We were to meet some friends at 9, but declined so I could sleep in. Yesterday killed me! So much walking. Even the bottoms of my feet hurt. We finally left the ship at about 10, but had some business to take care of, so didn't really get moving until 11. We had agreed to meet our friends at the top of the Mid-Levels Escalator which goes down in the morning then up after 10:30, bringing workers to Central Hong Kong then back home again in the evening. It was 1/2 mile of escalators! The Star Ferry hauls thousands of commuters across Victoria Harbor to and from Kowloon. Their pier was right outside of Ocean Terminal. We took the ferry over then walked for blocks on elevated walkways until we arrived at the first escalator. We didn't realize how many series of escalators there were when we started. We had about 20 minutes to get to the top on time, we did a short marathon to get to the top! I was totally sweating by the time we made it, and at the top was.....nothing! It really was just for commuters, ending on a neighborhood street. Our friends had gone on long before since there was no place to wait. We started the walk down, headed for Hollywood Road which is full of antique stores. When we finally arrived there, after MANY stairs, it was about time to get a taxi to meet for lunch, so we didn't really get to visit the antique stores. It was nice to just look in the windows though and see something of the area.
We met up with HM, a friend of Mel's brother's, whom we had met when we were here before. He took us to a wonderful restaurant in the hotel connected to the Convention Center. HM ordered a number of Dim Sum dishes. I commented to Mel that I'd never had BBQ pork that good in Chinatown. The waiter smiled, like what a tourist I was! Sad but true. The lunch was excellent and HM's company was nice. He had to return to work, so left us there at some shops. By then it was POURING rain outside. We were able to follow covered, elevated walkways for blocks again, visiting a couple of stores then going to the Star Ferry pier to return to Kowloon. One of the stores we visited was the Chinese Arts and Crafts Store. It has the best of every arts and crafts item done in China, and the prices reflect it! There are some jade carvings priced at over a million dollars! And gorgeous silk clothing, ceramics, rugs, anything made in China. It was almost like visiting a museum where you can touch and try things on.
By the time we reached Kowloon, the rain and pretty much stopped. We returned to the ship to leave some packages, then went out on the street again. Mel wanted to try to find a tuxedo, so we visited almost every men's store in the Harbor City Mall, which is attached to Ocean Terminal. They had all the high end name brands, so tux's were $1k and up. We wondered why we hadn't ordered one from a tailor the day before so we'd be able to pick it up that day. We then headed to a tailor recommended by the dance instructor on board. Within an hour, he had both of us measured, with fabric picked out, Mel for a tux, me for a cashmere coat. Should be at Mel's office in another week or so. Would have been fun to have them on the ship, but we just didn't think of it the first day, we were too busy visiting markets.
Sail away from Hong Kong was spectacular. It was raining until just before we were to pull out. HAL had hired a troupe of dancers and drummers to wish us farewell from the roof of the Ocean Terminal, right next to the ship. I realized that they would be standing right outside of our cabin, so we watched them and sail away from our verandah. The lights were incredible as we sailed out of the harbor. What a great city. Glad we had 2 full days to enjoy it.
With 3 sea days, one would think I'd have time to post to my blog, but never did get to it until now, the day after Shanghai! Hopefully I won't get this far behind again. It's stressful. LOL
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