Letter from Hong Kong - #25

Hong Kong is a great place to visit for a number of reasons, but I must say that the food is pretty much the top of the list for me. Some of the restaurants we have visited:

McDonalds is a restaurant isn't it? Anyway the first place I ate the next morning after arriving and before we went grocery shopping.

Dim Sum restaurant in Tuen Mun where we take Yee Lo.

Inside the Tuen Mun restaurant; this is actually the take section!

Just some of the great dim sum dishes at the Hyatt Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui Restaurant.

Of course home-cooking is always the best!

Thai Food at the Royal View Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui was terrific.

Italian Food at a small restaurant in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island.

Dim Sum at the Four Seasons Hotel; food was great and view unbelievable!

Lunch on the Top Deck of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen. The Top Deck is not a tourist trap; well worth the time and effort to get there.

And Japanese Food! We have eaten in an number of Japanese restaurant and all have been great. This on is at the Hung Hom Harbor Grand Hotel.

Even my favorite snack at tea time is not to be missed!

Well, anyway, you get the idea. Food is a very big part of the Hong Kong way of life and I love it. Of course I will definitely have to lose some weight when I get back to the States. As you know, I'm sure, this is just a very small sampling of the restaurants. More to come...

Letter from Hong Kong - #24

More "walking around" photos:

Central Building in Wanchai taken from Tsim Sha Tsui

View of the Convention Center on Hong Kong Island; taken from Aqua Restaurant in Tsim Sha Shui. The Convention Center was completed in 1997, just in time for the British to turn Hong Kong back to China.

Old Market in Yau Ma Tei

Yau Ma Tei Theater; built in 1930 and is the only surviving  pre-war theater building in Hong Kong

Pre-war building on Shanghai Street

The Red Brick Building. Built in 1895 as an Engineer's Office in the former water pumping station.

A night shot in Mongkok; one of the main shopping areas in Hong Kong

Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Center in Tsim Sha Tsui

Former Kowloon British School; built in 1902.

Letter from Hong Kong - #23

"The Land Between"! That is how the local tour companies tout their tours of the New Territories. It is a part of Hong Kong that if you do not see, you have missed a lot. Hong Kong isn't just tall buildings and unique shopping areas, it is also a very rural scenic areas that has many parks and hiking trails.

The family took a trip to Shueng Tam Shui Hang Shuen in the Shau Tau Kok area of Hong Kong. This village is so far north of Hong Kong that it is almost in Mainland China. In fact for years one would have to have a pass just to get into this area.

This is the sign one would see if they wandered to far into the Closed Area. Since 2006 much of the Closed Area has been opened but still their is about eight square kilometers still closed to everyone except those living in the area.(Picture borrowed from internet!)

Today Sheung Tan Hang Shuen is opened so it is one of the most popular tours taken by locals. 

A couple of old houses no longer in use!

This is the gate to the closed area; unfortunately since I couldn't read Chinese I am in the wrong sector when I took this picture. Of course I got yelled at so I quickly made my way back to the legal side while I could!

An enterprising shopkeeper who is selling rice and other goodies to all the tourist who come to visit the area. But can you believe it: she is on Facebook also!

The home in the foreground is part of the village; the buildings in the background is part of Mainland China.

A shot of the countryside outside of the village.

Family enjoying the trip!

Another shot of the village with a group of tourist!

Entrance into the village; did I say it was a popular tour?

Letters from Hong Kong - #22

Let's take a trip to Macau. Many of you are at least familiar with Macau as a result of Macau and Hong Kong being returned to China in 1999 and 1997 respectively. Since Macau is only about one hour Southeast of Hong Kong when traveling in a Jet Ferry, it is so easy to go.

Macau became the first European trading post under the Portuguese in in the mid 16th century. At first it was just that: a trading post with rights to dock ships and trade in China. Macau became a colony in 1887, a few years after England took Hong Kong after the First Opium War.

Macau is a mecca for the gambler with so many hotels and gaming casinos. Although Macau has less casinos than Las Vegas, some sources indicate that Macau has more than double the revenue of Las Vegas. It is big business for Macau!

This is The Venetian were we stayed.  It, of course, was modeled after the Venetian in Las Vegas. With 3000 suites, it is the single largest structure hotel in Asia.

Another shot of the Venetian.

Inside the Galaxy Hotel; it gets more gaudy than this!

Since our interest lies somewhere other than gambling, we took off to the Taipa Village to explore. As it happens the village is a short walking distance from our hotel and believe or not part of it is a moving sidewalk. Easy!

Shoppers on a busy street

Another side street; I'm amazed how one street a block away is packed with people and the next street I'm able to take a photo without anyone in it!

Our Lady of Carmel Church

We enjoyed going through four Taipa Houses Museum to view history and culture of the Macanese people during the nineteenth Century.

The family in the lobby of Holiday Inn; for those accustomed to staying at most Holiday Inns in the States, if you saw this Holiday Inn in Macau and most International Holiday Inn you would think it a different company! Very impressive!

There is lots more from Macau, so maybe I can post volume two at a later date.

Letters from Hong Kong - #21

Some more "walking around" photos, mostly in Central and Western Districts of Hong Kong Island.

But before I post pictures, a little about Western District of Hong Kong Island. By its name it is located in the western part of the Island adjacent to Central. Hollywood Road, known for its antiques shops, is one of the oldest streets on the Island. These pictures will show that Western District has not been developed with "sky scrappers" as in Central, but many of the old building are being replaced.

The most important building in Western is the Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road. Built in 1847, shortly after the British came, it is the oldest temple on the Island and the most important. From its meeting rooms, the Tung Wah Group came into existence; today Tung Wah controls over 180 hospitals and medical centers in Hong Kong.

A shot inside the Temple; these hanging objects are not there just for Kwei Lo's, such as I, to take pictures, but has religious significants much like in western churches where we light candles for loved ones or for blessing received.

One of the most recognized buildings in Western is the Market which was built in 1906; of course, today it is not a market, that is a food market, but a re-conditioned historical building with trendy shops.

Shot to emphasize the difference between Western and Central; Central is in the background.

One the older buildings in Western; it probably dates around the mid-1940's.

An inside shot of the longest "travalator" in the world. This is just one section; previously I published an outside shot.

Ostensibly, the main reason for this "walkabout" was to have lunch in Central at the Sichuan Cuisine Da Ping Huo, picture above.

Inside the restaurant; very trendy place and great food! I highly recommend if you like spicy food!

Letter from Hong Kong - #20

Hong Kong consist of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories and Outlying Islands. Within each area there are distinct districts. Today let's talk about Central, a district within Hong Kong Island. Today it is still thought of as the Financial District of Hong Kong and maybe of Asia, but many financial companies are moving out of the high rents of Central to other districts.

Above picture taken just in from of the Jardine House which was formerly called the Connaught Center.

The Jardine Building is on the left. Jardine House was built in 1972 and as I said above, was called Connaught Center; when built it was the tallest building in Asia with about fifty floors and about 600 ft tall. Today it does not even get a recognition when talking tallest buildings! The small white building in the center is the post office.

The building on the right is the International Financial Center, Tower Two; with eighty-eight floors, after the International Commerce Center in Kowloon it is the second tallest building in Hong Kong. Note all the construction in the bottom right. This is a major harbor project that has been going on at least four years; I remember it was in progress on our last trip here; then it seemed to be just beginning.

I like the tram ride between Central and Causeway Bay: slow so nice to view the the sights.

Central has the longest outdoor escalator or moving sidewalk in the world as seen in the upper center of this photo (not a good shot of it!). The escalator moves downward in the morning to take people from the upper levels of Central to work and then moves upwards beginning around 10:00am.

Central is not just about finance; lots of places to shop and eat!