Tuesday, July 3

Learned to take the subway today. Travelled from Kowloon, where we are staying, to Hong Kong island. It's quite a walk from the closest entrance to the  train itself. The good thing is that walking underground avoids the traffic and is AIR CONDITIONED.

It was a short, steep walk to the Peak Tram, which gives a gravity-defying climb up the side of Victoria Peak. We were lucky and the weather was clear. The views are spectacular of both Victoria Harbour and the outlying islands. (yes, I am using British spelling. When in Rome, you know.)

Lunch was at a wonderfully refreshing Vietnamese cafe, at the peak. It  was so good I was moved to submit my first review to Trip Advisor. Definitely worth passing up all the mass-market restaurants for. (Sidenote: we are really missing veggies. Not easy to come by here in the restaurants.)

We then took a taxi to Man Po temple, which is in a different neighbourhood of the island. Learned there are 10,000 taxis in the city. The traffic is tight and intense. The area is stuffed with countless small shops and multi-story housing buildings. We went to Man Po temple because it is a top pick in the guidebook. It is HK's most important temple. It's in an old building and not very large. Inside, it was hot and oppressive due to the many coils and sticks of incense burning. We didn't stay long.

We then walked thru the neighbourhood to the subway station. A combination of logic and intuition took us to our destination. The path included Ladder street, which is a concrete staircase. At the ticket machine, a boy no taller than my waist tried to slip my subway ticket. Pickpockets come in a variety of flavors, I guess. We made our way back home, cooled off, and then went out again for supplies, including two 6-liter jugs of water. We are going thru a LOT of water to stay hydrated.

We tried to get on the Internet this afternoon, but the hotel's router was down. Vanessa went off to a team practice and I visited with a woman who is a HK resident, currently working in Shanghai who has let her flat. Her name is Margaret, which is easy for me to remember because there are about 5 Margarets in my life! We ran into her and her husband later in the night.

Tonight we had a wonderful dinner at a Turkish restaurant. Nice clean food. I have a new favourite food, which is mint, used in salad, yogurt sauces and drinks. We had two good meals today. The best food day so far.

Tomorrow morning we're planning to go to a public tai chi class. It will be a race day, so the priority is clear.