So I’m sitting in a Pacific Coffee Company cafe on The Peak, enjoying a latte at 9:00 with an incredible view of the city. But let’s back up a few hours…
I guess I’m still not adjusted to the timezone change, though I thought I was doing moderately ok.
Last night I fell asleep at 22:00 but woke up at 4:45 and couldn’t get back to sleep. After reading a bit, I left my hotel around 6:00 and walked to the Golden Bauhinia statue commemorating reunification (return of HK to China). This statue is on the waterfront in front of the HK Convention & Exhibition Centre. The water front is being further revitalized (in a good way – parks and open spaces and performance places) from Wan Chai to North Point.
Then I had a little dim sum on a side street in Wan Chai. Small place, full of locals, and no English on he menu. I sat at a communal table with 5 older men who didn’t speak any English. I asked for a Set A while pointing at the wall menu, though I’m not sure he understood, as what I received had a different price. Oh well, it’s not like I knew what I’d be getting in the set anyways – I just picked the more expensive one (though still under US$5) in the hopes of it being higher quality contents.
I ended up with shu mai (pork dumplings) and chicken on a rice bowl, plus tea of course. The damage: HK$31/US$4.
Then I took a tram to Central and walked through the length of Hong Kong Park (bigger, hillier and greener than I though, as I had only seen a little bit of it a few days earlier) on my way to The Peak tram station. It’s not really a tram per se, more of a cable car, and was built in 1888!
Tip: use your Octopus card for the ticket instead of buying one from the counter (hmm, I wonder if I could have bypassed the hour-long line last Sunday?), as then you don’t need to decide if you want a round-trip ticket or not (you can take a bus back, or even walk if you’re feeling particularly active and in hiking mode). Once up on The Peak, I see there is a 1 hour walk around the peak, or a 2.5 hour walk to the University in the western Mid-Levels, which happens to be where I’m heading for lunch to meet David. Not sure I want to walk that far in flip flops (though I have done that before), though it would stop some backtracking.
Anyways, The Peak is very commercial (albeit quiet and nearly empty at this early hour, in fact most shops and restos are closed). Though the cafes, including this one and St@rbucks and McC@fe, are all open. There are an upscale shopping mall and expensive restos. And nearby on the peak are expensive houses (including one that sold for US$67MM in 1997, according to the tourist info board).
You have killer views over the harbour (towards Kowloon and the mountains behind it), as well as to the west towards the islands – I can see Cheung Chau Island (where I went on Sunday) and Lantau Island (with its peaks) behind it.
Unfortunately it’s hazy so hard to get a clear picture further into the distance.
