Hong Kong Island Hopping

We had a very early start to the day today with a trip to our hotel swimming pool.  Rachel and Abby had their hearts set on swimming as soon as we arrived in Hong Kong yesterday but we were able to stall them until the pool opened today at 7:00am.  The pool was on the roof of the hotel - no view but a nice way to start the day nonetheless...

When we were able to convince Jonathan to get up and moving from his room a couple of hours later, we made our way down to Victoria Harbour again and caught the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island.

We bought tickets for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour around Hong Kong Island and this allowed us to explore many amazing sights and locations throughout the long, hot day.

Our first stop was Victoria Peak.  We got off the bus and waited with a throng of people to take the tram to the top for an incredible panoramic view of Hong Kong.  

After catching the next bus, it whisked us around to the less populated back side of Hong Kong Island through a two kilometre long tunnel.

Stunning vistas can be found from Deep Bay Cove, one of the more popular beaches on the island because of it's proximity to the more heavily populated areas on Hong Kong Island.

Repulse Bay was also a gorgeous area.  From here, the bus wound up and around some very steep and twisty roads to Stanley.

We got off the bus again in Aberdeen, a region that boasts many fisherman.  We hopped on a little boat called a sampan for a quick tour around the harbour.  Nestled in amongst the fishing boats was a huge floating restaurant called Jumbo which looked a little kitschy from the outside but turned out to be a little exclusive once inside.  After a quick look at the menu, we decided to hold off until we found a more suitable restaurant for Jonathan and the kids...

Once we climbed back on the bus, we raced the rainclouds back to the ferry and almost won.  While we didn't really want to get soaked in the rain, we did appreciate the way the sun, clouds and rain played over the islands and the ocean in the distance!

After a bite to eat for dinner, Jennifer and I dragged the kids out to the Temple Street Night Market (they weren't exactly kicking and screaming).  They both had a little bit of money to spend and loved the process of negotiating the prices for the objects of their desire.  Both of our girls came back to the hotel bearing items that are likely worth far more than they paid for them!  An eye opening experience for all :-)

Tomorrow morning we've gotta head back to the airport to return to Seoul.  Our time in Hong Kong has been brief but we now know just how amazing this city and country is and we also have a better frame of reference for how this country and culture relates to Korea and Japan.

See you soon from Seoul,

Andy