Hong Kong - 16.04.19

My life has taught me in recent years that making plans often goes wrong. Of course, I made plans for my trip and even made detailed daily plans for Hong Kong. Because in less time, I want to see as much as possible. Today was a day when my plan couldn't be implemented as desired due to the weather. When I looked out of the window this morning, I noticed that it was gray, foggy, and rainy. Since I actually wanted to go to Victoria Peak, the highest viewpoint in Hong Kong, I had to come up with a new plan for the day. My new plan was to go to Kowloon, another district of Hong Kong, on this day. My mood was already a bit dampened after waking up because when you come to a place where you've never been before and probably won't come again so quickly, you naturally want the best weather for your stay. Shortly after I left my hotel, my mood got even worse. It was raining, sometimes less, sometimes pouring. I couldn't go without an umbrella. Luckily, I had one with me. I don't know if the Chinese are caring or scared people, but when it rains here and everyone is walking around with an umbrella, you get plastic bags in various lengths, depending on the size of the umbrella, when entering shops, subway stations, and malls to put your wet umbrella in. Sometimes there's even someone standing there handing you these bags. Now the question is whether they do this out of care, so that you don't have to carry your wet umbrella with you, or out of fear that the floor might be wet and you would slip. It's practical, but of course, not very environmentally friendly. Since I had no other choice, I defied the weather and went through with my sightseeing program, umbrella in hand. It's not fun to walk through a crowded city with an umbrella in hand. But my advantage was that on average I was always taller than the incoming and non-evading Asian pedestrians, so I simply raised my umbrella above theirs. But now I'll stop complaining about the weather. As a preliminary conclusion, it was still a great day, I saw a lot and impressive things, and it even stopped raining in the afternoon ;-). I started my sightseeing tour of Kowloon at the Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade. From there, you have an impressive view of the skyline of Hong Kong Island. Part of the promenade is called the 'Avenue of Stars'. There, handprints of the stars are embedded in the promenade. I found one Asian star that I know, Mr. Jackie Chan. The Chi Lin Nunnery was another stop on my tour. Here I have to emphasize again that I really visited the monastery in pouring rain because it just wouldn't stop. But even in the rain, the very green monastery complex was very beautiful, and the tranquility within the monastery complex, although the monastery is in the middle of the city, was very impressive. I didn't see any nuns though... The next highlight was the 'Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple'. Another temple complex located in the city. You can describe this temple as a colorful orgy of pillars, roofs, and lanterns. This was by no means a place of tranquility. There was already a lot going on here. I can't even say how many incense sticks were burning, but the smell was definitely beastly. Around the temple, there were hundreds of stands selling bamboo incense sticks to those who want to pray or find out about their future. For the latter, the sticks are thrown on the ground and fortune-tellers interpret the pattern. Crazy! For my lunch, I chose a restaurant that was well frequented, especially by locals, and where I discovered something on the menu that appealed to me based on the pictures. It tasted very good. For the afternoon, fortunately, it stopped raining, I had chosen a suggested city tour with the focus on 'Kowloon's bustling market streets' in my travel guide (lonely planet). It was really great! As part of this tour, I strolled through or along the following markets: Bird & Flower Market, Goldfish Market, Ladies Market, and Temple Street Market. The special thing at the Bird Market was that older men brought their feathered darlings out into the fresh air and joined the vendors on the market for a chat, but their birds weren't for sale. At the Flower Market, the shops with the many orchids were particularly worth seeing. At the 'Ladies Market', it's all about bargaining for the best price for the offered fake items at the countless stands and in the narrow alleys. Some fakes were really unsuccessful. To get to the next market, my travel guide led me through various interesting shopping streets and alleys. I didn't know where to look first and last. Indescribable! Next came the 'Temple Street Market'. It's actually nothing more than the Ladies Market, except that it is located on Temple Street. This market is particularly lively in the evenings between 7 pm and 10 pm when it's almost impossible to move forward due to the crowds. Unfortunately, I didn't experience this hustle and bustle live. After a short break in the green lung of Kowloon, the 'Kowloon Park', I walked south on Nathan Road, one of the main shopping streets of Kowloon, to end the day where I started my sightseeing tour, namely at the promenade, but now with a breathtaking view of the illuminated skyline of Hong Kong Island. Unbelievable! Until 8 pm, the promenade became increasingly crowded because from 8 pm to 8:20 pm, a daily laser show called the 'Symphony of Lights' takes place above the roofs of the skyscrapers. This was a great way to end the day.

Culinary-wise, for lunch, I thought I bought a packaged piece of chocolate lava cake, but it turned out to be a pitch-black sesame cake - still delicious - and I also ate a Pineapple Bun, which has nothing to do with pineapple, but is simply a sweet bun. I had read that this is a speciality of Hong Kong and should be tried. So, I did ;-)