Mo & Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo & Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

Interesting question Nanook...
In mainland China, the markets were just glad to get business of any kind, and then in Hong Kong, I was quick to notice that it is a place that is build on commerce, so yes, any "markets" or shopping places really had the hard sellers picking at you, but at the same time, the markets (like many other places in the world) are built on haggling which can be a really fun sport! Likkle Mo sure did have that art down to a science... she knew just when to say no and walk away to get the deal she wanted!!

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo & Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BanDanna</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mo_fire</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Oh Bandanna... How wonderful!!
I love it - and reading it just gave me goosebumps because that is EXACTLY what brought tears streaming down my face at the Golden Summit of Mt. Emeishan (the pictures of the golden Buddha)... I love it, thank you SO much for sharing this. I am going to print it out and put it on the fridge. And I am going to head over to the library today or hit the net and see what else I can find about this writer.
Just beautiful!!

Now, for you, I will finish my post, and post Hong Kong today!
Thanks Bandy!! </div></div>



Mo_Fire you juss mek mi cry first ting on a Saturday morning







Your writing and pictures of that day will forever be etched in my mind. It was the exact moment I thought of when I read that quote.


I am glad I posted it and I am even more thankful for you sharing your experiences with us.

Have a wonderful blessed day!

Tell likkle Mo I said



</div></div>

I could tell exactly that you &quot;got&quot; how important that part of our trip was, and that you sent me that quote for that! But it's neat that you could confirm it for me! Thanks again...
We just got in, but I hope to post a little more of Hong Kong later today... Photobucket takes sooooo long though!!

[Bandana]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

Believe me, I understand the labor of love that is trip reports


Take your time... we will be here

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

Old Clocktower - Kowloon, Hong Kong

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

By the end of Day # 1 in Hong Kong, I had to suprise the kid and take her for some decent &quot;western&quot; food - she must have lost 10 pounds in China with no milk, cheese and meat!! She was so protein deprived.... so Mama took her to Hard Rock Hong Kong, and it was like the SUPRISE of the trip for her... she ordered the biggest grilled cheese (and ordered extra cheese on it) and french fries and drank one glass of white milk and one glass of chocolate milk... she was in heaven!!!

Compared to the many Hard Rock's that we have visited around the world, it was pretty lame (mostly unsigned Beatles stuff which was cool, but not necessarily authentic).. but we can cross another one off the list!!

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

After Likkle Mo had a good feed, and Mama had a couple Purple Hazes (YUM ) we headed down Canton Rd. to Victoria Harbour for the nightle sound and light show... it was okay, but so humid, muggy, and smoggy!!!

En route, we walked past the Hong Kong Olympic Park where Clara had to have a picture with the &quot;olympic Dudes&quot; which is what she called them everywhere that she saw them throughout China and Hong Kong... Man, they were EVERYWHERE!!

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

Tomorrow... I will take you to on a ferry across to Hong Kong Island, and you will see Victoria Peak, and Stanley Market!

Enjoy!!

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

Here are an attempt of capturing the nightly Sound &amp; Light Show in Victoria Harbour (looking towards Hong Kong Island)

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

ext morning, it looked like it might rain, but after a few weeks in China, I realized it was likely humidity &amp; smog... or, if it was going to rain, it would be a quick downpour and everything would be back to normal, so we set out to check out the panoramic views from atop Victoria Peak (on Hong Kong Island).

We headed down to catch the Star Ferry across (takes about 10 minutes).... here is our first views during daylight hours:

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Island were very easy to navigate with a local map and using public transport (read: WAY easier than China )

Magic had given me the tip of taking the double decker bus up to Victoria Peak with likkle Mo. It was definitely fun. It reminded me a lot of driving around Jamaica... a lot of hairpin curves going up up up the mountain with all of it's lush greenery, etc.

Anyway, this picture shows you the type of bus we took a lot in Hong Kong - we always sat up at the top, front of the bus so we could see everything from up high... so we were behing this other bus and I thought I would take a picture...

Also, with regard to public transport in H.K., I must say, it was one of the best transportation systems I have seen in any of my world travels... the subways were so clean you could eat off the floor, all buses and subways have air-conditioning and T.V.'s - I think likely because most of Hong Kong is always in transit....

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

View on our way up the mountain on the bus...




Not everything in Hong Kong was GREY... because of the humidity was actually lush and green.. this was where we got off the bus:

[Laurel]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

very kool ... still taggin along ~

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

When you get off the bus at Victoria Peak, there are a few little shopping centers selling fast food and over-priced trinkets. If you want to get to the actual &quot;eak&quot; lookout platform, you go into a building and go up about 8 escalators (8 stories) to the platform (it cost extra).

This picture is looking down from the platform at where we got off the bus:




I can see how this would normally be a lovely way to see a panoramic view of Hong Kong (mainland and island), unfortunately for the smog and humidity when we went up, it was not that spectacular - we could barely see Victoria Harbour, forget about Hong Kong Mainland. A lot of people visit the Peak at night too to view the nightly light show, but for us, one trip up was enough. I didn't take too many pictures because like I said, we couldn't really see that much the day we went up:

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

After we had enough of the Peak, we grabbed a bite to eat, and we headed down the mountain by bus so Likkle Mo could do some shopping at Stanley Market (Magic's recommendation - again, thanks Magic )

Here's the view from the bus going down the mountain:




Stanley Market... your typical great bargain shopping for trinkets market:




When we had enough shopping, we took a walk around the area because I could smell the South China Sea, and needed to be near it... Oh how I miss living by the ocean...

We walked down this likke side street to get to the sea, and I could not believe how big this old tree was. I made Likkle Mo stand in front of it to give some perspective as to how HUGE it actually was, and how much of it has obviously been washed away by the sea over the years...




<span style="font-weight: bold">
First Glimpse at the South China Sea:</span>

[mo_fire]

Re: Mo &amp; Lil Mo - Final Part - Guilin (China) - Hong Kong

More of Hong Kong to come later....