JDPFu.com 2025

Summary

• Superbowl with Xpats
• IFC Mall
• Star Ferry
• Golden Mile – Nathan Rd
• Indonesian Lunch
• HK Space Museum
• Thai Dinner
• Flower Festival @ Victoria Park

Today Jim and I got up earlier and headed to Bulldog’s in the Central HK district to watch the Superbowl with a group of XPATs. We arrived at 7:15am and the place already had no seats available due to prior reservations. The Game was fantastic – with everyone around speaking English. Jim didn’t like the game so much. Lots of photos of the crowd with the game highs and lows. There was a NY fan who made my morning.

Jim had Bangers and Mash and I had the "Bulldog Breakfast" of bangers, egg over baked beans, bacon, and chips. Eh, but after starving the day before, I needed some real food.

Next we headed home to Causeway Bay to get a replacement battery for a camera. While there, we went to the roof of the hotel for some better views on all sides. It was a hazy day with lots of moisture in the air so the photos reflect that.

A visit to the Tin Hau temple less than a block away from the hotel. It is just a few steps off a busy roadway. Since returning from this trip, I’ve seen that temple in a number of movies shot in Hong Kong. In fact, I’ve stood at many of the places and seen the views shown in those movies.

Then we headed back to Central to hit a mall – the IFC – which also has the HK Stock Exchange. I took lots of building architecture picts. Walking around a 3+ story high end mall was tiresome. There’s a photo of diamond earings that happen to be ear buds for MP3 players too.

Next we took the Star Ferry from Hong Kong island to Kowloon. This is one of those things that you simply must do when visiting HK. There was another mall right off the dock and we spent the better part of an hour trying to find our way out and onto a subway – MTR. We ended up going out the same door that we’d entered and had to take the long way around.

Then we walked down Nathan Road passed Louis Vuitton and other very expensive name brand shops. Notice the line to enter some of the stores. 1 person out, 1 person in.

We ducked into an alley-way – if felt like we were going back in time to the old Hong Kong market that you see in all the picture. People trying VERY HARD to sell you items that you don’t want or need from their stalls. Cell phones, internet phones, T-shirts, luggage, food, candy, and currency exchange. We dropped back onto Nathan Rd and proceeded to a Lonely Planet recommended Indonesian restaurant. Yum, tasty – Jim ate the entire prawn to show me how it was done. I tried it with 1 of them – eh, a little crunchy, but decided to peel the rest of them. See photos of before and after the meal.

BTW, on the way to and from the restaurant, I was approached by about 10 Indian men trying to sell custom made suits, pants, shirts, knock-off watches, and other items. For some reason, Jim wasn’t bothered much. I didn’t see other white people getting as much attention as I was. Must have been my stare that made me appear to be a tourist. At least, that’s what JH said it was.

Then we were off to visit the Sheraton Hotel that Jim’s dad helped build 30+ years ago. Nostalgia for Jim and a comfy couch for me and my aching feet. Next was the HK Space Museum for an imax movie on Santorini Thera (Greece) that an archaeologist discovered was destroyed by a volcano eruption. They believe it was the largest eruption ever on the earth and was see from over 1,000 miles away. This is what Jim tells me, since I fell asleep 30 minutes into it. We headed home for a late afternoon siesta. It was around 6pm so the trains were packed, literally. Trains ran every 2 minutes.

Siesta in the hotel room; Jim tells me that I snore.

Off to a local Thai dinner. See Jim’s photos, YUMMY! He had a beef dish and shrimp and intestine balls. I had a green curry and chicken dish. I’d had enough of my food staring back at me already today.

I wanted to walk off my meal, so we headed back to the flower festival. Jim, me and 20k-40k of our closest friends. See P1010122.MOV to get the feel of the festival. Nice plunger. It was almost as packed as the 6pm trains. There was lots of junk being sold, "safety panties" and a lamp where flipping the penis up or down turned the light on or off. It is the Year of the Rat for Chinese New Year.

Back home for the evening – another day in HK in the can.