Day 2,

and we were out for the day,

we had booked a tour of Hong Kong,

the coach picked us up bright and early as we hit the rush hour traffic,

which gave me the chance to take a few pictures of some of the skyscrapers,

and there were lots of them,

I thought this was a nice water feature,

so many high buildings,

the very jovial Annie, our guide for the day,

huge buildings,

everywhere you looked,

in so many different shapes,

a couple of the local trams,

this building looked really strange,

almost looking like an optical illusion,

not so these,

dwarfed by the buildings behind,

we were going to this temple for our first stop of the day,

one of the oldest in Hong Kong,

it is now being renovated by skilled craftsmen,

inside a number of shrines,

lanterns,

fill the interior,

I do not know what the significance of the lanterns are,

but I do know that the deities like smoke, hence the incense,

it appears the more smoke,

the happier they are,

which is why bundles rather than individual sticks are lit,

at the same time,

there were many figures along the wall,

also candles were lit,

with writing on them,

more lanterns looking above,

and more figures,

it appears there are a number of different places to light incense,

along all of the walls,

candles and incense could be left,

back outside we were again dwarfed by a high rise,

this fire was kept going all day long as people put papers into it,

I told him not to leave our car there,

it spoils the view of the temple!

we were making our way to the peak, past Hong Kong's Mid-Levels Escalator, it is the longest system of escalators in the world,

we are going to take the train, this is the old winding gear now replaced, 

we are all waiting for the funicular rail car,

and here it is,

all aboard!

we climbed at an alarming angle,

the view getting better the higher we climbed,

the cable that takes the strain,

and down it goes,

we made our way up to the observation deck,

the view was stupendous,

all of Hong Kong below us,

time for a pose,

the observation deck,

well I had to put the camera in panorama mode,

the buildings seemed to go on forever,

and some so high,

a quick pose,

and a close up of some of the buildings,

just breathtaking,

another quick pose,

a last look at the view,

goodbye to the peak,

and we were on our way to the next stop,

a cruise in the harbour, the Jumbo Kingdom jetty,

we were going to travel in a sampan,

and this is ours,

we were told, that properties out here overlooking the harbour are in the millions of dollars each range,

the Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant,

has its own pier and fleet of boats to ferry customers across to it,

we made our way past huge condominiums,

towering over the harbour,

there were two boats in our group,

there is a smaller restaurant moored next to Jumbo Kingdom,

we past so many super yachts, I quite like the grey one,

well the white one would do at a pinch,

inside our boat the ceiling was festooned with lanterns,

these are mainly work boats,

with out their own jetty's,

until recently there were a number of families living on boats moored here, 

but over the years they have moved,

a nice view if you can afford it,

one of the Jumbo Kingdom taxis comes past,

as another goes in the opposite direction,

one of the yachts makes its way towards the sea on the right hand side of the picture,

a bit bigger than our boat so we get out of it's way,

we catch up with the rest of our group,

it was nice way to spend some time here,

next stop,

lunch,

at Jumbo Kingdom,

the place was huge,

with a nice view of the yachts,

inside,

a quick pose,

then upstairs,

it seems incredible,

that all of this is floating on water,

the restaurant was huge,

and this was only a half of it,

we took our seats for lunch,

in the centre of the table a lazy Susan,

a selection of dim sum was served,

also it is worth noting if you have a special diet you can request a different meal like this one,

more food appears,

enough for everyone,

'Cheers!',

I mentioned the place was huge, well this is one half of this floors dinning area,

this is the other half!

we made our way downstairs,

and onto the outside deck,

everywhere you look Chinese dragons,

all of these,

in a water feature,

our taxi arrives,

to take us back, 

to the Jumbo Kingdom jetty,

next stop a jewellery store,

it was interesting to look around,

and a talk was given about some aspects of jewellery making,

and we could see some craftsmen at work,

setting stones,

in rings presumably,

outside,

more building work was ongoing,

and this is our next stop, 

Stanley market,

it somehow seems strange seeing my name there,

but there it is,

so shop away,

there were a few paintings stalls,

but mainly clothes were on offer,

with a few selling souvenirs,

but I was surprised to see this store,

which had so much Tin-Tin material there,

back to clothes,

and souvenirs,

it was not as big as I had expected,

but it made a change for us to be looked at as tourists,

the shirt says it all,

back to the bus,

we passed both fresh,

and salt-water reservoirs,

as we neared town,

more skyscrapers filled the sky,

this one had a display on it,

for some reason,

it reminded me of Christmas,

sunset over the bay,

we had arranged to meet up with Richard, who we know from Thailand, who now lives here,

and He showed us a transport system we had not heard of, 

the underground pedestrian walk way system,

it is almost a self contained city underground, it cleverly separates pedestrians from the streets and cars,

and it has another trick up it's sleeve,

it's own railway system, what a neat idea,

Richard of course living here knows the system like the back of his hand,

one stop down the line,

and we had arrived at Richard's condominium,

through the front door,

and hello to his wife Beth,

the view from their front room, it is a long way down!

table set for our evening meal that Beth had cooked,

'Cheers!',

prawns,

pork,

and chicken,

what a feast,

James had finished his school work and joined us,

for dessert apple crumble with a touch of cinnamon, delicious!

well we had to have another 'Cheers!',

whilst Diana, James,

and Beth chatted away,

all too soon it was time to say our farewells and thank Beth and Richard for looking after us so well,

we made our way downstairs,

to a taxi rank,

our taxi for the journey to our hotel, then for us time for bed.