Monday, 24 April. We were up at 5:45, had a nice buffet breakfast at 6:15, and were on the bus to the airport at 7:00. Our flight to Hong Kong left at 9:00 and arrived at 10:45. We were impressed by Hong Kong's new airport, located on Lantau Island, about 20 miles from Kowloon where our hotel was. The Miramar Hotel was on Nathan Street, the main drag in Kowloon, just a few blocks from the Star Ferry terminal.
We arrived just after noon and went for an orientation walk with Polly, our local guide. That took us south on Nathan to the Peninsula Hotel, a grand old relic from British colonial days and the only landmark Darrell could remember from his visit here in 1969. Even that was greatly changed, except for the classic old lobby. A high rise had been built atop the classic old hotel. When the walking tour broke up, several of us walked to a sandwich shop near the hotel, eager for a good old tuna salad sandwich. Afterwards, the two of us walked north on Nathan to a large department store to look around. It was very warm and humid, though, so we headed back to the hotel so Jane could rest. Meanwhile, Darrell took the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island and found the Fleet Arcade, successor to the China Fleet Club previously operated by the British Navy. On Darrell's earlier visit, it was the place to shop, with pre-negotiated discount prices and reliable merchants. The Fleet Arcade was a mere shadow of its predecessor, but still worth a visit. Darrell got back to the hotel at 5:40.
About 6:45 we walked to La Taverna, an Italian restaurant with very stiff prices. We still craved Western food. The food was very rich, but not typically Italian. Although we only had soup (at $10 a bowl) and lasagna (at $20 + per), we were stuffed to the point of being ill. We decided to walk some of it off and headed for the Promenade along the waterfront. The wind was really howling down the water and, even though it was otherwise a warm night, we found it too cool to go very far. We took a side street back to Nathan and returned to the hotel about 9:00 p.m. |
