A late 8.20am alarm saw us up and getting ready for our first free breakfast in the Continental Lounge on the 17th floor. There were only two other people in there, which made it feel very exclusive. The chef was standing by waiting to cook my omelette, and it — along with everything else we ate — was fabulous. Karen declared it the best breakfast of the entire trip.
The room itself was lovely, although we could have been absolutely anywhere in the world as there were no views out of the windows and it had that posh, ubiquitous hotel feel.
We took our time before heading back to clean our teeth and collect the rucksack. Then we walked the 100 metres from the hotel to the Star Ferry terminal, where we had some fun persuading the automated ticket machine to accept our credit cards. By the return journey I think I’d worked out that you have to hold the card still for longer rather than just tap it — and slightly further round than we do at home.
We bought two senior tickets costing a grand total of 26p each for the iconic journey across the harbour.
It was already a beautiful day and a lovely, short crossing. Once again, we were the only Western faces amongst a sea of people.
We’d been advised to look for the 15C bus to take us to the tram station, or the 15 to take us straight up to The Peak. I couldn’t see a stop for the 15C anywhere, and Karen was already hobbling quite a lot, so we opted for the bus to the top itself — which turned out to be a long and very crowded ride.
My credit cards failed yet again (although Karen’s didn’t), and after the grumpy driver told me I had to pay cash — but then realised he had no change — he waved me on for free. Result.
The journey itself was interesting and took us past Happy Valley racecourse, which we’d hoped to visit, but unfortunately, we fly home on race day. The bus snaked its way up to The Peak where it terminated. It was busy but still manageable.
After walking to the free vantage points and marvelling at the incredible views, we headed into The Peak Tower after Karen spotted, as she put it, the “magical green logo” of Starbucks on the outside.
The building had multiple floors of exactly what you’d expect to find on top of Hong Kong’s most famous viewpoint — Madame Tussauds, a British sweet shop, and various photos of your iris opportunities. We found Starbucks and resisted the temptation to buy a “unique” Starbucks Monopoly set. There was nowhere to sit, so we paid to go up higher to the observation level. The views were even better from there, and there were benches so Karen could sit, drink her coffee, and feel like we were on top of the world.
More photos were taken in the most perfect weather with no wind before we headed down for a toilet stop. There appeared to be only one ladies’ toilet open, and Karen endured a 15-minute queue. I filled my time by having my photo taken with Benedict Cumberbatch at the waxworks entrance. I tried to start a conversation but he was very rude and ignored me.
We decided to ride the tram down and queued for about 10 minutes for tickets and the tram to arrive. It’s a very steep descent, reaching a gradient of 26 degrees at one point, which made it quite fun — and much faster than the bus ride up.
At the bottom it was a bit chaotic with people queuing to go up. Karen decided she was fit enough to walk the 10 minutes to the Hong Kong M&S department store, just to have a look and say she’d been. No purchases were made. We then walked back to the Star Ferry and sat on the upper deck for the return crossing.
Back at the hotel we headed straight up to the Continental Lounge again for the complimentary afternoon tea. It was all very civilised and felt wonderfully British Empire in tone.
After a brief rest in our room, we returned back to the lounge for the evening soirée we’d missed the day before. We managed three glasses of bubbles each along with a few hors d’oeuvres.
Karen was keen to try The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, which was at the opposite end of the Harbour City mall from where we’d eaten the previous night. Once inside the mall we checked at the information desk for directions, who confirmed it was a 15-minute walk — demonstrating just how enormous the place is.
We took it slowly. As with every restaurant we’ve been to here, there were lots of people waiting, so we were given a buzzer and told the wait would be 30 minutes. We were seated within nine.
The waitress spoke excellent English and took our orders: Parmesan Chicken for me and a Chicken Club Sandwich for Karen. As ever, the portions were huge. Karen took half her sandwich away with her, along with all of her cherry cheesecake.
The table next to us was full of locals enthusiastically chatting away in Cantonese, with several people seemingly talking at once. Then a large birthday cake appeared and they all sang “Happy Birthday” — in English. Is that universal? Does everyone sing it in English?
We made our way back without getting lost this time, although Karen was in quite a bit of pain and hobbling badly. This operation cannot come soon enough for her. To be fair, she has been absolutely brilliant in managing throughout the trip. While we’ve taken things slower at times, it hasn’t stopped us doing very much at all. The yellow umbrella has been a real help as a walking aid.
Hong Kong is a strange place — but a fascinating one. Our plan for tomorrow is to see more of the real Hong Kong rather than the polished tourist version.
And with that, I finished reading my latest book on my new Christmas Kindle while Karen caught up with the BBC News on her phone. We were both exhausted again, and the lights were off by 10.15pm.
