Love it.
Always have. From the moment we first set foot in Hong Kong, we have loved the place. Though it’s been a while, the old magic is still here and I suspect it won’t be too long before we’re back.
It’s that kind of place.
So, on this, our last day in Hong Kong (for now) we wanted to make sure we used every last minute to best advantage.
We had a great time last night at The China Club with our friends. Oh my, what a memorable evening that was! The art work there is simply amazing, but sadly, photos are not exactly encouraged. Still, I managed to capture the rather startling goldfish bowl, which contained a few interesting figures in addition to the fish. All the works of art in the building have a strong Chinese theme, of course, including some lovely portraits on the staircase and one particularly captivating arrangement of figures surrounding Chairman Mao, in the bar. I loved them all!
Anyway, back to today. We took the MTR over to Central, so we could ride the Star Ferry back. Seemed funny, but we were keen to take some photographs of the place we’re going to call home for the next three weeks. Our favourite ship arrived yesterday and we had caught glimpses of her from the bus and from the window last evening, but this was the first opportunity we’d had for a good look.
She’ll do!
We were in good spirits, the clouds were clearing to reveal blue sky and even the deck hands on the Star Ferry were in unusually sunny mood.
Actually, we’d made our way to Tsim Tsa Tsui to see this exhibition, which Ellis and Mary had seen yesterday and really enjoyed. Never ones to miss out on a good thing, we wanted to see for ourselves, so here we were.
Not a particular favourite of ours, we were a little cool until we got inside.
Within seconds of seeing the first, simple drawings completed in the 1950s, we were sold. The “Marilyn” screenprints and the Campbells soup cans were remarkable and we loved being able to see them close up and admire the precision, the colours and of course, the brilliant concept.
No photographs inside, but my favourites were the Mohammed Ali collaged prints, the various layered prints and drawings taken from Polaroid photos and, best of all, the Mao series. How appropriate was that?
Ellis had spoken enthusiastically about the “time capsules” of ephemera from various times of Warhol’s life and these little collections of tickets, maps and hotel bills from his time in Hong Kong chimed with us all, because we’ve all been squirrelling away the ticket stubs, the luggage labels and suchlike. Good to know I’m not the only one, eh?
By now, it was getting near lunchtime and we reckoned we had time for one last adventure. The skyscraper next door to our hotel is the fourth tallest building in the world and we’d noticed that there was an observation deck. Now the clouds had cleared a little, how about going up there?
No sooner said than done.
The screen in the lift recorded our progress.
Remarkably smooth and hardly noticeable that we were moving at all.
In no time at all, we were at the top.
Well, actually, in less than one minute.
The view was astounding. Yes, there’s our ship down there, beside the Chinese one. The hydrofoil that just did the loop is the Macau Turbo Jet; the same one as we took the other day.
Over there towards the Island, the piers are clear to see and somewhere in there is the HSBC building and the other Central landmarks.
No chance to make use of the “Loveseat” for a canoodle….someone got there first!
But good to look down on the neighbours – that’s our hotel down there, with the empty, grey swimming pool which is being refurbished. Maggie, this is Kowloon West…all reclaimed land.
But that really was the last chance to take in one of our favourite cities, and in no time at all, we were in a taxi, heading towards the pier.
Our lovely suite awaited us, the champagne was on ice and we looked forward to unpacking and settling in. in the short distance between pier and suite, we already encountered several familiar faces, met some old friends and felt immediately at home.
After a lovely dinner, we set sail. The colourful city lit up the dark sky and quietly, at 10pm, we left the pier behind and began our journey.
There really can be no better way of leaving than this.
Of course, some still had work to do. In the dark harbour, people were still going about their business, getting on with their lives and doing what they could to make a living.
Thankfully, we were able to bid everyone Goodnight and come up to our comfy bed!
Good night Hong Kong. See you again soon…we hope.
