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Hong Kong 2016
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In November, 2016, I went to Hong Kong with four friends. As I was born there, my friends had asked me to be their unofficial, unpaid tour guide. I was a bit concerned that I would not be able to find enough activities to keep them entertained for 10 days, but I need not have worried as we ended the trip with quite a few ideas left to explore.

When I travel alone overseas, I am not ususally fussed about the food I eat, as Sydney is blessed with a fabulous choice of international culinary delights. However, my friends had friends who are foodies and who know Hong Kong's restaurant scene well, so I enjoyed some gorgeous meals on this trip.
Thanks to Dr Google, I learnt about the 10,000 Buddha Monastery, half way up a mountain in Shatin, which is in the New Territories. The climb up the mountain was spiritually and physically fullfilling.
Each Buddha statue has its own individual face and spirit.
We were fortunate that the skies were blue and clear on the day we visited the Peak and walked around Lugard Road.
The Peak Tower.
Half way between Bowen and May Roads, the two Peak trams pass each other. This is also the steepest section of the journey.
Aberdeen.

I came across a plaque here which said that when the Brits first came to Hong Kong, their point of entry was in the old fishing village now called Aberdeen. They asked the locals what it was called in Chinese and were told that it was Hong Kong (Fragrant Harbour in Chinese).

Apparently, that was the name just for the fishing village itself, but the Brits thought it was the name of the whole island. By the time the Brits discovered their mistake, it was too late to change as a whole number of official documents and plaques had been created, and it would have been too much trouble to make any changes.

So it was decided to call the "original Hong Kong" Aberdeen! Hong Kong became the name of the entire colony, including Kowloon, the New Territories and all the islands which made up the colony.
The floating restaurants of Aberdeen.
The gorgeous Nan Lian Garden in Kowloon.
Flamingoes in Kowloon Park, at Nathan Road.
Lan Tau.

The Giant Buddha seen from the terrace.
Looking down from the top terrace just beneath the Giant Buddha, and towards the Po Lin Monastery, in the village of Ngong Ping.
The Po Lin Monastery.
The local cows enjoy chatting with the visitors in Ngong Ping.
These houses on stilts above the water are in the fishing village of Tai O on Lan Tau Island.
Tai O.
We are on the lower deck of the Star Ferry as it calmly leaves the island of Hong Kong.