Day 9 Friday – Sheung Wan
This morning I was up and out early. AI enjoyed a tasty croissant and coffee at Java Java which is about 1 minute’s walk from my front door. The top photo above is from the street,
and the rest are from inside. They have sidewalk style seating outside too. And the link below will enable you to vave a virtual panorama look inside.
http://www.tourwrist.com/panos/19350
Then I went out for a walk. My goal was the Sheung Wan waterfront. I eventually crossed Connaught Road and found a small waterfront park. It was just west of the Shun Tak Center which is the gateway for the various ferries to Macau.
Last week, my friends and I had discussed going over to Macau, especially since Jeannette, who dined with us at The Peking Gardens is an architect and had done some work on a few of the newer casino/resorts. But it didn’t work out.
The choices are amazing – turbojets, hydrofoils, catamaran hulls, and slower and more standard style of ferries. All take different amounts of time, are priced differently, and are designed with a dizzying array of features. You can go in luxury, or you can go cheaply, or should I say not too expensively. If you have money to burn, you can even go over to Macau by helicopter. But I wasn’t really going.
I’d need to study up on Macau first. Where to go, and so forth. Ferry prices change according to the day of the week too. Less expensive on weekdays, more expensive on week ends, and even more expensive on holidays. Less expensive during the day, more expensive at night.
Plus you have to deal with immigration. In fact, you are officially leaving Hong Kong, and then entering Macau – so you must have your passport with you.And you must go through two immigration check points. Have a pen with you if you are a foreigner as you will need to fill out an immigration card. I’d pass through the same immigration check points to re-enter Hong Kong on the return trip as well. Last time I went, it seemed that I spent almost as much time dealing with paperwork and passports being stamped as I did going westbound on the South China Sea. Last time the ferry to Macau took about an hour – but that is just the part at sea.
The Shun Tak Center is actually a huge facility – shops, dining, food courts, parking, even a huge taxi stand downstairs as well as a bus station. Simply a huge place. I’ve seen smaller airports. Like the one in Sarasota, Florida, where I live.
But looking around has it perks. You will recall that I wrote a post about the steps, and the uphill, uphill, and even more uphill just to reach my apartment on Hollywood Road. In 2011 I stayed even higher up in the midlevels, at least another 10 minutes walk – all uphill.
But today I discovered a short cut. From Possession Road to Hollywood Road is a longish uphill road with a bend in it. A dog leg’s left going up. I discovered that by walking about a block west on Possession I would come to a building called The Welland Plaza. I could go up about three stories by escalator. Which would save me some serious uphill walking.
Live, look and learn as they say.
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