Keeping Fit in Hong Kong

It's been four days since I've been in Hong Kong to attend my sister's wedding. I have tried my best to exercise as much as I can given that the big winter trips are coming up once I get back to Melbourne. The packs are going to be heavy and the walking will be steep and difficult. I will try my best to go running, cycling and walking with a heavy pack as much as possible once I get back. This winter, there's the challenging Overland Track in Tasmania (Aug) and most likely the very difficult trip scaling Ruapehu in NZ (Sep).

Which is why I have been trying my best exercising here in HK. I've discovered that HK is really really small and it's very quick and easy to simply walk to your next destination. The other day after lunch, I walked from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay (five MRT stations) in just over half an hour. It is all flat and paved, with plenty of shops that blast Antarctic air out to the footpath to keep me cool. Two days ago, I walked home to Upper Central from Sai Wan. None of these are more than 5km long and very easy. In fact, to walk from the western end (Sai Wan) to the eastern end (Chai Wan) is only 15km, which can't possibly take more than 3-4 hours to finish. I think if I mention that to the locals, they will think I'm insane... One thing I don't understand is why there's a mega shopping centre on Victoria Peak instead of just a quiet scenic lookout. It was an eye opener the other day walking there from home where I was met with thousands of people, cars, shops, tourists, dogs and restaurants. Oh, how I miss hiking back home in Australia!