It’s Monday, and because we’re here for the long haul, we find it important to get back into our school groove. We have a quick breakfast of toast and eggs, and then dive into Social Studies. I blog. I am trying to catch up, I’m currently writing the evening’s blog post the same morning.
Once we’re FINALLY done, we head downtown. Joe wanted to go to the market and shop for the remaining things that we need, but I figure the girls don’t even know what Hong Kong looks like, only having seen this city/country from grandma’s house to the subway station, and then the malls and high rises close to grandma’s nursing home so far. There’s more to this amazing place than just tall buildings! I steer the family towards the harbour and the Star Ferry area, wanting to give the girls an idea of what Hong Kong is all about.
By the shopping centre, there’s a bus depot for the double deckers to the city centre. This is the start of the route, and the Star Ferry is the other end of the line, so this is easy, and so much cheaper than the subway! We quickly run up to the second floor front row of seats, and grab onto the bar in anticipation of an hour in Hong Kong traffic.
We look at all the things we pass along the way, and get a real feel for the city now that we are street level. Of course we also take a couple of pictures of cute things we see along the way:
By the time the bus reaches the second last stop of the line, we are starving and decide to jump off to find food, before sightseeing the harbour area. There’s a Fairwood restaurant, similar to the Café de Coral diner from yesterday morning, right by the bus stop, so we head inside. Just like yesterday, you order and pay before picking up your food, but we have learned to grab a table first. Again, it’s packed, because it’s also lunch time, and we split up to circle the room. Joe is once again the lucky one, and as soon as we’re seated, he heads up with Téa to order.
While we’re sitting at lunch, Sam messages Joe, saying he’s getting out of work early and asks if he can borrow the girls and take them to the Hong Kong Carnival for the afternoon! Did Joe whisper to him, or did he just look at our faces and see that we haven’t had a moment to ourselves since we set off on this journey? We gratefully accept his offer, and agree on a place to meet him later.
After a very filling lunch, we head down the remaining block and a half to the harbour. We have to circumvent a museum and about 15 million tourists from several tour buses, and finally make our way to a clear spot along the fence. We point out some of the famous buildings, and promise to show them the next time we spot them in a movie.
We make our way over towards the Star Ferry building, where we’ll be meeting Sam. Along the way, there are bleachers set up for the grand fireworks next week, and of course decorations in all directions. Like this photo op:
Sam’s still at work, so we head into a bookstore next to the Star Ferry terminal. Téa finds a book that she wants, and we also find so many cute things in all directions. Téa has run out of fresh books, so of course we have to buy that one, but we leave the rest. When we get outside, Sam is there, and he whisks the girls away for an afternoon of fun across the water.
Joe and I have a bunch of stuff we’d like to do, and walk up the stairs to Harbour City mall, the largest mall in all of Hong Kong. It’s easy to get overwhelmed here, especially when I think of the price tags of most of the stores on the lower levels… Once upon a time I browsed this mall with my friend Betty, it’s actually very nearly exactly to the date 20 years ago! That was my first visit to Hong Kong. During my last visit, with Joe and baby Téa, we came here to go to the Moomin café, which unfortunately has closed since then. I don’t think we’ll be shopping here this time either, although I might walk through with the girls, because this place is packed with cuteness! Like this fun photo op:
We head towards Nathan road, the main road going north from the harbour through the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. This road has the shops we are more used to, less Cartier, more Sasa. We walk and walk and walk and suddenly we’re thirsty. We go hunting for a coffee and a treat, and end up finding a Roastery café. We order a “dirty tiramisu” and a Hojicha latte for me and a creamy black coffee for Joe.
Meanwhile, “Uncle Sam” brought the girls across on the Star Ferry, a vital tourist experience for anyone who visits Hong Kong. Of course Joe and I have taken this ferry many times before, and usually just go across on the subway.
While the girls are having fun, Joe and I are once again entering the subway system to come meet them. We duck into the Tsim Sha Tsui subway station, and I catch a glimpse of something familiar…
Once we get across, and find our way through the maze of traffic and construction, we finally reunite with the girls. They are running towards us, bubbling over with stories of the Most Amazing Afternoon with Uncle Sam, and showing us the prizes they won while playing games.
We make our way from the AIA Carnival towards the subway station, and pass some fun stuff along the way.
We part ways with Sam and head home. Joe’s mom was here in the fall of 2024, and tells us there’s a booth to purchase ready meals inside the subway station before we get on the minibus, so we decide to do that for dinner. It’s going to be late by the time we get home, again, so we need food fast so we can go to bed on time. We found the right place, select a couple of dishes, and of course Maylin only wants a steamed bun – again.
The first time Joe and I came to Hong Kong together, back in February of 2013, he bought me a drink from the shop in the subway station, and we have been laughing at it ever since. It was the most bitter thing I’ve ever tasted, and he told me to drink it because it was “good for me”. Today, we go to the very same booth and buy some different drinks, one with coconut milk and one with Momordica Fruit and Self-Heal Spike Tea. Always something new and different to discover!
After dinner, Téa and I walk down to the shopping centre to grab some more things from the grocery store. Of course we end up with more snacks than necessities, but we also find a couple of things we’ve been missing, so it all evens out. I think? On the way back across the busy road, on the floors that make up the shopping centre, I snap a picture of the massive structures surrounding me. It’s incredible the amount of people who live in each building, it never ceases to amaze me.
It’s been another long and exciting day, and we head to bed tired, but happy. Did I say it enough? It’s so good to be back!