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The tour wasn't picking up from our hotel for a couple hours so we loaded up our cameras and took the subway to the eastern side of the island to take a ride on the Mid-Level Escalators; Apparantly the longest escalator ride in the world. We were somewhat worried about getting back to our hotel in time for the tour pick up (no refunds) so the concierge suggested we take a taxi. We had heard that taxis were expensive in Hong Kong, so we figured we'd take our chances because the route there seemed fairly straight forward (and it was).
The mid-level escalators isn't one long escalator as I had thought, but actually a series of escalators (which in hindsight makes more sense). The other thing is that the escalator only goes up, so you have to take the stairs back down. I think it took us about 20 minutes to get to the top as we were taking pictures along the way and then about the same to take the stairs back down. We wandered around and there were some interesting little cafes and bars along the way. If we had had more time we would have stopped, but we pushed on until we got back to the subway and made it back to the hotel with 30 minutes to spare. In the time before we were to be picked up, I wandered up to the roof to look at the pool. The pool was quite nice, as was the view from the top of our 30 story building. If only the weather had been nicer I might have gone for a swim. I had been constantly checking the weather in the days before leaving and everytime it told me it was going to rain everyday. Luckily the report was wrong because, even though it was quite foggy, it didn't rain at all while we were there. :-)
We headed down to meet the tour guide, who immediately started trying to sell us other tours. I didn't much care for his pushy manner, but we agreed to go on one of the night tours because he gave us $50hkd off and it was one of the ones that we had been considering for the night before. Our first stop was the Man Mo Temple. It's a temple dedicated to the gods Man (literature) and Mo (Martial Arts). It was somewhat disappointing. Other than being rather ornate, it seemed like one big cash grab. You could buy incense in various forms and burn it either for good luck, or to have a wish granted. We didn't spend a lot of time inside as the entire place was thick with incense so it hard to breathe. There was also a gift shop where I bought a keychain with my name written in Chinese characters.
Next we went to Victoria Peak. Now this is a place every visitor should go. It's the top of a mountain (373 metres), that overlooks the Hong Kong and Kowloon islands. We took a very steep tram up and looked out over Hong Kong. A photographer took some pictures of us (which you knew you were going to be pushed to buy later). We didn't have a lot of time to look around, but it was long enough. Next we boarded the bus at the top of the peak and drove down to Aberdeen to see a fishing village. We had to pay extra for a sampan ride, but it was quite interesting to see the poorer side of Hong Kong. These "egg people", as the guide called them, live on their boats and eke out a living by fishing and giving rides to tourists; the same thing they have been doing for hundreds of years.
After that we took a drive through Repulse Bay (a popular beach). Seemed like blatant false advertising as the pictures they show in the brochure are nothing like what you see; the view of the beach is largely obscured by trees. Our second last stop was at a Jewellery factory where we could see jewellery being made. I guess the tour guide gets kick backs for taking us there,although not from me as I didn't bother to buy anything. He was honest about it and said that if we wanted to buy anything, to hold off until we arrived at Stanley Market, which is where we'd find the deals.
When we did arrive at Stanley Market it reminded me a lot of the Silk Alley in Beijing. It wasn't quite as big and the prices weren't as cheap (fewer knock-offs), but there was still a good selection of designer clothing at good prices. I had been looking for a decent pair of black dress shoes in Korea without much luck for some time. Having big feet, it's tough to find quality shoes. The pair I did buy in Itaewon look good, but are quite cheaply made, so they hurt my feet when I walk in em, Anyways, I found a perfect (style and size) pair of Rockports that were ticketed at $760($129cdn). Not much of a deal, but I wanted to get them anyways. I haggled for quite awhile, but she wouldn't bend any lower than $730. I tried leaving, which worked like a charm in Beijing, but she didn't even look up as I left. I found a few more shoe stores, but they didn't have anything close to my size, so when I saw that most of the shops were closing up for the day I headed back to try my luck again. I offered her $700 (my previous being 650), and she said she couldn't go any lower than $720. I pretended to leave, and she finally said that she could "try" calling her boss. She pretended to have a converstation on the phone in Chinese and then finally agreed to $700. Not a great deal, but I was happy.
The day tour being over, the guide (Roger) dropped us off for the evening tour down by Victoria Harbour where we met up to go for our "superb" Chinese dinner at the "World Renowned" Jumbo Floating Restaurant.
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