Peter and I hadn't really planned anything for the weekend because we were hoping that since Anupam was off work we may all get to go out together but a few things came up so Vandita and Anupam had some errands to run. I didn't want to hang out at the flat all day so Peter and I decided we would head to the Central District.
We have been there several times because that is where you catch the train or other buses but we hadn't actually explored any of it beyond what we could see out the bus windows. When we got to Central we walked around a bit without much direction. Peter had read about a cool clothing shop that incorporated the tradition Chinese garments with a modern day twist but when we got to where it was supposed to be there was nothing there. We decided the shop either
closed down or relocated. We decided to go to the IFC Mall which is a huge mall that has 3 shopping floors with a garden on the 4 floor and then the train station below it. The mall actually crosses over a 9 or 10 lane street so it covers several blocks altogether. We went through each floor but the stores in this mall were way too pricey for us. They had top end stores like Prada and Loui Vattan and about 10 different Rolex stores. It wasn't really fun for us to go through especially after going to Stanley yesterday and having thousands of items in our price range.
We did go to the Apple store, at Peter's request, which was two stores and packed with people. We just did a walk through and then moved on to more window shopping. We decided we had seen enough and caught a train that dropped us off fairly close to Hong Kong Park. This is basically New York's Central Park in HK. It is surrounded by super tall buildings but is nice and quiet and filled with greenery, flowers, fountains and a cafe or two.
The air was so humid though not necessarily hot but it made us sweat pretty good nonetheless. We stopped for lunch at a little outdoor restaurant within the park that offered shade. Neither of us were really all that hungry but we are going out to dinner tonight in Soho so we wanted to make sure we didn't eat too late. We ended up splitting one plate of Garlic Chicken with vegetables and potatoes.
There was silverware at our table today but after Peter cut up the chicken we used our chopsticks to eat everything except the tofu soup which I used a spoon for. The chicken was good and it came with broccoli and carrots, the "potatoes" were actually large wedged french fries which was unexpected. They didn't have any salt on them and
there is never salt on the table so they weren't all that great but the rest was good. I ate the soup and Peter had most of this weird mango (which is huge here) sugarfree gelaton thing. We drank lots of water and then we were off to explore the park. Evertyhing is very hilly here so there were lots and lots of stairs to climb. It seemed like they all went up too and very rarely did we ever go down any. Peter found a cool lookout tower which had over 100 stairs (I forget the actual number)
and had great views from the top. We climbed up which was no small feat as we were already exhausted and sweating pretty good. Thankfully we had brought our own water with us so we took a rest and caught our breath and then took several pictures from the top. We realized that there are two staircases, one for up and one for down and we had climbed the wrong one. Oh well, no one was coming the opposite direction so all is well. After we hit the bottom again we went around and up about 200 more stairs to an aviary that is within the park. The aviary was pretty cool,
with interesting birds and lots of information. We hung out for a while but Peter was ready to go because he was really hot and he gets a bit cranky when he's hot. We headed out and tried to find our way back to the street when we walked past what I thought was a butterfly garden.
We went inside and apparently there were no butterflies but three different environments and the plants that live within them. There was a room with plants and flowers growing at average temperatures, a desert land, and a rain forest humid land. It was interesting to see but the best part was that it was air conditioned and we got to cool off enough to be a bit
more comfortable. We found our way out and back to the train station. The original plan was to find a place that gave Oriental Foot Reflexology which is a pressure point based foot massage and is very common in China. Halfway through
our day Peter said he didn't want to go because he was all sweaty so we will have to put that on the schedule for another day because I really want to see how it is. The whole time we have been here we have been very impressed with the cleanliness of the city. There is always someone walking around sweeping, spraying down, or just picking up after walkers on the sidewalk. There is the normal dirt of any city from exhaust from cars and such and then there are some buildings that need the paint redone but overall the city is very clean. At the train station I found a
Pacific Coffee Shop which I had seen several of on the streets. This is what I expect is the Starbucks of Hong Kong though they do also have Starbucks here. I wanted to try it out so Peter and I got a Icy Moche Cafe and walked around the station while we drank it. You aren't aloud any food or drinks on the trains but it didn't take us long to finish and we didn't mind exploring. Once off the train we made our way back to the bus station and then back to The Peak to clean up for tonight. We hung out a bit, rested our feet and cleaned up. Around 6 we started getting ready to go out.
Peter and I had both brought some nicer clothes than the usual jeans and shorts tourist wear we got dressed for a nice night out. Anupam and Vandita wanted to take us to Soho which is the heart of Central and full of night life. We took the HSBC shuttle (a mini bus that transports only employees of the bank and their friends and families) to the Soho area. It was pretty cool to see all the lights lit at night and it reminded me of New York City. There were lots of people around but apparently the city really comes to life from
11pm to around 4am. It was only 8 when we were walking through but it was still very lively. Many of Vandita and Anupam's neighbors had highly recommended a Thai restaurant so decided to try it out. We took the Central–Mid-levels escalators which is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The entire system covers over 2,600 feet in distance and elevates over 443 feet from bottom to top. It was built to aid in pedestrian commutes and to decrease the amount of vehicles on the road. The system only goes one way and then has stairs or ramps along it, it moves down in the morning and up in the evening. It was pretty cool and a good way to be able to see everything around you while you were getting to your location. We made it to our street and found the Thai restaurant right off. We didn't have reservations but because they don't get really busy until after 9 we were able to be seated. I got
shrimp pad thai and Peter ordered Red Curry with duck. Vandita ordered vegetarian green curry and Anupam got some sort of minced chicken dish which was way too spicy for me. Everything was really good and filling (as Thai food always is). After dinner we walked back down to Queens Road and got a cab back up to the flat. I don't know if it was the big meal or all the walking and heat we endured today but I was exhausted by the time we got home.
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