Yes, that’s what “Hong Kong” translates into.

Technically, Hong Kong is just the southern island. However, as the territory expanded over the years (I will not get into Europe / China foreign relations in the 19th century – it’s a bit gross) the term morphed to cover the entire area. It was run by the Brits until 1997 and is considered by China as a Special Administration Region (SAR) until 2047.

I was here during my 2019 World Cruise (see the Index!) and spent most of my time in the Kowloon area, so this time I took a Hong Kong island tour. So, we jump on a bus, drive across the harbor via underwater tunnel and got dropped off at the Victoria Peak Tram. Victoria Peak is tallest hill on the island, and thus gives a great view of Kowloon.

Across the bay just at the left-middle is the Silver Whisper.

To the far right, over the green building, is the other cruise ship dock. That is the old Kai Tak airport. In 2019 that is where we docked – I know understand why some guests complained about how far we were from the central city location.

Where the tram ended there are lots of tourist shops (of course), but also a “you are here, these places are that direction” which told me that Singapore was 2573 kilometers (1598 miles) away. The ship has sailed a fair bit to the north since mid-February, with the northern-most main island of Japan to come.

As we were leaving I saw an advertisement for the Peak which, for whatever reason, captured my attention. A panda (China) tourist taking a selfie with their favorite bamboo lunch. It just made me giggle.

From the Peak we bussed down hill to the Stanley Market street bazaar (I didn’t need any tourist stuff), then thru various neighborhoods, finally to a passenger boat for a quick tour of the Aberdeen harbor. I found it a strange mix of beat-up fishing boats and fancy yachts, with nothing really worth taking photographs of. However, the ceiling of our rickety 12-person water taxi was.

I enjoy cruising and traveling to learn stuff. Either during port tours or sea-day lectures I aim to learn something new every day. Today I learned that some folks will put plastic flowers anywhere to make their cab more festive. What will I learn tomorrow? How about a bubble tea store called “Otters in a Pot?”.

Let’s finish our visit to Hong Kong with a night-time view of Hong Kong Island before the ship disembarked.

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On the ship we had a buffet brunch and the pastry chefs out did themselves with the decorations.

We had a caviar station. Caviar buffet – two more words I never thought to see in the same sentence.

Today’s muzak – a lounge lizard version of Lipps Inc’s “Take me to Funky Town“. Because of course they did. Does that count as learning something?