May 3rd

umbrella ballet

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it's all about studying lines

ground floor in the middle of the CBD

HK's skyline view from the ferry

Tai chi in Victoria Park

jetlagged. after waking up several times, i decided to get up around 6am. went for a walk in Victoria Park, which is almost next to the hostel to check out if people would be doing tai chi. and they did! reminded me of vietnam. joined a group for 20 minutes or so, and then quit because it was getting late and they were pursuing their exercise with swords (that i obviously didnt have). met with the group (must have taken 30min to an hour to get everybody set). had breakfast in a french deli that the group of 6 had discovered the day before and absolutely wanted

to try out. i guess the superiority of french cuisine had to be proven once again... plans have changed over the night, we finally all(but Dave) decide to take the star ferry to Kowloon which is the area North of HK and walk around there (yet anoher shopping area, supposed to be cheaper than HK). we walk along Nathan street, the main street. after a while i decide to explore a bit on my own because everyone seems interested in shopping and stop every minute to look at the shops. we decide that we'll meet at the fountain in HK at 4:30pm. i wonder for about 45min by myself. smaller streets on the sides, many stairs and passageways that connect between the buildings, which are all very skinny and vertically huge. looks like km and km of social housing. very oppressing. after having walked a few side streets (couldn't go any further because of a highway), drifted back to the west to Nathan Rd. walking along the street, i notice a group of tourists waiting near a mapping center.. my group! joined them again. pleasant walk until it gets oriented once more towards shopping for shoes.... fortunately we split once more.

the majority goes back to the hostel before meeting at the fountain, alex and i stay behind to explore the area a bit more. we're finally seeing stuff. the red light district (kind of discrete, i wonder how it is by night), the night market, a temple, many specialized commercial streets (lots of hardware stores), etc... how nice to be back on the ferry after all that walking. relax a bit before hurrying to the meeting point. walk through the multiple elevated pedestrian passageways (very confusing and hard to orient oneself in those). feet in the fountain ---> le pied! group is late, but it's ok. dave gets there just 5 min after us (he didnt go to kowloon. was looking for a place to work out and wanted to check out the HK university and get a Tshirt). once we're all there, we split again because the group of 6 has already been to Victoria peek (that's where we can have the wonderful overview on HK's skyline) so i go with sasha and dale while the others go to the escalator (another attraction: commercial (of course) setting along this escalator that goes up i dont know where, but probably gets you a nice view too).
a good hour of hiking up the mountain. tropical forest, huge luxurious condo developments alongside the mountain with pools, tennis courts and what not. very steep at some points. the air is a bit nicer to breathe but still heavy and humid. once up there we stay for an hour in order to see the light show. impressed at how many people there are up there (we were almost the only ones to hike up on that trail). Air conditioning is everywhere! the inside of the building from which we watch the skyline (on the roof) is pretty crazy, lights and colors everywhere, looks like a club, casino or disneyworld. half an hour to go back down then hop on the tram. great view from the second floor (like london buses). it's already 10:30pm by the time we get back to the hostel... so soar and tired...