We hit the metro which was about two blocks south of the apartment and braced ourselves for the joy that is public transportation. In every city we ride mass transit we seem to fight and struggle with the transit, whether it is the tickets, the gates, understanding the transfers, gypsies, something makes it more difficult than you'd think. We have read about the Octopus card that is a pre-paid transit card similar to the Oyster card in London or the multiple-day pass in Paris and you can buy them almost everywhere including convenience stores. We walk up to a Circle K in the metro's underground complex of stores and stuff and are told that we need to get them at the customer service kiosk. We stand in line which moves pretty quickly and we get what we needed. I was concerned that I couldn't find the fare table for children's Octopus cards. Ended up that Veronica and Emerson are free - whoo-hoo! The next challenge was to navigate the turnstiles and get into the subway proper. You know what? It was EASY and we had no issues at all.
We took the metro to Hong Kong and went under the harbor in no time at all. The metro cars here are interesting in that they are not segmented into cars with doors between them but rather are long open air halls almost. This means you can see a very long way in either direction (assuming you are taller than 90% of the riders - lucky me!). Pretty cool! Emerson did great on the metro which was a concern for us based on his love of transportation. We get off at our stop and get out of the metro with no issues either. We really need to find a currency exchange as I just about drained the swamp of what I withdrew from the ATM on the Octopus cards. The conversion rate here is around 7.5 HKG to USD and they seem to fly out of my wallet. We find a bank that is actually open as it is Saturday and wait in line to be told that I need my passport to exchange money. D-oh! I totally left all of that at the flat. We resign ourselves to hitting the ATM again (you have to pay the out of network fees as well as a currency conversion fee which is why we were trying to avoid it). We go to a taxi stand and take a ride to the Victoria Peak tram terminus station. We have heard that the lines can be horrendous but these seem tame so we jump in, pay and wait for the tram to come and go twice before it is our turn. While waiting in line I notice that the backpack has been opened. Apparently pickpockets are at work here, too. The good news is that we don't keep anything of financial value in the backpack, just diapers, sunblock, hats, water and stuff. We remind ourselves to be extra vigilant. The tram has been running since the 1880s and has sections that are incredibly steep. Emerson did great for the majority of the ride but part way up he decided he was done. We reach the top and run the gauntlet of stores that want to sell everything from giant Pez dispensers to remote control helicopters to Bubba Gump shrimp. The view from the top of the peak is fantastic and you get a good feel for how large and dense Hong Kong is. It is neat to see the backside of Victoria Peak and how sparsely populate it is, especially compared to the other side. We head back down the tower and the tram to see what else we can see.
As we walk out of the tram complex, we see a line of taxis and ask one of them to take us to the midtown escalators but apparently escalator doesn't translate either and we stubble for a few minutes to show him on a map and describe it to no avail. We agree to give up and move on. The next cabbie speaks great English and knows exactly where we need to go and promptly takes us there. Hong Kong like most cities on the mainland has crazy traffic, but the rule of British law seems to have imposed the use of turn signals and traffic lanes more than across the border. The mid town escalators are the longest outdoor escalators in the world. Hong Kong is very similar to San Francisco in that it is hilly and this series of escalators helps move workers from the residential areas of the city to the downtown office towers for the workday. We ride them up and enjoy seeing the streets and life in general as we pass by. As we get closer to the top, we can tell the kids are winding down and Sydney is becoming more obstinate than usual so we decide to stop for some lunch. Julie spots a Pizza Hut sign so we find the store and order a veggie pizza and a pepperoni. We laugh about the menu featuring such classics as "American style pizza" with pepperoni, beef and the all time favorite pizza topping, corn. They also had tapas, cream of mushroom soup and other non-Pizza Hut offerings. We get our food and since it is a delivery and/or takeaway store and walk to a small park that was a quiet corner next to the escalators and enjoy our lunch. Emerson is a great eater and literally has not turned down very much food we have given him no matter the style and pizza is no different. He really does belong in this family!
After lunch we take a cab back to the metro and head for the apartment. Emerson crashes for a nap and the rest of us relax for a bit. After that we head back out for dinner and to see the Symphony of Lights. It is back to the metro for us and one stop later we are in the heart of Kowloon's shopping district with tons of neon selling everything from electronics to jewelry to watches, you name it, it is probably for sale here. While walking around we see multiple Porsches ranging from Boxsters to Carerra S models as well as tons of BMWs and Mercs. Max and I are really enjoying this aspect of Hong Kong. We wander for a while before we find an Indian restaurant where we eat dinner. The kids all did good with food that was a bit spicier than the mild we ordered and everyone but Max enjoyed the desert of gulag jamun, which are fried balls of a milk based dough served in a sweet syrup. Yummy. We head out and work our way towards the waterfront to watch the light show. It is pretty packed so we all stand together in a close group to minimize pickpocket likelihood and the kiddos are all worn out from a busy day. The light show is neat to watch and Max especially enjoys the green lasers that shoot from the top of two of the buildings. We call it a day and rather than take four tired kiddos through the metro again we hail a cab and we work on our combined lack of English/Cantonese to explain where our place is. It is harder than it sounds because there is a big road named Austin Road and then there is our place which is on Austin Ave. He understands Austin ok, but avenue is missing. We are able to pantomime that we need to keep going on Austin Rd. And eventually he figures it out. LOL! We have him drop us off at the grocery store near our apartment so we can get some food for breakfast. We do some shopping for cereal, bananas and stuff before we head back to the apartment for the night. After everyone gets settled, three of the four kids are out in record time, but mr nappy, Emerson, is still awake until a little after 10. Being the good boy that he is, he lays on his bed quietly and entertains himself until he sacks out. I read for a while and as I am trying to fall asleep, a huge thunderstorm rolls in. Our apartment doesn't have central air so the AC units hang outside the windows and the rain makes quite the racket on them. As a testament to how tired everyone is, nobody but Julie wakes up at all. I am surprised but happy. Tomorrow is a new adventure!
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