A great BIG city - Hong Kong

On my way out of Bangkok Airport I had the time to snap a few pictures....these are more of the fantastic sculptures in the terminal.  These are just inside passport control and picture Thai men in what seems to be a "tug of war"....with a rather decorate man in the middle of the match....take a look...

Cool huh?

Okay....arrival in Hong Kong must have been too much for me...here I come out into the Arrival Hall looking for my hotel driver...Radisson....Radisson...where the heck is he?  Nowhere to be found....then I hear this voice say...."Mr. Ward??"  It is Hyatt...not Radisson Bob...Oh well...when I got to the room it was lovely....Radisson/Hilton/Hyatt/Mariott...yeah yeah yeah...

Here are my Hong Kong quarters....

So the next day it is off to the sights....sounds...and beauty of Hong Kong - The City!!

The best place to  get a feeling of the real Hong Kong is in the markets....tomorrow I will explore more of the "top sites"...but today it is all about where the Hong Kong people shop and what they deal with on
a daily basis....

First...how do you decide where to shop in Hong Kong as a resident?  All the markets I saw today were outstanding and this can be only a small portion serving this immense population.  Here is what one sees looking up and down the streets....a deluge of signs and advertising...

Not to mention the steps....the hills of Hong Kong are everywhere...and one finds a flight of steps awaiting them at every turn....

But fear not...if one looks long enough and far enough....there could be a moving sidewalk...that is a blessing....you may have to walk down....but not up...as seen below with moving walk on the left and steps on the right!!

Along the way one can also see today's laundry hanging to dry....

But it is the markets where I found some great sites....like fruit and vegetables...

....and take a look at this giant zucchini...the woman went ballistic after I took this....she has furious...did not have the guts or heart to take that photo...

Next up....meat....first the cooked...

and "Daffy" here never knew what happened...or know he would be featured as the special of the day....

How about some fresh uncooked meat...minus refrigeration....."...let me cut you a slice of that ...

Fish anyone?  These babies are fresh...like all still alive.....beautiful....

then....we have these guys waiting in the wings....oh yeah..."Not for SALE"!!

Scaffolding in Asia has always fascinated me....usually it is all bamboo and goes fairly high....now I see there is a combination of steel as well as bamboo..blended together...

Transportation in Hong Kong is very efficient....Taxi...Train...and these street cars or trams....

Late in the day and back at the hotel...here are some views of the Sha Tin area of the city skyline....hi-rise after hi-rise....I will never forget my first visit to Hong Kong back in the mid 1990's..the airport was nestled in an area of the city where 747's had to navigate down with hi-rise after hi-rise on each side of the plane...and as I looked out the window at that time I could see families enjoying dinner!!! YES...it is true...and also the runway was a "one-way"...one way in and one way out....Today is a far different story.  The Hong Kong airport is a state of the art facility built in the waters of Hong Kong....some pictures before I leave....

Here are those views from my hotel...

Finally....beauty....of flowers.  Orchids are a mainstay of Asia....and they are very plentiful....so many that you often find blossoms on your bed...in your bath...or just an entire plant to  savour...