Our two days in Hong Kong went very quickly and it has been great to be back in the first world for a bit. Everything is just easy when you can understand the language and the shops stock items you recognize.

Yesterday morning the temptation was just too great and we ended up doing what most people do in Hong Kong – we went shopping ! On the way to the one of the bigger camera shops we ‘accidentally’ stumbled into a book store. My V just cannot resist books – I really need to learn to read. Some time later we left with a couple of large books – the justification being that we are going to be in Yangshuo for a week and the weather forcast is predicting rain – we’ll swap the books with other travellers to keep V entertained or just give them away (V absolutely loathes getting rid of books).

On www.dpreview.com I found a recent comparison of ‘Travel Zoom’ cameras. Going on the recommendation of the editor we now have a Samsung WB650 – let’s see how long this one lasts! On the up side it was a fair price and came with a bunch of freebies (case, gorillapod, memory card, extra battery, screen protector). The warranty is international and it was some cool specs (24mm wide angle, 15X optical zoom, GPS tagging – apparently a bit of a gimmick, etc etc). Unfortunately it did put a ding in our budget – we’ll have to use more dorms and eat more noodles later on.

Happy with our loot we headed off in search of museums. The central area in Kowloon is very compact and you don’t need to walk far. The HK History museum was pretty good – we especially enjoyed the more modern history (Opium wars, English rule, Japanese occupation and the return to Chinese rule in ’97). Beautifully presented and a pleasure to visit. The Science Museum across the way is a treasure trove for kids. A monster 3 story ‘thing’ (not sure what you call it) is surrounded by hundreds of hands-on activities – V and I had a ball 🙂 We loved the signs on the touch screens: ‘This screen is sanitized every hour’ and there was a guy sanitizing the esculator had rails – what a place !

A quick bite and short walk across Kowloon got us to the Space Museum. Not as big as I expected but anything to do with space has me hooked. They have an IMAX/planetarium there too but it was too long to wait for the next show so we headed around the corner to the ‘Avenue of Stars’ and views of HK island. Not as ‘iconic’ as Shanghai but impressive non the less. We found Jackie Chan’s star but the rest were unknown to us and that was us done for the day. Urban overload in less than 12 hours !

Today our mission was to visit Hong Kong island – a stunning clear blue sky greeted us and the streets were empty until way after 10 (Sunday morning). We hopped onto the subway (again more expensive than we are accustomed to) and got off at Victoria park. It has a ‘central park’ kind of feel. People out enjoying the green open space, exercising, worshipping (yip) or just video chatting with their friends on Skype!

We have to admit that we enjoyed the feel of central Kowloon more but HK island has it’s plusses too. The Trams are incredibly cute (so narrow they look like they are going to fall over) and the majesty of the skyskrapers is topped only by the surrounding mountains – impressive building a city on this landcsape. We popped into the massive Times Square shopping centre in search of a ‘North Face’ shop – It was like walking into a British mall – English signs everywhere and even a M&S.

The highlight of the day was the view of HK and Kowloon from the Peak viewpoint. It was busy but did not feel crowded even with the shopping trolleys (really) of photo gear that some people were lugging around (one guy even had his own step ladder to get onto rock outcrops). We took the tram up and my iPhone inclinometer maxed at 57deg (that is Steep ! and yes I’m a geek) it was quite a ride. At the top the views were stunning as excpected, but what was not excected were the shopping malls – these guys just love to build!

We decided that for sups we were going to spoil ourselves with the first real meal in a couple of months. We gouged ourselves on Steak from an Auzzie resturant. Excellent. I even ate cauliflower – it was that good. Well worth it and should satisfy our need for good beef for at least a week. Full tummies and a couple glasses of wine (not used to that any more) and I suspect our night shots of the HK skyline will be a little blurry.

We had read a lot of horrid reviews about crime in HK and the dingy hostels but we had no problems and felt as safe as anywhere else. The rooms were very small but clean and quiet – then again if we have broadband it really doesn’t matter 🙂 Sure.. shady looking hindian fellows are going to try sell you fake a rolex or a hand made suit but they are easy to ignore. Speaking of Rolex, we saw a building sized Rolex ad for a new model (the Milgauss) with the tagline ‘The Scientist’s Watch’ – how cool is that?! Big +1 for Science.

Ok, enough from us. The new camera is perfroming perfectly and I’m looking forward to uploading more photos. Tomorrow we are on the move again – adventure awaits.

[Pictures: HK skyline from Kowloon, From the Peak Viewpoint, and a tram – yes even the trams in China are skinny]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi