If you're only going to be in Hong Kong for a few days, the one activity that everyone is supposed to experience is a trip to "The Peak". This is basically the highest point on Hong Kong Island, and it's been a hot spot for tourism since the Victorian era, when the British built a tram going to the top that is still running to this day. While I visited the Peak on my first weekend in HK, Marisa wasn't able to go due to some schoolwork or something like that. Needless to say, after a couple of months as a resident she was overdue to have a "peak". We decided to go on a Saturday evening to try to get a glimpse of the "laser show" in the harbor below, which is probably the least intelligent day to pick for this event. We took a bus to the tram station only to find a 2-hour wait to catch a ride.......plan B was an overpriced taxi (but not really overpriced to Western standards), which got us there much faster. With a couple of hours before the laser show, we took in the views...
View from the Peak looking toward the south side of the island - that is, not the Hong Kong harbor
What had been a fantastically clear day turned out to be a rather foggy evening, which was a bummer. We checked out the two malls that sit up top and made our way back for the "laser show" at 8pm (nightly occurrence)
So this is the postcard view of the Hong Kong skyline with a slight fog/haze that makes a nice effect. When you actually look closer, it starts to set in that they have hundreds of high-rise buildings packed into this place. It really is unlike any place I've ever been. I only wish that I had some speakers blasting a Journey song while we took in the view.
Oh yeah, here's a shot of the "laser show" that actually featured no lasers that I could tell. It looked more like a K-mart parking lot during a "Blue light special". In summary, the "laser show" isn't a big deal - at least from this angle (they say it's better from across the harbor in Tsim Sha Tsoi). However, that doesn't mean that the view of the skyline is any less amazing.
To finish off the evening, we had a nice little dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. I usually shy away from theme restaurants (i.e. Hardrock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, etc), but this one is legit. Their shrimp is bangin'.
So we checked the Peak off of our list of things to do and I suggest you do the same if you visit Hong Kong.
--Justin
