Hong Kong has an energetic vibe that awakes at around 10:30 and sleeps past midnight. At least that's what we learned when we left our hotel at 9 and found the nocturnal shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui just starting to yawn and rub sleep from her eyes. Its denser areas are very visitor-friendly, with directional signs pointing to landmarks and useful orientation maps liberally posted at intersections and in the MTR stations. If crowds bother you, avoid the Central district during peak periods, like commuting hours and lunchtime, and hit tourist spots like Victoria Peak earlier in the day before the queues get long. Getting "caught up" in the current of commuters can be quite invigorating, though -- remembering to zip up all pockets and bags -- as you move along with the organism that is HK's working population.
It was Tomb Sweeping Day today, so after sleeping in, locals in casual dress and immigrant workers flooded the streets and malls on this public holiday. Besides pleasant morning and afternoon strolls through various parts of Tsim Sha Tsui -- along the main drags of Canton and Nathan roads and the harborfront -- our focus was on food today. And what a wonderful theme that was!
We enjoyed dim sum with Oklahoma friends WL and KC at Jasmine Place in Jardin House; and caught a choppy but worthwhile boat ride with family for a scrumptious dinner at Rainbow Seafood Restaurant on Lamma Island, 40-minutes from HK Island. I tasted (and loved) the oddly elongated bamboo clams for the first time, while overlooking floating homes of fishermen that didn't appear to have any electricity. Dozed off intermittently as the boat skimmed the waves past sparsely populated islands back to the more congested part of the country.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
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1 comment:
the boat ride was cool, but not the smoothest trip - just glad no one got sick -a
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