Travel Diaries Hong Kong 2006 Day 7 - Family Day | Day 7 - Family Day |
| Sunday, 10 September 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Today is Sunday, and one week since we set off from York. As most people in Hong Kong tend to do some work on a Saturday morning, Sunday is the day that is put aside for the family. Today we had a family meal planned with a number of Polly's friends - which are treated basically as family members. They are all people that Clara grew up with and are basically people who you would call Aunty and Uncles in the UK. When we woke up this morning Clara wasn't feeling any better, she had a cold, but her mum insisted she visit the doctor to get some tablets. The doctors is in central and we took a short taxi ride down the hill. As we went outside the weather today was much cooler (only 25 degrees) but still a 75% humidity, making it still feel quite stuffy. When we arrived at the doctors - they are open on a Sunday - there were not many people waiting (you don't have to make an appointment, just turn up!). Clara went to see the doctor which costs about 10 pounds including any medication they give you. While Clara was at the doctor I went for a short walk around Central, past a few of the buildings I had walked past the other evening we went from the French restaurant. I also walked up a number of the famous streets that have steps on them. They are too steep for a road and so have steps so people can walk up them. At the top of one street was an old police station we had driven past before on the bus. The old police station was built by the British in a very classical British style and has a small jail at the side to keep the criminals in. The building is no longer used as a police station and seems to be falling into disrepair. I'm sure its only a matter of time until it gets ripped down and a skyscraper built in its place! Once Clara had finished in the doctor we went with her mum to the restaurant in Tin Hau on the Eastern side of Hong Kong Island. We took a MTR for the few stops as this is the easiest and quickest way! On arrival at the restaurant we were sat at a large round table with the spinning middle I had seen before. The meal was for 11 people and everyone started to pour into the room. I met Aunty Bianca and Candy who I had seen before at Karen's wedding. I also met a number of their children Eunice, Lawrence and his pregnant wife Natalie, Lewis and Janice. The meal was Yum Cha (Dim-sum) and so we ordered many small dishes of all different types. I tried a couple of new dishes today including cows stomach marinated in a sauce. To be honest its not as bad as it sounds. If you didn't know what it was you would probably think it was squid as it is very chewy and white in colour. During the meal Candy commented on how I looked like I had put on weight since the wedding - looks like I've been eating too much food in Hong Kong! After the meal Clara was feeling a little better so we decided to take trip to the south side of Hong Kong Island to a place called Stanley. To get there we had to walk to catch a small minibus (which Clara affectionately calls Killer Bus) through the Aberdeen tunnel to the other side of the island. We walked from Tin Hau to Causeway Bay to catch the minibus. During the walk we passed through Victoria Park, a small park with many people inside. As I explained, Sunday is family day and everyone is out with their family. There is also a large Phillipino population in Hong Kong, mostly working as maids and cleaners in houses (Clara's parents have a Philipino cleaner). It is traditional that on Sunday it is their day off and they come to the park to sit with friends and family for the day. They bring with them a large plastic sheet to sit on and lots of food to share. It was a bit chaotic getting through the park and the surrounding area as there were thousands of people on the street. This was the busiest I had seen Hong Kong, even busier than the evenings when everyone finishes work! We eventually managed to weave our way through the people and get to the minibus stop where we took the number 40 to Stanley. These minibuses do not seem to follow a timetable and are very sparse inside. The minibuses do, however, accept Octopus card and it cost us about $9 to get to the other side of the island. Inside each 'Killer Bus' is an LED display of the bus's speed. Clara tells me that apparently in the past there were a lot of accidents with these buses and so there is now a speedo for the passengers to see and they can shout at the driver if he is going too fast! The route to Stanley first takes the Aberdeen tunnel under the hills of Hong Kong directly south. On leaving the tunnel the roads are very windy and follow the coast of the island. They are also quite hilly with frequent hairpin bends as they attempt to follow the lowest edges next to the sea away from the high mountains inland. The journey is very bumpy and twisty and not for anyone who gets sick easily, but it is quite spectacular and gives a very good view of the island. The south side of Hong Kong island is much less populated than the north and is the flats are mainly owned by the rich. There are a number of beaches on the south side for people to swim in the sea, and every beach appears to have lifeguards and a shark net to prevent sharks getting to the shore (and eating people). After the 20 minute ride we arrived in Stanley. This is a very touristy area, I would compare it to Scarborough or the English seaside, but that would give you totally the wrong idea. After getting off the bus we worked our way down the hill to the maritime musuem and temple at the bottom. The temple was very ordinary and nothing to say (I'm beginning to think that once you've seen a temple, you've seen them all...). The maritime museum is a little more exciting and is situated in a building that was originally built by the British and was moved from Central over to Stanley brick by brick as more land was needed. We didn't go in the museum as you had to pay but the view from outside was very nice - and the sun even managed to come out today. Next we moved onto Stanley market, a couple of streets of stalls bustling with tourists trying to buy souveniers. We looked around for a while and bought a couple of things including some post cards - they will be posted tomorrow so expect them next week! Apart from the busy market there is not really much to do in Stanley apart from eat in a restaurant so we decided to go back to the other side of the island. We got a number 6 bus to take us over the mountains via Wong Nai Chung Gap, a windy pass over the mountains, the more scenic route instead of going through the Aberdeen tunnel. The bus winds up the road at quite a speed and sitting on the top deck you could see that traffic whizzed past only centimeters away and the edge very close on the other side. From the top of the pass it was possible to see the beech in Repulse Bay, one of the best in the area, along with the apartment blocks with swimming pools (the sign of a rich building). You could also see the Hong Kong golf course and the view of the sea and some of the outlying islands. Eventually the bus reached the top and worked its way down the other side, again past many hairpin bends and tight corners and down to Wan Chai. On the way down it is possible to see the Hong Kong cemetery. The cemetery is very small and places are limited - I believe you can only be burried for a number of years before you must be dug up and cremated. The cemetary is set on many terraces (like a European vineyard) to make the most of its hilly location. The cemetery is also made up of many different parts, separated for the different religions including Christian, Catholic and Muslim. As we arrived in Wan Chai we got off outside the Hopewell Center. This building is circular at the top and contains a restaurant which rotates around the building as you eat (Clara calls this the 'Revlolting restaurant', and no that's not a spelling mistake!). For the rest of the late afternoon we decided to do a little shopping, we looked in a number of DVD shops to find some more cheap classic Chinese movies. We also looked in a few shops selling Hello Kitty merchandise as Clara is an avid fan. We also looked in a shopping mall which was dedicated to computer games, DVD's and CD's. Over three floors there were about 50 small shops selling games and many different types of Manga and figures. The mall was quite full as there were still many people on the streets and was fairly old inside. It was strange to see a whole shopping mall dedicated to one things, but this seems to be the way it is in Hong Kong. After finishing our shopping we came back home by taking a taxi. We ate our evening meal with Clara's mum. The meal was a stew of potato and carrot in a tomato sauce served with spare ribs - and was very tasty indeed. We had a piece of banana cake which Polly had baked the day before - so overall it was a great meal. Tonight we're not going out as Clara still needs some rest to get better. We're going to write our postcards and get them posted and have another early night! Tomorrow, all being well, we'll be going to the peak, the highest point on Hong Kong island...
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