Hong Kong - the D'Bay Way (Part 1)

It sounds extravagant to say we struggled to choose a destination for our latest holiday, but we did. There are so many interesting places on offer in Asia and we're keen to see as many as possible, but the limitations of heat, rain (much of Asia is in the height of monsoon in August), and two small children with a limited, highly Western-oriented, diet did, unfortunately crimp our options. I'd love to be one of those families who confidently head to rural Cambodia or Bhutan, toddlers and preschoolers in tow and has a wonderful time subsiding on local delicacies, staying in huts and traveling by river boat, but for our kids that's sadly not a viable choice. Yet. I still have hope for next year.

So, we compromised. Hong Kong seemed a good combination of somewhere new and different, with enough culture and local colour to satisfy our yearnings for adventure (at least a little), while still providing the sorts of experiences the kids wanted from the holiday - like playgrounds and digging in the sand.

I've actually been to Hong Kong before, so "new" perhaps isn't strictly accurate, but I was only eleven at the time, so I'm not sure it counts. My over-riding memories of that visit were dirty streets with people living in cardboard boxes, markets with chickens, pigs, snakes and other animals being slaughtered on demand, providing the ultimate in fresh meat and a harbour where we were warned people were taken straight to hospital if they fell in the water. I'm happy to say this stay was quite different.

Instead of staying in an hotel downtown we opted for an apartment in Discovery Bay on Lantau Island. This proved to be a great choice. Discovery Bay, or D'Bay is a residential suburb on the Eastern side of Lantau Island popular with expats and Cathay Pacific pilots and crew. It's close to the airport and Disneyland, has its own beach, plenty of restaurants, supermarket, bookstore and great access to public transport with ferry and bus terminals. It's also car-free, so remarkably quiet and relaxing - although you do need to watch out for golf carts! We rented a one-bedroom apartment, which, although a little cramped with two active boys, provided a good base with the advantage of being able to cook our meals and wash our clothes.

Discovery Bay - beach and view from our apt.

Hong Kong has a huge amount to offer visitors, including those with young children. Prior to arrival, I'd found SassyMamas 50 Things To Do With Kids in Hong Kong (she actually has a sequel with 50 more), narrowed the list to a dozen or so and had a family meeting to work out which 4-5 were our top picks. In the end we chose Disneyland, the Big Buddha, Victoria Peak and Ocean Park as our days out, with the remaining days to be spent on the beach, relaxing or, in my case, disappearing off to the Sham Shui Po markets for a spot of shopping!

Victoria Peak is a famous landmark in Hong Kong and provides a fantastic view of the city, the harbour and outlying islands and across to Kowloon and mainland China. We caught the ferry from D'Bay to Central - an experience in itself as you cross the shipping lanes and watch freighters being unloaded in the bay. We saw one monster ship with roughly 3500 shipping containers aboard heading out to ports unknown. From the ferry terminal, a fifteen minute walk takes you to the lower terminus of the Peak Tram, a funicular railway. On a hot Sunday morning, the tram was packed, the queue winding around and up the street, while passengers were squeezed in like the proverbial sardines, doors pushed shut on Kieran's back and me holding grimly on to Rory with one arm and a bar with the other as we headed up, the steepest section 27 degrees to horizontal making the skyscrapers outside look like something in a crazy mirror house. At the top, Sky Tower provides a viewing platform with the inevitable giftshop exit as well as a mall and restaurants for your shopping and dining pleasures - we grabbed an adequate meal at Bubba Gumps (although they completely failed to bring Kieran his order) and decided on a walk instead.

Views from Victoria Peak

Waterfall on Hong Kong Trail

There are plenty of trails around Victoria Peak providing really nice opportunities for some outdoors time. We headed along the Hong Kong trail for a kilometre or so, past waterfalls and lovely outlooks over the ocean to a rest area before turning back. Deciding to forgo the tram trip down in favour of a taxi trip to a mall touting the "largest exclusive brand store chain selling LEGO® products in Hong Kong" we jumped in one of the many red taxis for a drive down the peak worthy of any aspiring rally driver. Unfortunately on finding the store, we discovered that advertising can indeed be misleading - the shop was significantly smaller than our apartment, although they did have a catalogue. Our trip home by metro provided the boys with their fourth form of public transportation of the day and was a highlight for Rory at least! We also determined that the mass of people setting up cardboard boxes in the pedestrian overpasses and open spaces were not, as we initially thought, the world's best dressed beggars, but rather migrant workers on their day off, gathering to socialise, chat or play bingo or cards with friends, in the only places available to them. While the community spirit was heartening, the necessity seemed a bit sad.


So passed the first couple of days of our Hong Kong holiday. I'll continue with more on the other sights in Part 2.