We set out on foot at 9:00. Our first stop was the 1881 Heritage Plaza. This is a beautiful area in front of the 1881 Heritage Hotel, a lovely building. Across the street was the Penninsula Hotel. We stopped to view its elegant lobby. Then we passed through its retail galleries. This collection of top end jeweler sand clothiers was way beyond our means, but it was fun to watch. We exited onto Nathan Road, and began our walk past more reasonable retailers. After a block we met a couple who had disembarked yesterday. They were spending a few days here before returning to their home in Madrid. They raved about their hotel, The Park. They had free calls to 12 countries, including the UK, US and Spain. They were also given smart phones to use gratis until they checked out. The hotel rate was reasonable, the location was excellent and accommodations were fine. What more could you ask for. We said our farewells again, as they headed to the ferry terminal and we walked on to St. Andrews. What a great unexpected meeting.
We finally arrived at St. Andrews to discover that it was not open to the public. Oh well. At least it was in the direction we wanted to go to get to the park. At the next intersection we stopped to check our map. Walking a short distance on this cross street would take us to Kowloon Park.
But first we had stopped in front of a music store, and we had to check out the windows. We saw an ancient Chinese string instrument. It had been modernized and improved. Next to this was a large horizontal harp that could be played on a stand or, possibly, a lap. We had to go in and look closer. Both instruments were beautiful and distinctly oriental. But the greatest treat was on a nearby stand. It was a hammered dulcimer just like the one the entertainer had performed on the night before. The music was beautiful with an oriental tuning. We had been disappointed because there was no overhead camera to show the strings and the top of the dulcimer. Here it was. It had four bridges and 140 strings. No wonder the tonal range was so great. The shop keeper spoke no English, but she did convey that the price was $850. To our minds this was a steel. Too bad we have to fly home from Singapore.
A block away we entered through the park gate and headed up the hill into the park. First we came to the swimming complex. We entered the building, but found no sign of a pool. Entering the next hall we could smell chlorine, but saw no pool. In the third room we round a sign directing us to the spectators gallery. WOW! This was the biggest indoor pool we have ever seen. There ten lap lanes that were longer than we have ever seen. Lighted signs at the end of each lane projected the usage. We took a few pictures before a guard approached to ask us not to take any more for privacy reasons. We gladly complied.
Outside the building we saw another structure, the sports complex. We never found a viewing area, so we left. The paths were neat and nicely groomed. After walking into some nooks we spied some Tai Chi practioners. They were very graceful, and oblivious to passers by. The statuary and plantings were most enjoyable. We left gratified that we had made the walk to see this.
We took the ferry to Hong Kong Central, and boarded the red line. After passing many high rises and listening to the very good narrative, we got off at a neighborhood temple. This had a queue set up like Disneyworld for incoming worships. We don't know if this was a special holiday or the regular stream of worshippers. In any event we joined in. We got our three free incense sticks and lit them at the flaming incense. Then we waved them over a taller flame while praying silently. Finally, we stuck the incense into the sand in a. large vessel. There were many others doing the same. All of this was under the watchful eye of the attendant I call the fire marshal. He made a few moves on people with dangerously flaming prayer sheets. After observing the different sized incense coils hanging from the roof, we went to another worship space. Those hanging coils had pans suspended under them to collect the raining as from the spent incense. This other room was smaller and better ventilated. Breathing was easier here. We exited and crossed the street.
We were at the top of the Midlands. Walking down the street took us past many antique and furniture stores. We turned off this road, and went down the hill a block before trying another street. This was full of stalls selling antiques. We stopped at one stall and asked the man if these were all antique booths. He laughed. Some say they are, but reproductions or just old he told us. We returned to the HoHo stop across from the temple. While we waited we watched kids playing on the slide in a small park.
The bus came and took us back to the ferry. This had been an enjoyable ride. Now we were hungry. We walked back to the restaurant we had eaten at on Wednesday. Today we tried some of the oriental offerings. They were pleasing and satisfying. Again, we were the only westerners in the restaurant. Again, we had a delightful time.
We returned to the ferry terminal to find out about our included harbor tour. We were to come back in 45 minutes to board the boat for a one hour narrated ride around the harbor. We checked out the Maritime Museum while we waited. It looked very nice, but we would only have half an hour after the harbor tour. This would be inadequate.
The harbor tour was run by Star Ferries on one of their older boats. It was very nice and did provide a good narration.we were glad we did it, but feel no need to do it next time. At the end of the tour we boarded the ferry to Kowloon. Our objective was to find the Pandora store before returning home. We hoped to find a charm representative of Hong Kong. We knew the store was in Harbot City. This is the mall the Ocean Terminal is in. What we did not realize was that it is the farthest store from the ship. And that is far. We walked Canton Avenue to the end of the mall building, and entered in search of Pandora. Some good directories got us to the store. The shop was crowded and there was a line outside. We joined what we thought was the end of the line. An attendant came to us and explained the there was a promotion going on for a free bracelet. This depended on how much you spent. And you the way, we were standing at the breakpoint in the line to allow for mall traffic. The line resumed around the corner. Holy Cow! Our ship would leave before we could get into the store. We trudged off to Amsterdam. We boarded at about 6:30, and supped in the Lido.
We enjoyed our sailaway at about 8:30. We watched the building lights for the last time. Then we went to bed.
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