Getting to the top of it...

Before we moved to Hong Kong, we knew we would have three weeks before school started. We thought we'd use this time to run errands and explore Hong Kong. I had lists of places to visit from the peak to Disneyland. But after being here one day, we realized we'd be lucky to get to the store to feed ourselves. Hong Kong in summer is 90 plus degree heat with 90 plus percent humidity. Basically you walk outside and you feel like your melting. Combine this with the fact that Hong Kong is a walking city and you have the exact formula for creating 4 year old meltdowns. I quickly chucked my list of tourist spots and we headed for the swimming pool every day.

In spite of it all, we tried to squeeze an adventure in. The family decided to check out the Peak in Central. The Peak Tram, a funicular railway that carves a steep 373-metre swathe up the lush mountainside. The tram has been in operation since 1888, and once competed with sedan chairs as the most popular way up. Try to get seats at the front of the tram on the right-hand side for the journey skyward. The only way to describe the views from this vantage point is "simply awesome". Of course the day we were there was hazy with smog.

After standing in a huge line at the bottom, we realized a valuable tourist tip. The huge line is just to buy tickets. If you have your Octopus card, you can walk straight up and get on. Oh well, it gave us time to check out the wax figure of Jackie Chan.

The kids were excited to get on and we quickly found seats in the crowed car. The ride is at such a steep incline that the persective of the high rises on the way up seem tilted. It was a short, fun ride to the top. At the top is a shopping mall. In fact at every tourist location in Hong Kong is a tourist mall. Just want you want... a Burger King, Bubba Gump Shrimp, book stores, souveniers and more. There are roads to walk around the peak, but we knew we were pushing it enough with what we were doing. Like good Americans, we went to eat. And yes, we ate at the Burger King. It was getting a lot of press as it was the first Burger King (besides a counter at the intl. airport) in Hong Kong. The kids were happy as they got a prize with their meal. We burned off the burgers watching a dancing water fountain and playing at a playground attached to the mall and then caught a taxi from the top home. We were going to take a bus just for the fun of it, but realized that traveling with 4 people it was cheaper and faster to take a taxi. Besides it was enough adventure for one day.