Victoria Peak

October 6th--We got up and moving pretty quickly this morning. We were really excited about exploring Hong Kong. We first stopped at the China Travel Service to book our overnight train to Guilin for October 10th. After successfully getting the tickets, we made the short walk to the Star Ferry pier to hop aboard the Star Ferry. The ferry is a 5 minute trip across Victoria Harbour taking us to Hong Kong Island. From here we caught a bus to the Peak Tram entrance. The crowds were massive around this area. We had to stand in line to get on the tram, but once we did, it was about an 8 minute climb up Victoria Peak. The tram dropped us off in the Peak Tower where we rode the escalator up many floors to eat lunch at Tien Yi. The restaurant is considered Hong Kong's best dim sum meal with a view. We had dim sum and had a view of Victoria Harbour. After lunch, we made our way up to the observation platform where we had a 360 degree panoramic view. We could see Victoria Harbour, the Hong Kong skyline, and the South China Sea. It was magnificent! Hong Kong has the neatest "big city" skyline we have seen anywhere in the world. The tallest building looks like an electric razor. We then made our way back down and found a Disneyland ticket booth where we were able to purchase our tickets for going to Disneyland tomorrow. Then, we exited Peak Tower and walked around outside for a while before entering the Peak Galleria. We didn't spend much time in there because in the end, it's just a mall. So, we sat outside eating some ice cream, but in the shade. It was pretty hot in Hong Kong...almost 90 degrees. We then headed back down the hill on the tram and back across Victoria Harbour. Mike took the kids back to the room while I stopped off at the Chinese Arts & Crafts store. I liked looking around because it had all the souvenir type items without the pushiness of a market. I then met them back at the room a little bit later. We all then went to Sam's Tailor. Mike was interested in getting a custom made suit. We all helped Mike make his decision on a nice fabric for the suit and then a fabric for a custom shirt to be made as well. The prices here are really cheap and lots of famous people have been Sam's client. After picking everything out, we left Sam's and the kids were hungry. So, we stopped off at McDonalds and got them Happy Meals. They were real troopers through the Dim Sum lunch so they deserved a meal they would actually eat. We headed back the YMCA for bath and early bed since tomorrow is a big day at Disneyland.