Tuesday 17 December 2013

Victoria Peak

The Peak (aka, Victoria Peak) is a mountain on the South of the island, that offers views over Central, Lamma Island and Victoria Harbour. You can get to the The Peak Tower by tram (which costs HK$ 40 for a return ticket, or you can get a ticket for the tower, which is HK$ 40 and a return ticket for HK$ 75 which will save you HK$ 5) that brings passengers up from the St. John's Cathedral in Hong Kong's Central district, whilst the Peak Galleria incorporates the bus station used by the Hong Kong public buses and green minibuses on the Peak (which costs HK$ 4.20, and they are very frequent, coming every fifteen minutes or so). The Peak is also accessible by taxi (which costs about HK$ 80) and private car via the circuitous Peak Road, or by walking up the steep Old Peak Road from near the Zoological Botanical Gardens.


Victoria Peak Garden is located on the site of Mountain Lodge, the Governor's old summer residence, and is the closest publicly accessible point to the summit. It can be reached from Victoria Gap by walking up Mount Austin Road, a climb of about 150 m. Another popular walk is the level loop along Lugard Road, giving good views of Hong Kong's Central district and Kowloon, and then returning via Harlech Road, encircling the summit at the level of the Peak Tower. There are several restaurants on Victoria Peak, most of which are located in the two shopping centres. However, the Peak Lookout Restaurant, is housed in an older and more traditional building which was originally a spacious house for engineers working on the Peak Tramway. It was rebuilt in 1901 as a stop area for sedan chairs, but was re-opened as a restaurant in 1947.


Inside The Peak Tower, there is a dazzling array of restaurants, shops and entertainment venues (Madame Tussauds HK). Moreover, The Peak Tower boasts the highest 360° viewing platform - The Sky Terrace 428, which stands at 428 m above sea level.



Once arrived at the top of the peak, there are the most incredible views over Central. Even though during the day the weather wasn't that great the clouds cleared and settled, creating the most incredible skyline for pictures.
At the top of the peak you can collect heart shaped cards, and write little messages on them. We wrote love messages to one and other, expressing our wishes for the future and our love and hung them up. There are thousands of message written and hung up in the cabinet on a daily basis.


Friday 5 July 2013

Welcome to Hong Kong


Departed from London Heathrow Airport on the 27th June 2013 @ 12:30pm.
Arrived in Hong Kong on the 28th June 2013 @ 7:10am. 




After what felt like a relatively quick flight (12 hours) we touched down in Hong Kong bright and early. After wandering around the airport and then waiting a while for our luggage (we just didn't recognise our suitcase) we finally went through the gates to be met by my boyfriend's parents. Even though I was warned by my boyfriend and all his friends numerous times that it would be boiling, that I would suffer and that it would take me a while to adapt, and after choosing to ignore all of them, lo and behold we walk out of the airport and I get hit by this huge wave of heat. However the heat, I can deal with, the humidity not so much. A usual day in Hong Kong is around 30°C and 75%H. On the bright side? EVERYWHERE in Hong Kong has air-con! So after about an hour's drive we arrive at our destination for the next two months: Sheug Shui, which is part of the New Territories in the Northern part of Hong Kong.   .   ...  The first day we stayed at the house, unpacking whilst I was getting used to my new surroundings. That night his parents took us out for Japanese. The first thing I noticed is, yes it is still ridiculously hot outside but secondly it gets dark a lot sooner than it does in Europe, by 7pm the sun had set.




These are a few pictures that I took of Sheung Shui on my second day. We wandered around the town center and finished off by going to buy fresh food in the Market. Markets here are far cheaper than they are in Western Europe and the food in my opinion is much better. 

The picture on the left is of sun dried fish which is often used to make soup, that is extremely popular in HK, you can find these little shops in pretty much every town. But the smell that comes from the fish is AWFUL, however don't let that put you off trying the soup, it is amazing!