Hong Kong and a Photo Phinish

by Bob Sparrow

Hong Kong

Our ship arrived in Hong Kong on a Tuesday morning and the regular schedule was for us to fly home the next day, but we wanted a little more time in the ‘Pearl of the Orient’, so we extended for another day.  We were sad to leave our ship, as it was our first time cruising with Celebrity and our first time in a suite; it was great to experience a great ship at a luxury level.  Our hotel was right on Victoria Harbour, so we had a great view, although we spent little time in our room.  We took about a 30-minute walk to Temple Street, a place Linda had to get to for some shopping, but as we learned later, it was mostly a ‘night market’.  We did return the next night and had dinner – again, not sure what we had, but it was very tasty! 

We scheduled a full-day tour the next day that included a trip on the world’s longest escalator, a ferry ride, a delicious lunch, a visit to the old police station/prison/museum, which displayed the history of Hong Kong, and then a ferry ride from Hong Kong Island to the sky tram to the Peak Tower.  At the top of the tram, Hong Kong spreads out before you.  Just spectacular!!   Back to our hotel, we walked through what seemed like miles of mall to get to the pier for the ‘light show’.  The mall had every high-end fashion store in the world, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent,, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany & Co., and many more; and it went on for what seemed like miles. We knew we weren’t in Vietnam anymore! The ‘light show’ occurs nightly at eight o’clock and features all the tall sky-scrappers on the water lighting up their building in various colors – it was nice, but a little unspectacular.

Hong Kong is a great, modern, bustling city, even the airport has all the high-end shops in the world.       

Final word . . .

I have to say, this cruise exceeded our expectations, which were fairly high to start with.  Great cities, Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon, DaNang and Hong Kong – each a great city in its own right.  Singapore stands out as a favorite.  It’s a city that is so clean and so diverse.  Linda and I both thought that with a trip of 18 days, we would be so ready to get home, but that was not the case, we loved every day, but it is great to be home!

Because we were traveling alone, we ended up sitting with and befriending a variety of people – a traveling circus owner from Quebec, an interesting couple from Ireland, a Korean couple that lives next to Debo Samuel of the 49ers, and many others, mostly from the UK. Oh yeah, we also met a couple from Yorba Linda!

Unsurprisingly, I reinforced a belief that you can’t diet on a cruise.  I did get to the gym fairly regularly, but when the food is so available and good and you get in the habit of having dessert not only for dinner, but for breakfast and lunch, your pants will be much tighter.  So, I learned a new phrase on this Asian cruise:  Mi Tu Phat

Thanks for coming along!

Photo Phinish