Hong Kong, China

Heavy rain and dense fog greeted us when we arrived in Hong Kong. The ship docked on the Kowloon side of the harbor, and we could just about make out the buildings on the Hong Kong side. As the day wore on, the rain stopped and the fog lifted somewhat, but it was still severely overcast and cold.

A man standing next to me on the deck was so disappointed with the view, saying that he never expected Hong Kong to be fogged in. Fortunately, we have been to Hong Kong before, as far back as the 1960s for John and the 1970s for me, and then for both of us in 2008, so seeing the city shrouded in fog wouldn’t be the only view we’ve had of it. But it had to be disappointing for many of the passengers who may never get there again.

Foggy Hong Kong

We really felt sorry for those passengers who had booked a tour to Victoria Peak high above Hong Kong who wouldn’t be able to see anything from there. We’ve visited so many places in the fog, including Cape Town and Table Mountain, and before that Rio de Janeiro, where the statue of Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain could be seen occasionally when the thick mist would momentarily part. We’ve come to the conclusion that anyone wanting to see a place in really good weather should go on a day when we aren’t there.

This would be the first of two visits to Hong Kong that we will be making on this voyage. After visiting Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Okinawa, we will be returning to Hong Kong to drop off passengers and pick up new ones. I’m hopeful that the day will be bright and clear on our next visit. On this stop, 500 hundred passengers, most of them Asian, joined the ship. Most of the Australians got off.

Because there was a long delay in disembarking passengers getting through immigration and customs, we were delayed getting off the ship until after 12:00 p.m. We wore heavy windbreakers, and we hadn’t gotten far from the gangway when we discovered that it was freezing. I turned to go back up the gangplank to get the liner for my jacket and was told that I couldn’t go back in that way—that I would have to go through the other entrance, through security, etc. I decided to brace myself and continue on, hoping I would warm up as we walked. I never warmed up much.

Who would have thought a day and a half of sailing north from the sweltering Philippines that it could have gotten so cold? And, for the next several weeks we will be traveling even further north. Time to break out the warmer clothing again. I’m now really thankful for the heavy sweat suit I threw into my case on the off chance I might need it. For the people joining the ship today who are wearing shorts and Hawaiian print shirts, this weather must be a shock.

We set off for the Space Museum, which was supposed to have the world’s largest planetarium. Unfortunately, we discovered that the planetarium feature had closed two years ago (which is what we gathered from what the woman at the information desk was telling us in limited English). She showed us pamphlets for two videos we could view, but we would have had to wait for several hours for the English version. We gave it up as a lost cause.

We were able to view displays advertising the videos and what they would have covered. I was quite surprised that the one on decoding starlight would have covered many of the things that I learned from Valerie Calderbank’s sessions, including the use of the Hertzprung-Russell Diagram to measure distances and brightness of the stars. Who would have ever thought that bit of information would have ever come up again. I felt quite smug recognizing what was on the display.

Since we’ve visited Hong Kong before and would be coming back in a few weeks, we decided to make it a shopping day and walked down Nathan Road, a famous shopping area. Nearly ever shop we passed sold expensive watches. It was unbelievable. We lost count of the number of times someone spotted us as tourists and tried to sell us a cheap Rolex, which would probably work until we arrived home.

On Nathan Road, we passed lots of banyan trees and wide cement staircases that had been painted to look like gardens. If we had climbed the stairs, we would have discovered that they led to the extensive Kowloon Park. Unfortunately, we didn’t discover that until we looked at the map later. We did pass the very large Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre.

Garden Staircase

Kowloon and Hong Kong are quite modern, but some things never change. Tiny, elderly women used brooms made of bamboo and switches to sweep the sidewalks. And you better get out of their way.

Not tempted to buy an expensive watch, we gave up on shopping and did some people watching. Hong Kong/Kowloon are very busy and congested areas, so you can’t stand in one place for long gazing at the sights. Hong Kong still has a very British flavor about it, even though control of the area returned to the Chinese in 1997. Street signage is still in English, so it is easy to get around the city. Even in the eight years since we had last visited the city, Hong Kong has grown up even more. The tram still goes up to Victoria Peak, but the view from there isn’t quite as panoramic as it once was because of the number of skyscrapers that have been built. A recent one is three times the height of the other tall buildings. Many more buildings this tall and you won’t be able to see the harbor from Victoria Peak.

The green and white Star Ferry operates between Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon) and Hong Kong, so it is quite easy to go back and forth between the two areas, which are on opposite sides of Hong Kong Harbor. The journey takes about seven minutes and the ferries leave frequently. A jet foil is also available to travel to Macau. At one time you could see Chinese junks filling the harbor, but we only saw one on this journey.

Chinese Junk

On our last visit, we traveled across Hong Kong Island to Stanley to visit the famous markets there, known for their great bargains. With all the upscale stores everywhere, we’re not so sure about those bargains anymore. The bus ride to Stanley is worth taking just to see the countryside along the route. It’s a good reminder that Hong Kong doesn’t just consist of the business district and skyscrapers.

To return to the ship, we had to go through Harbor City, a very modern and upscale shopping mall, which houses the cruise terminal. That way they get you coming and going. The place was remarkable. The floors were covered with brilliant white and shiny ceramic tile that reflected the lights from the ceilings. Besides being very bright and modern, it was spotlessly clean and filled with very expensive stores. Just down the mall from Gucci, Prada, Armani, and lots of others of that ilk was a Toys R’ Us. Strange combination.

We joined the crowd of QE crewmembers and passengers congregating around a Wi-Fi hotspot in the mall. We had tried several places to download Skype so that we could call family members, but we never could do it. We should have downloaded it before we left home, but in the final rush to get away, we had neglected to do so. Using Skype, we could video with anyone having Skype, or telephone anyone not having the software. We learned that we would need more bandwidth to download Skype than most hotspots will give users. Lesson learned: download Skype before leaving home.

That evening, we sat on our balcony waiting for the laser show Hong Kong is famous for. Lasers pointing out from the tall buildings throughout the city put on quite a show. Someone told us that it was supposed to start at 8:30 p.m. We bundled up in winter jackets and an extra shawl for me and sat on our balcony, which was a prime viewing spot facing Hong Kong across the water from the ship. It was still overcast, but we could still see the city skyline.

About 8:00 p.m., lasers began flashing periodically from the tops of several buildings. We thought they might be testing their equipment for the show later. At 8:30 p.m. we waited and waited, but still no show. Obviously, what we thought was the test was actually the laser show. It wasn’t quite what we had seen before. Perhaps this was the off-season show. We were glad we hadn’t broken out the bottle of champagne that we had been given when we boarded and still sits in our fridge.

Hong Kong at Night (How it would look without the fog based on a photo)

We were too tired to wait until after midnight for the sail away from Hong Kong, so we turned in but left the drapes open. Each time I turned over, I could see the brilliantly lit buildings across the harbor. The movement of the ship getting underway woke me, so I looked out through the balcony windows to see the city as we sailed away. It was a spectacular sight even if it was a bit foggy.