Ching Ming Festival

I have still to blip yesterday. I am in Hong Kong! Arrived at 5am this morning and already out and about with Sandy and my youngest nephew Ben!

I've been here twice before, the last time was in 2009, and I had never seen the escalators, famous because of the very efficient way that they move people around in Central, so we headed out to do that. On the way there, we passed by all these domestic workers who were camped out on the floor in whatever space they could secure. It is a public holiday today - Ching Ming which is the festival of ancestor worship, so the maids who normally work in homes have to find somewhere to "be". I didn't really want to point my camera and blatantly take a picture but quickly shot this as we walked towards town.

The escalators (see extra) cover quite a large area and are fantastic! In the morning, they operate downwards - until 10am. After that, they carry people up. We got off at a newly refurbished area (Tai Kwun) which housed the old colonial prison and magistrates courts etc. The buildings are fantastic (Extra 2) and make for a very pleasant tourist hangout, so we sat and drank Aperol spritzers. We then walked around Soho a bit before catching the ferry back to Discovery Bay where SweetArt lives.

Their friends Roberto and Elizabeth were having a barbeque in the garden below and invited us to join them. A very pleasant way to end my first day here. I tried blipping but couldn't keep my eyes open having only slept a couple of hours on the plane!