"Peeking" @ HK

"Life is like a box of chocoloates landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance" - Charles Lindbergh

Foodie moment

Mark said we couldn't leave China without having some duck. We found a place well known for its Peking duck, but after finding out it was $300HK for a whole duck ($40AU - reasonable price but way out of our price range, and far too much duck!) and it took an hour to cook we decided to reduce our expectations slightly! We ended up at a restaurant full of locals and ordered roasted duck and honey roasted pork. Final bill including beer came to around $200HK (Slightly more affordable!) and the pork was the winner!

Special mention goes to Bubba Gump Shrimp, Victoria Peak. Not for the food but the fantastic views while we ate. Once again our luck has been with us in Hong Kong, from no waiting lines, to the best seat in the house.

Cultural moment

Victoria Peak is one of Hong Kong's most breathtaking attractions, taking in views from the ocean to the harbour surrounded by nature and forests. A tourist hotspot. So, in typical Hong Kong style, they decided to build a sprawling 7 story shopping centre there. Full of American chain stores, High end fashion and souvenirs, some people come all the way up here just for the shopping! Not interested in shopping? Too bad! To get to the observation deck you had to walk past each level of shops between the escalators. What did we buy? Nothing! We win Hong Kong!

Wow moment

We've been intending to visit Victoria peak since we first got here but the weather has been delaying us. Knowing a lookout at the top of a mountain is fairly useless when you are surrounded by low lying cloud we have had to keep putting it off. Needless to say when the sun peaked through the clouds and we saw patches of blue sky we dropped all plans and hot footed it to the ferry and onto the peak tram and up to the 360 degree observation deck. We were not disappointed... but i'll leave it to the photos to explain better!

What we learnt today

In Hong Kong, there is another level for pedestrians other than underground and street level. When you come to a busy road it isn't just a simple task of crossing the road, that might slow the traffic down! Instead you need to find the associated subway. They might be underground, or massive pedestrian bridges spanning all four corners of an intersection. It certainly adds time to a supposed short walk down the street once you've climbed stairs, crossed roads back and forwards and cut through a high rise to reach the opposite corner of an intersection