Hong Kong

Ocean Park




















Repulse Bay
















The Peak

















I had recently been to Hong Kong (HK) on a short official trip This is my second visit which was for 10 days. HK comprises of a peninsula and Hong Kong, Lantau islands etc.
Hong Kong island is a small island, very busy, noisy, polluted with many skyscrapers.
On the road you can see a mixture of modern and tradition, high raise modern skyscrapers and adjacent small typical Chinese style building. The skyscrapers are so tall and so close to each other that it creates a wall effect. People fear that even wind is suffering due to this.

HK has good public transport, entertainment, lots of shopping mall. I am not sure when people
sleep. The mall (eg Causeway Bay) are even crowded at midnight. During this visit I used cabs and trains(MTR) for public transport. Unlike Singapore, the trains are long. So each exit takes you to different places. My workplaces was at Taikoo place in Quarry Bay. Exit A of Quarry Bay takes me to the place directly. Exit C takes me three Tram (another mode of public transport) stops away from the Taikoo place.

The climate was very cold, foggy and cloudy. Temperature on average read between 14-19 degree Centigrade. No jet lags (same timezone) but my body had to undergo a severe and rapid change to withstand this temperature from the hot and humid weather of Singapore.
Winters is not new to me as I stayed in Bangalore for years. But the difference in weather I felt between HK and modern day Bangalore (they say old old Bangalore was much colder and greener) is that in Bangalore you feel cold during early morning, late evening and while vehicle driving and days are relatively warmer and manageable. But in HK, I felt chill weather all the time except on a Sunday when I went to Ocean Park.

Ocean Park, is an aquarium plus amusement park. Well organized, big and entertaining. A day can be easily spent in Ocean Park. Sea lions, sharks, walrus feature in the ocean aquarium. There are many other beautiful marine beings but these are the three magnificent creatures I wish to mention here since I am seeing them for the first time in my life (discovery+NGC+Animal Planets not included).

I also went off ground in a air balloon in Ocean Park.

Two other place I could cover in the trip - The Peak and Repulse Bay.

The bay is not as big as my Chennai (Madras) Marina Beach, but it has its own beauty. Mountains on three sides and the blue sea on the fourth side with tiny green uninhabited islands visible to our naked in the sea filling your mind with picturesque tranquility. Though the sunset is not visible since it happens behind the mountain on the right guarding the bay, the wait to see the turn of blue sky to orange red, waves and cold breeze keeping you entertained with their unison musical and dance performance is highly rewarding.

I took the peak tram to go to the peak. A peak is a small mountain near the city. It has a watching tower on the top of a shopping mall. It was very cold and windy there. You can get a amazing view of all the well lit skyscrapers, harbors, jetty terminals, highways etc from the peak. Madam Tussuad also afeatures in the peak's crown.

I was staying in Wanchai, Hong Kong Island. Wanchai is a place with lots of night bars, dance clubs, restaurants and SPAs with women freaking out in front of these and on roads gathering customers and clients. Not sure about the rest of HK, but this place is quite a happening place. I saw almost every European and Americans escorted by a local girl. hmm, in tamil we say Kalli muthi poe-ichu (simply it could mean as: things have changed a lot from the traditional, conservative and moral way).

Thought of seeing the Lantau Island giant Buddha statue and Disney Land, but did not find enough time to cover these places.