Hong Kong to see in the New Year
We left on a night flight at almost midnight arriving late morning into HKG. The airport was fast and efficient and within 45 minutes of landing we were in our pre-booked car en-route to the city.Everyone had told us to use the train for transfers but after a night flight we thought we would just want a simple solution. But having taking the train on the return it is true to say we found it very easy and fast.
On arrival at the hotel I was shocked. It was SO noisy in the lobby. It was bustling with people and they all spoke very loudly. I had to get used to this as I found that everywhere we went people were really loud talking to each other or even just into the mobile phone. Check was was great. Friendly and efficient and thats how we found all of the Mandarin Oriental team to be throughout our stay. Nothing was too much trouble, they wanted to make sure we were happy all of the time. We loved the handwritten notes and gifts of sweets received in our room each day. On NYE we had a chocolate champagne bottle containing chocolate truffles. It was Amazing! We both only have positive things to say about the Mandarin Oriental.
Despite our night flight we were keen to get out and about so after admiring our view (we chose a Marina view room with a huge window) we headed out to Victoria Peak. It was a very busy time of year so we did have to queue for the tram for quite some time. But it was worth it as it's a really steep climb with fabulous views. The tram is now just a way to get to the peak but used to be a standard method of transport and the original old stations and still marked.The view from The Peak is spectacular as it's the highest point in Hong Kong and we could see 360degrees views of the vast city. We spent the whole afternoon here before heading off for a sumptuous Michelin Starred Chinese dinner at Man Wah back at the hotel. Walking back we couldn't help but be in awe of the location - surrounded by all high end shops such as Cartier, Harry Winston and Gucci, and immediately across from the harbour, central district was perfect for getting around.
On Saturday we went to meet some friends living in Hong Kong for brunch in the Lan Kwai Fong area which is a famous area for drinking and nightlife. This area was buzzing with people having fun and we managed to get a table at a roof top bar with great city views. The thing were learnt was when walking along a street looking for fun places to be, instead of looking straight ahead - look up. So many outlets are high up in the buildings, they could easily be missed. Later in the evening we headed off to the Kowloon night market to see what the locals were buying. It was chaotic; busy and noisy and fun of life. We sat and had some refreshments in the middle of the market to watch the comings and goings all around us. Later we went off to a fortune teller, but that's another story!
We were in Hong Kong for a very short time so we had to pack in the most popular attractions, the most famous probably being the 112ft high Tian Tan Buddha statue reachable by the 360 cable car on Lantau island. We opted for the glass bottomed cable car so we maximised what we could see. It's not for the feint hearted though. Once again we had to queue for a while but again it was worth it as it was a stunning journey. Looking down we could see the walking trail up to the Big Buddha. It would be brilliant to do for those who enjoy good walk, the trail will take around 6hours. The cable car was a more reasonable 30minutes between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping arriving into a cultural village with shops and restaurants and roaming cows- really! We strolled through the village before climbing the 268steps up to see the Buddha. The 268 down again to visit the Po Lin Monastery was much easier!
OnNew Years Eve itself the city was buzzing. People were coming in from everywhere to the harbour front in readiness to watch the fireworks display at midnights. The bars and restaurants including those at the hotel had various countdown parties and tables with good viewing were booking several months in advance at premium prices. We had planned ahead so we stayed in the hotel doing a bit of a bar crawl before heading off to see the fireworks from our Marina View room at midnight. And what a view it was. We saw (and heard) the whole display which was spectacular as expected and lasted for several minutes celebrated by everyone watching along the harbour front and on the boats in the water. It really was a lovely way to start a new year.