Hello again,
I am writing to the blog this time from an internet cafe in Hong Kong. I spent the last 5 days on the island city exploring, eating, and getting lost….same things as in Tokyo. The voyage from Japan to Hong Kong was rather uneventful and no different that flying between any two countries. The customs process was the same in both airports and it wasn’t until I was on a taxi that I could tell the difference between the two countries.
Hong Kong is another mega city but unlike Tokyo it is built on 3 separate land masses. The major financial and corporate area is Hong Kong Island, a grand city island with an immense skyline seen on most Hong Kong photos. Then their is the major residential area known as Kowloon. Kowloon is actually on mainland China but remains under the Hong Kong [psuedo]independent governance. The final part is Lantau Island, over two times as large as Hong Kong Island but sparsely populated and most of it is preserved as national parkland. The climate is farily warm and humid and the flora seemed tropical to me.
When I arrived I got on a taxi and headed to my hotel, a beach resort in Lantau. I couldn’t quite admire the scenery as it was 12 o’clock at night when I reached the hotel and the Taxi driver was fast and quite reckless. We were flying on a mountain road above a steep precipice into the ocean and I was clenching my safety handle to stay upright. It wasn’t until the next morning did I realize the beach had a view of two mountains coming together on either side of the bay and was quite picturesque.
I didn’t get much time to admire the view however, I donned my pack and boarded a Ferry for Hong Kong Island. As the ferry meandered through numerous uninhabited islands and passed sailing boats I could tell that the area was indeed tropical and the warm season was just beginning. After about 20 minutes on the ferry the skyline of Hong Kong could be seen in the distance. The number of buildings visible kept growing for about 10 minutes and we eventually reached the island. Again, I didn’t have time to stand and admire the great engineering feat of 80 story plus buildings, and continued my travel onto the metro.
The metro in Hong Kong is no where near as confusing as Tokyo’s. There are only about 5 lines and they only share about 4 stops in common, so every trip in Hong Kong brings you to the same stations. Also, the pricing is much better hear. For all public transportation (ferry, metro, train, and bus) you can purchase one card, known as the Octopus card. Also the card can be used to speed by products in the various shops within the metro and harbor stations. Getting to my hostel was no problem but I was kind of disappointed once I finally got indoors.
I decided to splurge a little on the hostel fees and get a private room. However, it was just large enough for a bed and had very small attached bathroom. The weirdest thing for the bathroom was that there was no separate compartment for the shower…it was just a hot water heater with a shower head. So you showered right where you brushed your teeth and things.. Other than that the place was extremely clean and all the sockets already contained adapters for American wall sockets. All in all i slept fine and that is all the hostel was used for any way.
After I got out and about I located one of the hundreds of phone shops along the Hong Kong streets and picked up a SIM card for my phone that allowed me to call internatioanlly. For 70 Hong Kong Dollars (about 10 dollars) I got one that gave me good US rates. I made some test phone calls and then contacted a friend of friend from the states who said they could show me around. We planned to meet up around 6:30 at a metro strop in Kowloon.
I was a few minutes late as I had some trouble locating my nearest stop. However, when I got there i found Jackie ( a friend of of Michael Chen) waiting patiently for me. She ended up being a great guide for the city. She showed me around a few nights and during the day she told me the places to go, all suggestions were great. That evening we went to the Temple Street Market, the place to find cheap knock off goods in Hong Kong. The stalls were packed with thousands of shoppers and hundreds of sellers. All goods were peddled from toothpaste to designer bags. After a few other open air markets we ducked into an authentic Cantonese restaurant for dinner. Not knowing the menu I let Jackie do the ordering and she picked out a noodle dish and a rice one. The food was really good and my gastric experiences during the trip just seem to get better. The noodle dish resembled a Japanese ramen dish and I was surprised to find out that many people in Hong Kong eat Japanese food most days.
After dinner we took a walk to the Kowloon coast facing Hong Kong island. Here I had a great view of the night skyline of Hong Kong. It was spectacular to say the least. There was a heavy mist in the air and each building had a large halo. It then began to rain so we decided it was time for desert. We went to a place called “Health Deserts” and it was basically a fruit/herbal desert place. I had this great mango dish which comprised of fresh fruit (mangoes, kiwis, strawberries, melons, grapes, and lychees) on top of a mango Sorbet. Jackie had an herbal pudding that looked like chocolate but tasted significantly worse. After desert we parted ways and I fell asleep in a few minutes of laying down.
The next morning I decided to explore Hong Kong Island. My first stop was an area known as the Peak. It was the location that the wealthy British liked to live in when they first arrived in Hong Kong. The area still has the most expensive real estate, the reason being the view and the temperature. The peak tends to be a few degrees C cooler than Hong Kong Island and a little less humid, in the sweltry summer months it apparently makes a large difference. At the time I went up there the peak was cold and I wasn’t happy to be wearing shorts. After the peak I went back down to sea level and took a few hours going from city garden to city garden. I learned that Hong Kong is very well planned and not just a concrete jungle like I was expecting. At no point on the Island were you more than a 10 minute walk from a large garden.
That night I went to Lan Kai Fong the going out center of Hong Kong. There were a ton of foreigners in the area as some large Rugby tournament was occuring during my visit. Apparently people in Hong Kong are really into Rugby and host a yearly tournament called “the Sevens,” the largest rugby tournament on the international circuit. I didn’t stay out long but met a number of interesting people from around the world.
The next day was pretty much the same as the day before except I spent time in Kowloon Island and Hong Kong. That night I returned to Lan Kai Fong but this time with Jackie. We didn’t stay long and instead decided to go see a movie, Mr. Bean’s Vacation….it was quite terrible.
On my final full day in Hong Kong I went back to Lantau Island to see one of Hong Kong’s most famous sites…the Giant Bhuddha of Tian Tan. It is a huge 40-50 foot tall bronze Buddha ontop of a mountain in Lantau Island. Leading up to the Bhuddha is 260 odd steps that were tiring for all the tourist flocking to the region. From on top of the Bhuddha the view was pretty spectacular and you could see mountains and sea in stark contrast. I spent a few hours exploring Lantau and then eventually came back to Kowloon. That evening it began to rain a little and I started to write up a blog and plan my trip in Thailand ( I am leaving for the airport in a few minutes). I also reflected upon my stay in Hong Kong and decided that this city also needs to be visited again to see the remaining sites.
I will try to upload pictures when I get a chance but for now I am off to Thailand.
