When I last wrote, we had spent
the morning in the Business lounge because of the extreme wet outside.
Eventually it cleared enough for us to venture to the ‘Star Seafood &
Roasted Goose Restaurant’ on the recommendation of one of the staff for a late
yum cha lunch. We ordered far too much, not having any idea of the size of the
dishes, but it was fun trying different things.
Some of the array of dishes & Wes consulting the menu
Afterwards we caught the
double-decker tram ($1.10HK) to Wan Chai & wandered around in between showers.
We feel we should travel on these trams as often as we can, as it will be a
very sad day when they disappear from the streets. Back at our hotel we shared
drinks in the lounge & then Wes worked magic with the laptop & TV &
we were able to catch up on AFL 360 episodes.
On Wednesday we woke to sleet again, but it was still very
steamy – the humidity meant that it felt like 42⁰. After breakfast we caught
the hotel shuttle bus to Hong Kong Station & from there made our way to the Star
Ferry & Tsim Sha Tsui. We don’t really enjoy Kowloon as much as the Island,
so our visit was quite short. We popped into the Information Centre, which is
tiny, but well-staffed by helpful people. While Wes was asking about Discovery
Bay, I chatted to Cy, who had picked our accent as his daughter went to
Melbourne 10 years ago to study & now calls Malvern East home.
We have never been to Discovery
Bay & decided to catch the very comfortable ferry back at Central ($2HK)
& have a look around. We walked for about an hour & enjoyed looking at
the beach & imagining just how busy it would be in peak season. It was very
quiet indeed when we were there & many shops & restaurants were closed.
When we returned to Central we
were hungry & found the Crystal Jade restaurant inside the IFC buildings.
We were finally able to order chilli prawns & some deep fried whitebait –
lovely meal indeed. Our favourite Hong Kong restaurant, Szechuan Lau, which has
moved position many times over the years, has finally closed & we were
desperate to find somewhere to replace it. Perhaps this will be the one.
On our way back home, we
stopped at the Wing On Department Store, which sells everything under the sun
& had a wonderful experience finding me a new purple vest with the help of
a couple of giggling young girls.
Back at the hotel, we sat in
the lounge reading for an hour or so, before indulging in a glass of De Bortoli
red or two & watching with horror the pictures of the Apartment Building on
fire in London.
Thursday was our last full day
here & we were determined to get to Disneyland. We had been told that it opened
at 9am, so rose early for breakfast, only to find that it didn’t open until
10.30am in the off-season.
Breakfast – this is how it usually starts - congee for me &
fresh fruit for Wes
We had been quoted $90HK to
travel to Disneyland by train, but with our wonderful Octopus cards, it cost us
$2HK instead. Entry was $100HK & that includes access to every ride &
show. We headed straight for Fantasyland & looked in vain for Mr Toad’s
Wild Ride, which Wes & Tom Tyrrell took back in 1978, when we went to the
Los Angeles Disneyland together. We had to make do with a Carousel, the Mad
Hatter’s Tea Cups, a Pooh Bear honey cruise, It’s a Small World After All etc
etc. We loved every minute, apart from the humidity & occasional drenching
shower & saw some wonderful shows before calling it quits & travelling
back to our hotel to freshen up for drinks & dinner.
Tea cups & Wes on the Carousel above.
Friday was our last day &
we wanted to walk around The Peak if possible. We caught the number 15 bus from
Central to the Peak & arrived as the rain pelted down. After a short time,
we abandoned all hope of a walk & took the Tram back down again.
We visited St John’s Anglican
Cathedral, then got onto the wonderful indoor walkways between buildings before
finally having lunch at Tea WG 1897. Lunch was vegetarian quiches with Jasmine
Queen Tea for me & Bhutan tea for Wes. Our maître d’ was French &
delighted we knew a few words to chat with him.
Everything went smoothly for us
as we left Hong Kong. The shuttle bus drove us to the Hong Kong Station where
we paid our $100HK, checked us & our bag in to our flight, and travelled
unencumbered to the airport. An hour after leaving Courtyard Marriott Hotel, we
were seated in the very comfortable & inviting Qantas Lounge with our welcome
refreshing drinks. We could even watch the North Melbourne vs St Kilda game on
the big screen!
The flight home was less than
impressive. It was full & mostly of first-time fliers from Hong Kong in two
tour group parties. These patrons spent their time playing with everything
available on & around their seats & had to be constantly asked to obey
the rules & return their seats to the upright position, remove all devices
from the terminals, put their bags under the seats, put their seat belts on
& tray tables up, just so that we could take off.
Wes & I found it very hard
to sleep as the couple in front of us reclined their seats to the max as soon
as they could & left them in that position for the duration of the flight.
Wes watched episodes of ‘The House of Cards’ & I saw ‘Patriots Day’, which
was about the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing & then cried my eyes out over a
delightful Japanese film, ‘Quill’, which follows the life of a Guide Dog from
birth to death. I was very interested to learn that Guide Dog commands are
given in English as Japanese is too difficult for the dogs to master.
We were the only flight
arriving at Melbourne at 7.30am & managed to clear Immigration &
Customs, collect our bag & find our car in the Long- Term Carpark within an
hour, which brought us back home by 10am. Wes had a quick freshen up & set
off to Ballarat to collect Bilbo, who had been bathed in preparation & was
very excited indeed.
We spent yesterday unpacking,
washing, warming up the house, enjoying the minestrone soup Judi had left us
& were early to bed, even though Carlton was playing (& won).
Here is Bilbo enjoying his
cabbage at the Sunday Market – Corey has shredded it & provided a mat for Bilbo
to eat it from. Breakfast at the Food Gallery was good & everyone was
interested to hear our stories from our lovely trip.
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