I'm home, but am too tired to post some of the final pics. As I was in the taxi home I snapped this crossing through Queens looking up to the Bronx. Of course, the first thing I said was "Oh what a beautiful sunset!" To me it was 7 pm, here it was 7 am. Oy!

The (arguably) most famous part of Hong Kong, the Peak. Here is the Tram at the beginning.



On the way up I tried to take pictures, but it was moving fast. On the way down, it was even faster!



From here it was to the actual Peak. Here's the Galleria you come out in.



From here you walk a bit to reach the picture-taking place if you don't want to pay for the Peak roof.





Here's a close-up of Tsim Sha Tsui where the Intercontinental is.



I'm mostly packed, and it's time to sign off. There will be some pictures to follow, although not for a few days.

Tomorrow is the last time I'll walk up and down the Escalator to work, since I'm taking a taxi with my bags on Friday. Just typing that is shocking to me, as it has become an indelible part of my day. Even last weekend, when I stayed in Tsim Sha Tsui I felt that something was left out not making the normal trip; it's amazing how quickly you can fall into a routine, although that isn't always a bad thing.

During my time here, I've met an international tax fugitive (if you believe him), experienced things I couldn't find in NYC (or Hong Kong - thank you coworkers!) without speaking Chinese, given directions to two Aussie couples even though I've only been here a short time, been up, down, and around Hong Kong as much as I could, and am proudly returning with no personal souvenirs, only gifts for others. Since HK is a shopping paradise, this actually is quite the achievement. I am so thankful that I've had this experience (thank you work!) since otherwise I doubt I would have come here on my own, and certainly not for a month!

Anyway, on to the pictures. Watches are everywhere here for sale since HK is tax free, and so are the advertisements.



Here's the HK view from the Intercontinental and my aunt's hotel room. It was much clearer than the last day I took and posted pictures.



Here's the lobby lounge.



Various boats go by the window. I'm not sure what the first one is, but the second is the Star Ferry.





Outside is the promenade, running most of the way down Tsim Sha Tsui.





This area is also the Avenue of Stars - film stars, that is. Yes, that says Cuttlefish $20.



Bruce Lee!



One of the gorgeous red-sailed junks was nearby.



From here it was on to the Peninsula hotel for tea.



Here was the lobby where tea is served.



The cup is actually tea - Pu-er tea to be exact which had a lovely smooth taste despite the darker color.



Finally, as I promised quite a while ago, here's the pool at my hotel.



This is actually the same day as the pictures on the promenade. The weather around here is generally if it's going to be sunny, it lasts until 1 or 2 pm, then clouds up. Maybe it's just the season I'm here (today was sunny all day now that it's cooled down, for example), but this has been the trend while I've been here. Tomorrow night I post the Peak.

Today we're back to the food blog along with some miscellaneous pictures I haven't found a place for. This is the restaurant where we go to have dim sum in Central.



Here are the pig's knuckles that I tried at Deli-O, the equivalent of a fast food restaurant here. They weren't bad, but a bit too fatty for me.



This was my lunch today.



It looks harmless, but although I've eaten chicken feet, cuttlefish, tripe, sea urchin, and pig's knuckles here, this was the dish that didn't agree with me. Ironic.

Here's Temple St. Night Market in full swing.



My aunt and I went to the Mido Cafe for dinner, a much more local place than she would go normally :).



This was Staunton Cafe on a Thursday night - Soho comes alive.



Across the Escalator, the Yorkshire Pudding pub was more low-key. The entire pub is made up to look like a telephone booth.



Here is the pool at the Intercontinental.



The Peninsula is the large angular building without the Chinese letters on top, one of the most famous hotels in Hong Kong.



And that's all for the random collection of photos. Tomorrow I'll post the Intercontinental and promenade, then Thursday night the Peak. Friday night I'll be on a plane back to NYC.

I've just come from a lovely trip to the Peak, but I'll skip straight to Macau. We were coming into harbor through spray and cloud.



We hopped a pedicab from the airport to Largo do Senado (Senate Square).



The Portuguese architectural influence is very strong here, far stronger than the British influence in Hong Kong, mostly due to the fact that the Japanese didn't destroy most things during World War II.



And yet there's the unmistakeable East meets West, even in the center of the square.



From here it was up to the fort nearby, where the Museum of Macau is housed, along with wonderful views.





The majority of Macau isn't actually casinos or gambling. Here's a real neighborhood from above.



There's an old lighthouse from the early days still on top of a hill (Thank you zoom feature).



We walked down to the ruins of the church of St. Paul.





Close up of the facade.



This area strongly reminded me of the Spanish Steps in Rome.







I love the fact that a state known for gambling actually has a pawn shop on their historic register.



Finally, we circled back to Largo do Senado where we decided our feet had had enough for the day.



Here's one of the many bridges around Macau. How they get them that long & sinuous I have no idea.



There are only a few islands between Macau and HK. This was a tugboat as we came back into Victoria Harbour.



As we reached dock, the sun was a red ball sinking into the ocean. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was gorgeous.



From here it was back to the Intercontinental, to follow with pictures of the HK skyline NOT taken from a boat :).

Last post from last weekend - taking the Star Ferry back Sunday night to Central. First of all, for all you New Yorkers, here's the local answer to Mister Softee, even close in name!





Once on board the ferry, I find myself fighting to shoot steady pictures against the roll of the waves, so I had to take as I could.



Here was the Hong Kong Island side.





I tried to get good pics of the Kowloon side as well, since I have no view of this normally. Here's the ICC (International Commerce Centre).



This is blurry, but it was the best I got of the KCR Clock Tower and the Cultural Centre.



Here's the ferry terminal on the HK side.



Here's looking back at Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon) with a red junk in front.



From here it was off to work the next day to see some of these buildings closer.





Finally, last week we had Beijing style dumplings which were delicious, and jellyfish!



I was also complimented on how well I use chopsticks, a ploy, I think to allow a picture to be taken of me. I have never been photogenic, so usually avoid this, but here you go.



This week I'll post this past weekend's photos, and then 12:30 am Saturday Oct. 30th, I lift off for NYC, ending this blog except for unposted photos from my trip.