Imperial China Day 25
Imperial China
OAT Day 2-21 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - Day at Leisure - Hong Kong, China
We woke up at 7:30 and had a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. We ate with Matt and had more questions to ask him about his beautiful country of China.
We had the whole day to explore so we started out armed with our cameras and a city map. We checked in with Connie, Caryl, and Jan who were enjoying a foot message across the street. They said it was “to die for” so I made an appointment for myself for 2:00 later in the day.
Our next exploration was the “Wellcome” Grocery chain where we looked at the many fruits and vegetables along with the packaged foods available to those who live in this neighborhood and choose not to shop at the fresh food markets.
We walked through a different section of Victoria Park and watched several people doing their morning exercises, lawn bowling, playing card games, and jogging. The army of maintenance workers and caretakers who clean the parks and the streets were already busy.
Everywhere we went people nodded and smiled and many said hello to us. As we were discussing where we wanted to go and how to get there a gentleman even stopped to ask us if we needed any help.
We saw the signs reminding the park users to keep it clean and to pick up after their pets. No smoking signs were also prevalent. There were also reminders to make sure no one fed the wild birds or pigeons and there was a stiff fine for doing so as it was a health risk and dirtied the public areas!
Continuing on to the pedestrian walkway along the Harbor Causeway we came upon a group of engineers who were taking core samples from the harbor sediment. We stopped to talk to them.
Randy had told us that Victoria Harbor is disappearing because of the land fill to create more livable space for the Special Administrative Region. No one is happy about it, but the thousands of high rises clinging to the cliff sides are a reminder that there is no more room here.
We passed the Hong Kong Yacht Club - as we passed the Wan Chai Waterfront Promenade. Many people were there walking their dogs this morning.
Most of the people we have seen this morning were wearing jackets or sweaters. We were warm as the sun was peeking through the city haze and the temperature was 79 degrees and the humidity was 77%.
At the Star Ferry North Pier we changed direction and started winding our way back to our hotel. All along the hectic streets we saw life in a busy city. We are so happy to live in the wooded areas of Colorado, but this is certainly an experience we will remember.
We arrived back to our familiar neighborhood and went to the grocery store for a few things for lunch. We purchased a pomelo, a large, sweet grapefruit type of citrus food. We shared it along with a coke and cheese and crackers as we have our farewell diner here at the hotel early this evening.
At 2:00 I went to the Foot Massage and enjoyed the thorough pressure on my foot and ankle. The gentleman worked those broken bones well - the pressure was perfect, he was a professional therapist.
We started packing our big bags and got ready for our last evening with our new friends and companions from the last three weeks.
Our buffet dinner was very nice and we all appreciated the wonderful dessert trays that were never-ending. Gennie and Don loved the ice cream - they were happy to end their China adventure on a sweet note!
We all thanked Matthew for his wonderful work during our trip. We said our good-byes and promised to keep in touch. We took one more set of group photos and then called it a day. This was such a positive group and very precise on being on time which helped Matt to keep us all together.
After posting the journal and getting our bags packed up for our 4:30 AM wake-up call, we went to sleep. Please know the next journal posting will be when we get back to Colorado late in the evening, Mountain Daylight Time.
Accommodations: L'Hotel Causeway Bay Harbour View - - - Meal: B, D
Picture 1 - Hong Kong Cityscape
Picture 2 - Panorama of Hong Kong
Picture 3 - Harbor and Other Side of Hong Kong
Picture 4 - Living on the Water
Picture 5 - OAT Group - Last Time Together
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