2 Cameras, 2 Drink Bottles, 2 Backpacks, 2 Hats, 2 Boys, Ready to go!

I feel like I have said the 2-2-2-2-2 line so many times today that I might just end up saying it in my sleep.  We had a gorgeous sunny day here in HK today, and even the haze obliged and was not too bad so we got some pretty good views of Hong Kong.

We headed off in a taxi at about 8.45am to buy our tickets for the Big Bus Tour.  The Big Bus Company does great tours in lots of different cities and the English commentary added some real local content to our day.  Again the personalities came out so vividly today.  Jordan spent his day absorbing the commentary, needing to hear every word and taking it all in.  Braden spent his clicking photos of every skyscraper in Hong Kong (sure hope you all like photos of buildings!)  He did enjoy the commentary too - but the buildings were much more interesting!  Can you believe though that amongst the 400 plus photos taken today there is not a single shot of the bus :-)

Let me take a photo of you taking a photo.... they get in each others way a bit!

We jumped of the bus at the Peak Tram stop and took the tram up to the Peak.   The Peak has a bunch of shops (for boys these guys are sure keen to shop - I think they have money burning holes in their pockets!) and fantastic panoramic views of Victoria Harbour and Kowloon.  The binoculars were Octopus Card operated and were a great hit.  The  boys spent ages picking out the various buildings and seeing how many of the signs they could read.

Squinting in the Sun at the Peak.  It was definitely a hat day today

We had lunch at the Peak - New York Fries - I did not realise they had an outlet in Hong Kong - and then headed back to rejoin our bus route and finish the HK Island tour.

The tour included return tickets on the Star Ferry, so we headed off to catch our boat.  These ferries are great - lots of history and old fashioned features.  Braden and Jordan loved it - racing around the boat taking pictures from all angles.  Hope you all like boat photos as well as building ones!  We had 30 minutes to kill in Kowloon so snuck into Toys are Us.  They have some amazing lego models of HK landmarks - all very clever.

On the Ferry on the way back to HK Island - a bit dark sorry

Not a bad shot of the Star Ferry from
Braden's camera

From the Ferry.  A lovely Blue Sky - but typical HK Haze
(that is a politeway of saying pollution)

After heading back on our ferry we joined the Stanley route on the Big Bus tour and took the bus as far as Aberdeen.  We boarded a Sampan for a cruise around the houseboats that moor in the harbour there.  It is a really different side of HK - no high rise buildings, just old fashioned boats either restored and in great condition,  or unrestored and looking like they are on their last legs.  We toured past the Jumbo Floating Seafood Restaurant which Jordan and obviously read about and is keen to visit.  We shall see...no self-respecting HK Resident would set foot into such a tourist trap!

A quick local bus trip home had us walking in the door at about 5.30 and the guys have laughed their way through the evening playing computer games and planning their route around Disneyland for tomorrow  I've just been down to offer the hard word about quietening down and going to sleep (there appears to have been a tickle attempt going on) and told them I would send Andrew next time.  He has no idea what he'll do if they make another noise!

Still having fun, and only one minor camera incident today while sitting having a cold drink.  A helpful man walked past us and them came back to tell me one of the boys had a camera under their chair.  Guess we had not actually left, so maybe it does not count :-).  We also had a little lady stop us worried that a backpack was hanging open at one point - the locals are sure keen to make sure us dumb tourists don't lose things in Hong Kong!

Andrew is off to India tomorrow night so I have a couple of days on my own with the rascals.   Hope he remembers to come back...

Sonia