Hi Cicerone,

You've been a great help to me and my family (i'm a mom with 3 children who hangs out in HK for 2 weeks while husband is working at Toy Fair) over the years as we've traveled to Hong Kong.

We're back in town. We missed coming last year because of the economy.

Wanted to say hello, and also wanted to ask if there is anything new here that has popped up in last 2 years. For example I've heard the area over on Kowloon near Peking Road has been renovated into new shops, parks, hotels etc.. Carved into hillside of Kowloon park I believe.

Is there anything interesting that comes to mind of new buildings, restaurants, etc?
I know you are a big fan of hikes. Our family is still too young for hiking (youngest being 2.5 years old).

Any general street markets/sights/parks etc that come to mind as new?

thanks as always for your help. And nice to email to you again.

Joanne

If you click on Cicerone's profile, you should find an email address for her and you can write to her directly.

...but it is so much nicer when it is posted here and we all get to share Cicerone's valuable advice.

Here is part of what I posted to Joanne; she sent me two messages with various questions, but the message below only addresses her post above:

<u> Marine Police Headquarters – Peking Road TST</u>

At this point, you may have been there already. There is a good Shanghai Tang on the street level, on the far right as you stand on Salisbury Road with your back to the harbor. Most of the other shops are fairly high-end. There are several restaurants. IMO the most interesting bit is Hullet House, which is the old Marine Police headquarters which has been turned into a hotel and several restaurants. They have a restaurant with an outdoor terrace which has tea which is nice, and several others. Unfortunately, none of the restaurants have any harbour views, as they are blocked by the arts building. But worth a stroll around to see the landscaping (they saved several ancient banyan trees) if you are in the area. See http://www.hulletthouse.com/

<u>Other ideas</u>

I would definitely recommend biking in the Plover Cove Reservoir/Tolo Harbour area which is just gorgeous. You can rent bikes, and there is a paved bike path that you can ride for about a dozen miles down to Tai Po. There is also a short but really lovely bike/pedestrian road across the dam dividing Plover Cove Reservoir and Tolo Harbour. I would strongly recco doing this on a weekday as otherwise crowds are pretty bad; if you have a pick a weekend, a Saturday would be better than a Sunday. I am not entirely sure of what they have in terms of bikes for small children, but at the least you could get one of those bicycle surreys which hold 4-5 people. You can have lunch at one of the restaurants by the bike shops or bring your own as there are several picnic and barbeque areas. To get there, take the MTR to Tai Po Market Station (you will actually be on the East Rail line which is above ground, you switch to this line at Hung Hom Station, but this is all part of the MTR system and you pay one fare). Exit door A3 and look for minibus 20C, which will take you along the water to the village of Tai Mei Tuk. The trip should take about 20 minutes. (You could also take a taxi.) The bus will pull into a large parking area on the water. This is Tai Mei Tuk, and the head of the dam for Plover Cove Reservoir. With the water at your back, cross the main road and look for the bicycle rental stalls which are along the bike path. There are several, but all basically have the same bikes and prices. The bike path starts here and goes back down toward Tai Po (i.e., with the water on your left). You can ride as far as you want and then turn around. If you want to go to the dam, from the bike rental shops cross back over the main road and go through the parking lot following the road past the barbeque site on the right. The road will lead you up to the dam. You can ride to the other side, about 1.5 miles. You can lock the bikes here and go through the wire fence and walk all the way to the spillway if you want (you can also with some effort push smaller bikes through the door of the fence and ride to the spillway).

I assume you have already been to the Science Museum, History Museum, etc. Not sure if your kids would be interested in any of the “walled villages” museums, but see http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/ for information on the various museums and other offerings. A trip to the Buddha on Lantau is certainly an idea, or if you have already been there, then consider going to the village fishing of Tai Po, or just an afternoon on the beach at a place like the Stoep Restaurant, weather permitting. Or even easier would might be to go to Big Wave Beach or Stanely Beach.

I recently went to the Museum of Coastal Defense recently, and just thought it was great. See http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Coastal/en/index.php. It’s in a lovely setting and is interesting (and I have zero interest in naval history). There are two interesting temples nearby, and you can walk in a few minutes along the waterfront to the Sai Wan Ho area which has some nice western restaurant with outdoor space along the waterfront. You can also walk pretty easily to the market area in Shau Kei Wan which is the end of the tram line and is an interesting and virtually untouristed market. Or from the Sai Wan Ho area you can take the ferry across the harbour to Lei Yue Mun and wander that very ramshackle fishing town and perhaps have a seafood meal there or just walk to the end to see the Tin Hau temple (they have a ghost). You could also take the #14 bus to or from Stanley to get to Sai Wan Ho which might be an interesting way to basically circle the island as part of a trip to Stanley.

There is a weird but oddly interesting reproduction of Noah’s Ark (the world’s largest) at Park Island with an amusement park which the kids may enjoy; and the island itself has a few waterfront restaurants with views of the Tsing Yi Bridge. See http://www.noahsark.com.hk/eng/visit2.php The ferry ride to Park Island from Central will give you probably the very best water view of Hong Kong Island short of hiring your own boat (air pollution permitting). There is also an Agnsana spa, see http://www.angsanaspa.com/dayspas/parkisland/index.htm. See http://www.pitcl.com.hk/eng/html/ferry.htm for the ferry schedule. (Take the ferry back, don’t bother with the bus/MTR combo).

Hope these are helpful.

Cicereone

As always thank you so much Cicerone. We did make it over to the Hullet House for lunch.

I contacted you too late to try the bicycle path idea. However, hopefully we will be back January and it will be high on my list. Sounds like a wonderful day.

Thank you again for your continued help. You never cease to amaze. We are now in Thailand at the JW Marriott. I believe you have been here in your travels, if I am remembering a prior post correctly. We were here last (at the JW) 2 years ago. The new construction surrounding this hotel is unbelievable--(a little scary actually). There are now 2 new resorts right to the North of the property. And one new Resort already opened, and a Renaissance and Holiday Inn being constructed just south of the property. I hope there is some form of conservation in place here on the Andaman Sea.

Next year when we are in Hong Kong I will send my inquiries more in advance. I see from you post you received my email questions, but I did not receive the response in email form. I don't know if you emailed back, but somehow the email didn't reach me. Again, thank you for your help.

Joanne

Joanne, I did send you an e-mail you, on the same day I did the above post. I don't know why you didn't receive the message. (Maybe your mailbox blocks messages from non-US sources?) My e-mail was longer than the above post, and included info on the wooden toys in Wan Chai which you had asked about. Sorry about that. I can post the entire e-mail here, or can try to send it to you again when you are back home.

With regard to the JW Marriott, there is supposed to be a turtle preserve next door to the north, you might see if you can visit it assuming it is still there. Other than setback rules which prohibit building directly on the beach, there are not a lot of conservation rules for Phuket, or much of Thailand. (One good thing is that there are no private beaches in Thailand, they are all public.) The development you are seeing is just par for the course I am afraid, and is my fear for Vietnam as well; that it will become an endless strech of ugly hotels and condos and crappy strip malls.