Hong Kong Part II

After returning from Stanley Island, my next item on the itinerary was to head up Victoria Peak and catch the amazing skyline of the city from the tallest point on the island. I was hoping to hit the Temple Street night market that night, but it would've been too rushed. I met a cool German who was also on business in Hong Kong and taking in the sights. We hung out for a while and traded pointers on taking night shots of the city.



What a civilized place. People were actually queing up at a public bus stop without anything forcing them into a line. Wow.


Ride in the lower level of the tram


Ride in the upper level of the tram


Going along with the land being scarce theme... dealerships are also tucked away on ground floors of buildings. You can barely see the Porsche Cayenne SUV.


The view of the harbour from my hotel room in The Excelsior. Pretty nice hotel, but lobby wasn't that great and staff weren't the friendliest I've seen.


Very modern subway system. People again queing up in an orderly fashion. Lights on a map in the subway car indicated which station was coming up and which direction the train was going. Also very clean.


Directions at the subway door to direct people on the platform so that they are not blocking people exiting.


Public internet kioks at the subway station. Valid for 15 minutes.


The Da Vinci Code was having its Global Premiere that weekend and there were lots of huge ads for the movie.


Taking the Peak Tram, a very old establishment in Hong Kong. This tram climbs the steep vertical face of the hill overlooking Hong Kong Harbour. The ride is quite a thrill.


Hong Kong night view from Victoria's Peak. The tallest building is on the left, IFC2 and the fancy building with the zig-zag neon lights is the Bank of China building.


Hong Kong Skyline from the Kowloon side. I love the look of the IFC2 building. Buildings in Hong Kong and China are supposed to use Feng Shui principle, where the buildings reflect positive energy to their surroundings. It's been said that the Bank of China building has a lot of negative feng shui for all its zig-zags.


This is the HSBC headquarters, designed by Sir Norman Foster and it's supposed to have lots of positive feng shui and it was also a very expensive building.


Small clothing market on a side-street. Dont get me wrong, there were millions of high-end designer boutiques in many many fancy malls, but they weren't worth taking a picture of.


An empty Pottinger St in the SoHo area on a wet Sunday morning.


Lots of antique shops were in the area. Very expensive items. Of of the those horses in the back is about USD $10,000. Carefull not to tip anything over. Don't think I'll be able to expense that.


Interesting and catchy sign


To relieve congestion of people commuting from apartments higher up in the hills to jobs in the city, they've built the longest outdoor escalator. In the morning, people actually use it as opposed to taking the bus or driving to get to work. How cool.


Malaria and Dengue Fever and real concerns in this tropical locale.


Taking the Airport Express train from Hong Kong Island to the Airport. I liked the blue LED status indicator.