Saturday -- Hong Kong.

Big city, sleepy city, apparently.

We got going about 8:30 am, but most everything is closed. As Grace wrote, she is in a comfort-needed mode. So breakfast at McDonald’s in the monster mall downstairs, two egg McMuffins with ham, hash browns, and coffee. The hotel is actually above a four-story mall that stretches several city blocks. Under that restaurant we ate at yesterday (Pierside) is a ferry terminal that hosts the very large ocean-going catamarans that carry hundreds of passengers to many off-shore islands. That was one of the places I wandered around in (lost mostly) for a time last night. Could never quite figure out which floor I was on; the escalators do not always go up or down one floor. Most everything you could want, except that elusive bottle of Scotch or a laundry. Guess I will have to wait on the Scotch, not the type that enjoys paying $10 per for a single shot. And I guess the laundry will have to wait, too. Grace and I both have enough clean to get back to San Francisco and hopefully my brother Frank will let us use his washer.

Then off to the Star Ferry area. I wanted to visit with a stamp dealer friend close to there, Ming Yang of N.C. Yang Stamps. Not open till 11:00, so we tried to find something else to do. But almost nothing is open till 10:00, and it is not even 9:30. So we wandered, but found little. Finally the China Arts and Crafts store opened and we went in there. To be honest, it is too expensive. Did find a golden dragon Christmas ornament for Dr. Shultz; she asked Grace to bring an ornament as she has them from all over the world. The Internet Café opened next door, so we went in there and read and wrote emails for an hour. Point of information: $20.00 HKD or about $3.00 USD for an hour instead of the $40.00 HKD per hour the hotel wants. Grace takes the first half hour; I take the second.

Then to N.C. Yang, but he is not there; he is upstairs in his office on the 15th floor. Can’t find the elevator; then, we do but only 3 of 6 elevators go to the 15th floor. OK, right elevator, right floor. And oh my, he has closed for lunch. Right, he opens at 11:00, and then closes for lunch at 12:00.

Frustrated, we head back to the hotel to clean up before heading to the Thai restaurant next door. Well, not directly. We enter the hotel, our hotel, and find the elevator and press 15th floor. We are in room 1541 so that makes sense, right? Ah, silly flatlanders. You see, we have gone up in the wrong elevator. This elevator only takes you to rooms 01 to 29 on the 15th floor. Yep, there are TWO towers at this hotel. Back down, across the lobby, through the door, into another lobby, find the right elevator, and press 15 and hope. Bingo, we are at the right floor, in the right tower, in the right hotel. A relief: there is our room and the key works.

Back down to the lobby and to the Thai restaurant. Wonderful waterfront view, a curry dish and a pork with garlic dish, two Singhas--nice lunch, nice service, and much more reasonable, but still about $45 USD. Hong Kong is more expensive than mainland China.

Worn out again, we head back to the room. This time we make sure to get onto the right elevator.

Wake before 4:00 and Grace’s stomach is torn up, so I head out on my own. Plan had been to go to Yang’s, then across the harbor on the Star Ferry, then up the Peak Tram for dinner and the sunset. Guess that will have to wait.

This time Ming Yang is in and very welcoming. I spend about an hour there, then wander some more, pick up a BMT at Subway (Yes, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Starbucks and now Subway are all here. Grace also saw a Burger King sign yesterday.) and a couple of Cokes for Grace, thinking her stomach may find comfort in familiar food. Oh, did I mention that the elevator I came up on is now not working? It is after 5:00 and this bank of elevators closes down then. Ming points me to a different bank, several shops away and around three corners, but they work.

Back at the hotel and Grace is feeling better, some. Oh, maybe I should have left the jalapenos off the Subway BMT? We’ll know more tomorrow.

Calm evening in the room and things to do tomorrow. Let’s see: Star Ferry, Peak Tram and the Peak, then some antique stores, maybe the night market tomorrow night? We’ll have to see tomorrow. Lots of walking still to do, but that sounds a little ambitious.