A Soggy Day in Hong Kong
- Paul Hallman
- Apr 8
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 9
We arrived in Soggy Hong Kong at the ship terminal wrapped in thick, foggy weather—the kind that makes a huge city feel strangely quiet and hidden. We’d used Chat GPT to put together an agenda for the day and planned to tour the city with Rick and Marilyn, raincoats and umbrellas packed just in case the forecast turned on us. Our AI plan was ok, but there were hiccups.
We could not see much as we arrived in foggy weather
The ship terminal and port was an old airport runway and it was extremely long. The roof of the terminal was covered in greenery and part of the environmental growth that the country had adopted. Kai Tak Airport (1925–1998) was Hong Kong's international airport, renowned for its dangerous, urban, single-runway approach over Kowloon City. Originally a residential development site, it evolved into a bustling hub where planes made a sharp 45-degree turn at low altitude to land in Victoria Harbour, closing on July 5, 1998. Today it is a ship terminal.
We hired an Uber and set off to visit our 1st thing to do in Hong Kong. Our first stop, which was on the other side of Victoria Harbour, was the Peak Tram, a classic Hong Kong experience and usually the best way to get a sweeping view of Victoria Harbour and the city’s famous skyline. Up at the top you’d normally find lookout levels and panoramic viewing areas, but the fog was so heavy we couldn’t see a darn thing. Jan even tried the pay binoculars and gave the view a thumbs-down. Chat GPT forgot to tell us that it would be very cloudy at the top and we would not see anything at all.
There was a typical souvenir shop, some escalators and a huge stairwell and that was on the way to the top of the Peak Lookout. If you check out the photo with the grey on the top and the map under - that is what we were hoping to see. A complete view of Hong Kong but it was fog. It never really cleared up at all during the entire day.
The only thing we could clearly confirm was that a Bubba Gump Restaurant was up there. However, I did find some unexpected photo opportunities in the stairwell as we went up and down the escalator and we viewed a few murals. Not what we had hoped for.
The Peak Lookout was on the Island portion of Hong Kong so we stayed on the island for the better part of the morning.
Some Background on Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on the southeastern coast of the Pearl River Delta, made up of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, and about 260 outlying islands. Roughly 7.5 million people live here in about 425 square miles, making it one of the most densely populated places on Earth. Because the weather today was overcast some rain and clouds the city seemed to be able to move around - the locals must have stayed home.
Historically, it was a British colony from 1842 until the handover to China on July 1, 1997, and under “one country, two systems” it was promised a high degree of autonomy until 2047. It remains a major financial center and a unique East-meets-West blend where Cantonese dominates alongside English and Mandarin.
It’s also famous for its dramatic skyline which is called Victoria Harbour framed by dense skyscrapers against a mountain backdrop and it leads the world with 569 skyscrapers over 150 meters tall. During the morning walk I snapped a few photos of the various buildings so you could get an idea of the designs and where they are located. There is really no space between the towers that rise to the sky,
After the Peak, we headed toward the ferry area and stopped at a nearby cathedral, catching a brief moment of an Easter service from the front door.
On the ship we did have an miniature Easter display in the Atrium so it was not forgotten, although we still don't know what day or month it is!
The morning started overcast and foggy but then the storms rolled in and we were in rain for the better part of the day. This was what we had to deal with all day long.
Before lunch we walked through a section of town where it looked like there was supposed to be a gathering, but the rain sent everyone into hiding—some under bus shelters, others listening to a band playing under a small tent. Apparently the Pilipino locals gather every Sunday on the Island part of Hong Kong to celebrate a family day but again, with the weather inclement, they decided to show up but stay under cover, which meant underground.
They were everywhere, but mostly in a walkway that was from an old subway line. We saw hundreds of people sitting on the floor in cardboard “rooms” that they’d built. It was startling and unforgettable.
I managed to get a short video of Johnny Cash singing in the street while it poured rain.
We wandered through a canyon of tall buildings looking for lunch, finally found a place, didn’t like it, and left. We ended up at a restaurant called Stormy’s instead, where we had a local stout and a great lunch—exactly what we needed.
The lights above our lunch table were worth a photo moment - so snapped a picture !
Afterward we walked and then rode the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator system, a long chain of outdoor covered escalators and moving walkways that runs about 800 meters and climbs roughly 135 meters up the hillside. In that part of the city we also noticed how many raised pedestrian walkways there are. Hong Kong feels layered, with people moving above street level between buildings and across busy roads.
The map shows the routes of the escalators and raised walkways on the Island
At the top where we exited the escalator, we came to an old prison and took a self guided tour. The jail itself still had cells and some were set up to show life in prison. The courtyard, which was part of the complex but higher on the hill, also had cells but some were turned into areas where you could sit and relax at a café which was an unexpectedly great reuse of the old prison yard space.
Beside the prison there was a building with a very intricate exterior and I took a few photos to try to display how large the sides were and how unique.
Bamboo Scaffold
One of the things we noticed in Hong King was all the scaffolding was made out of bamboo, but the work they were doing was on high buildings. I am sure it would not pass safety regulations in our countries.
Our official Chat GPT plan was to take the ferry across Victoria Harbour, but with the rain we didn't use the ferry and hired an Uber, then walked the waterfront. The Walk of Stars was our next spot to visit but it was so packed we couldn’t see much. I was able to inch my way to the waterfront to get some photos while the others stayed back. I got a picture of the lady holding a pearl, symbolizing the beginning of the Walk of Stars and later we all managed to squeeze past the crowd and check out the various remembrances on the handrails of Chinese stars with imprints of their hands. Similar to what is done in Hollywood.
Can you find Jan in this photo- or anyone with blonde hair ?
We tried to reserve a taxi for the Kowloon Market, but the taxi driver didn’t know where it was and we had to guide him to our destination. I used my phone. and showed him Google Maps with instructions to our spot. After about 15 minutes of “who knows where we are,” we arrived only to find the market was disappointing - a two-story building with most of the booths covered up with cloth and only a few meat stalls open. It felt dark and a bit scary.
We passed a jammed shipping dock for fishing boats on the way to the market.
Here are a few more photos of buildings and billboards from our day in Hong Kong.
At that point Jan and Marilyn headed back to the ship by Uber, while Rick and I went back downtown. I had booked a 7 pm dinner at the Aqua Restaurant on the 17th floor of the Sheraton Hotel building, so we could enjoy a nice dinner and then catch the 8:00 pm laser light show in Victoria Bay.
AQUA RESTAURANT
Dinner was fabulous and the restaurant was beautiful—I took photos—but the rain spotted the windows and made photography tough. The laser show itself was underwhelming too, with low clouds muting the lights. We really didn't see anything.
After dinner we wandered into the Sheraton Hotel below, which was also beautifully decorated, and I posted photos—including the one thing we all recognized. It was a surprise to myself when I entered “Your Happy Room,” a memorable bathroom with nine circular urinals. What a cool Happy Room !
Rick and I finished the night down at the waterfront where I managed to get some evening photos of the city. It was still a bit cloudy up in the sky, but it had stopped raining. We agreed, that our day in Hong Kong was a great day but not a place to put on an agenda to visit again.
On our Uber ride from the central downtown area we passed the brand new stadium they had just completed and it was all lit up in lights. Beside the cruise terminal there were many 10 story apartment-like buildings lit up as well. This building was used to house Covid-19 infected people during the pandemic and now it is empty. It may be waiting for the next emergency to happen !
We Uber'd back to the ship and called it a night and that is when we almost had a Hallman Experience. When you depart the ship and then come back on you are given a Transit Card and it is required that you carry a photocopy of your passport (the ship actually had our real passports) however, Jan and Marilyn came back to the ship much earlier and they had both Rick and my documentation. We thought they would let us back on the ship, but we were stopped in our tracks. The Hong Kong immigration would not let us reboard, nor would they let either of our wives come back out to bring the paperwork. We were in a bit of a mess until I saw Giancarlo, one of the ship senior staff, who I had previously met and talked with a lot. He listened to our story and said, "Come with me," then he told immigration we were part of the ship's staff and we sort of just walked through "Checkpoint Charlie" and were able to reboard. Darned close to a Hallman Experience for Rick and myself.
Thanks Giancarlo !
It wasn’t the best visit of our Circle Pacific trip, but it was absolutely a city to remember. Lots of fog, rain, crowds, a few surprises and that's all to remember..
Next stop is in Taiwan, where we can explore our last stop in China.
Comments