station we had to put all of our bags through the x-ray machine. No big deal, usually, but here there was no single file line where people take turns. Everyone was pushing, shoving and skipping in line. We had 5 carry-on bags, two strollers and a small suitcase. Brian threw his on first and I panicked a little when it was my turn to throw my computer and purse onto the conveyor belt. I remembered that my friend warned my about watching my belongings while in the train station. I quickly formed a plan and let time come by between Brian and myself. He went first and I waited to let him grab his items before I sent mine. I had Daniel's little backpack in the bottom of his
stroller but was not able to get it out so I just rolled through the metal detector. It beeped and I looked back at the attendant and he said nothing, so I kept rolling. My plan worked as Brian scooped up all of our belongings. From then on the rest of the trip was pretty boring compared the the adrenaline rush of their security.
With all of our stuff in tow we only got two seats for the 4 of us. We crammed our stuff in anywhere that we could and relaxed before the train pulled away from the station. Our two seats faced two seats and a man sat across from us. Daniel asked me "what is his name"? The man replied "Raj, what is your name"? From then on we had a great visit with him. Raj was originally from India but lived in Hong Kong most of his adult life. He told us about the history of Hong Kong and what it was like living on an Island that has over 7 million people. He asked about where we were staying and said that he had never heard of it but would call for us when we got into Hong Kong. When he got off of the phone he told us that our hotel was in a factory district and we would be far away from any of the attractions we wanted to see. He offered to help us get into a new hotel but I declined his offer since I had already paid in advance. At first I was
confused because the website said they were close to so many things and then I worried that I had made a big mistake. Raj told us not to worry as we could take a train, bus or taxi anywhere we wanted to go. When we got to Hong Kong he helped us find our luggage and a taxi to our hotel. Brian said tht he was a good ambassador for Hong Kong.
Our hotel is amazing! It is a sky scrapper and they upgraded us, for free, to a suite! We have almost an 180 degree view of the city and mountains and the water with floor to ceiling windows! I can even see the view while I am in the shower. Our bed faces the view and it is breath taking at night. We have a fridge and a kitchen table. I wish we had had all of this space while in China. We are on the 61st floor and have to take one elevator up to the 41st floor get off and walk down a hallway to take another elevator up to our floor. Needless to say, you need to remember everything before you leave for the day! There is a mall, two playgrounds and a ferry right outside of the hotel. The train station is also close by so it is not too bad.
Our first day here we took the train to another part of the island where we walked and walked. They have many high end stores for shopping. We rode a cable to car to the top of a mountain. While up there we saw more stores and some beautiful views. We came back down and headed towards the train station. We stopped along the way to see an Anglican (Episcopal) church that was built in the 1800's. Hong Kong had been leased to the British Government from the Chinese until a few years ago. The Church too was beautiful and reminded me of a couple of my Grandfather's former Churches (he was an Episcopal priest). It felt like home to me as I walked around looking at the ornate carvings and stained glass windows. It is a Cathedral where they have services and is also open it to the public.
We had dinner and made it back to our hotel by 6:30pm with the intention to go to bed early. I thought we could watch a movie and go to bed but that didn't exactly happen. There was a problem with our TV and the hotel staff had to work on it for over an hour. When they finished, the movie we wanted to watch wasn't available so we watched "The Incredibles" on our lap top.
Today we are heading to park that is similar to Sea World. We are getting a later start than we had planned but we will get there, eventually.
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