Hong Kong Island, escalators, temples, hand pulled noodles
click on the mp3 to listen to me talking about Exploring Hong Kong Central
Caught the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Central today to hang out with Scott and Steven (my Mom's godson). They live in Central and work on the island so they know all the great local joints. I wanted to check out the Mid-Level escalators (中環至半山自動扶梯) which basically run from Central up the steep side of the mountain. For some reason that escapes me now, I decided to make separate albums for my couple of days in Hong Kong. So don't forget to click on the photos to access the rest of the pics that aren't included in the main body of my blog!
Here's a picture of the steep stairs that you'd have to climb if you wanted to get to the Mid-Levels. The streets are really steep, and connected by switchbacks, so cars were having a hard time going up in the rain, pealing out tires to get enough traction. If it ever froze here, HK would be in deep trouble.
These are apparently the longest outdoor covered escalator in the world (2,624 feet with a vertical rise of 442 feet), and were constructed to alleviate traffic congestion of people trying to commute down into town.
Most of it is escalators but parts are moving sidewalk where the rise is not steep. It services about 16 streets, and allows access to an increased number of businesses and apartment buildings that were originally considered "impossible to get to". It seemed to take forever, like more than half an hour but according to wikipedia it's a mere 20 minutes. I took a picture from about halfway up but since it's covered, it's difficult to capture the whole thing.
I stopped at Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road to check out the antiques and more spiraling incense. For a temple experience on the island, you can combine Man Mo with the Mid-Level Escalators and Antique St. For a temple experience on the Kowloon side Tin Hua is a good one, since you can combine it with wandering around Nathan Road, Mongkok, Temple St and shopping.
At the top we wandered over to a tasty local hand pulled noodle place called Home Town Dumplings. I almost ran the batteries dry in my camera, trying to snap the magical creation of noodles from dough by waving your arms around. Here is the series for your viewing pleasure:
They were delicious! We also had succulent lamb dumplings in soup so piquantly spicy with vinegar & hot sauce, and crispy fried pot stickers that were so tasty yummerlicious that I almost burst.