Hong Kong Day 1
March 19 marked the last port of call in our trip.
We arrived at 16:00h, but had to wait until 17:00h to disembark because immigration authorities required ALL passengers to go through a face-to-face check, and a couple was missing (they found them an hour later).
We were docked at Harbour City Ocean Terminal in Kowloon, so as soon as we disembarked, we walked through the massive shopping mall, and then onto the streets of Hong Kong in Kowloon side.
China’s economic strength is clearly visible in Hong Kong: from the endless parade of luxury cars, to the multi-story luxury brand stores, to a forest of new skyscrapers being built simultaneously, some Chinese are enjoying their new riches… and they love nothing more than to show it.
We got souvenirs at Pan-Am Pearl in 9 Lock Rd., where airline crews regularly purchase their gifts (the now defunct Pan-Am even ordered their flight attendants’ pearls from them, thus the name), stepped in the Mira Hotel where Edward Snowden made history, went to the Temple St. Night Market, and walked back through the park to the ship, in time to see the nightly light show from the ship’s deck (it occurs daily from 20:00h to 20:13h). Unfortunately, it was so densely foggy that we only got to guess how awesome the show must be on a clear day.
After the light show, and leaving the presents we just bought in our stateroom, we left the ship again, to go have dinner: we had a few dumplings at Cheung Hing Kee Pan-fried Buns (Michelin Guide 2016), and a full dinner at Chee Kei (wonton noodles and crab congee), after which we took a nice stroll back to the ship for our last night onboard (docked in Hong Kong).