Kowloon Walled City Park Hong Kong

Saturday afternoon I went to Kowloon Walled City Park, which I expected to be full of ruins from the old walled city, but it was mostly gardens and ponds with a small section of the original South Gate. There was an old brick wall lined with bamboo that ran around the entire park though!

After that I took a bus to Kam Shan Country Park to …

Day 1:
Arrived in Hong Kong at 17:30 ... took bus to the hotel (a really small room Andy could touch all the walls at once!) But it was a central location in the lively Tsim Sha Tsui.

Day 2:
Wandered down to the harbour and along the Avenue of Stars. As the day cleared up we took the Star Ferry @ a cost of about $2 (15p) or $2.50 …

What a behemoth of a place this is.

To put it simply; Hong Kong is incredible. As much as we've loved the ancient history of the various places so far, this place seems a world apart from mainland China.

We stationed ourselves right slap bang middle of Kowloon in an area called Mong Kok; an urban jungle of apartments, shopping …

And so our adventure begins! I could bore you all with mundane details about our flight from BNE to HK, what movies we watched (Pitch Perfect, The Sapphires - thanks for asking), whether we got in on time (yes), how the turbulence was (delicious), what the meals were like (pretty good thanks), how many people were on the plane (half full) - but let …

June 19-22, 2012
San Francisco -> Hong Kong

I dragged myself to Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on June 20th, after 23 hours of traveling that began at 4:30am in San Francisco. I landed in an international youth hostel called Pandora after 80's where I shared 2 connected rooms with 10 others. Spending $30 for two nights is not bad …

Sorry for the hiatus, we've only just got Wifi.

Where to start. One of our first missions in HK was to find ourselves an apartment. Space is particularly valuable here, most apartments in our price range were about $12000 for 300 square foot. We got lucky. Our apartment was originally 300 sq ft with a 500 sq ft terrace, but the landlord …

Today is filled with emotions, as I am meeting more of Kalsen's family. After a long but great bus ride around Kowloon (and eating quail eggs on the street) we arrive at the complex where Kalsen grew up. These housing complexes are really well designed, with everything a community may need: A bunch of habitation towers grouped together with their …

Arrival
Arrived at HK airport 4am+ flight was faster than expected!
hung around the airport a bit, looking for local SIM card but shops were not yet opened. contemplated taking the bus, but decided on the train.
bought an airport express (single trip) + 3 day unlimited train rides card as we weren't sure if we'd be taking the train …

With 7 million people, it's one of the most densely populated cities on earth. But it's also densely packed with amazing food. China but not China, a thing all it's own. My colleague, Ronny, and I are in China to meet Chinese students and their families and to recruit students to Bishop O'Dowd High School (actually less recruiting and more vetting …

We had to get over a bit of health issues that we brought with us from the US. After a tenuous 19 hour flight and a bumpy first day in HK we finally hit our stride. We started the day early with a lovely breakfast at the hotel and then started on a walking tour through the middle class Kowloon District.

We started in the Kowloon park …

... spectacular arrangements of the flowers stood out and gave an insight into the meticulous nature of the Hong Kong people (PICS). Venturing on to Kowloon walled city park was a challenge in itself as the taxi driver didn't speak a word of English and ...

... Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple (no, I didn't make that up just to sound authentic..it's real). Next was Kowloon Walled City Park, which was also pretty cool, along with a trip back via the various markets at Mongkok. Hopefully later tonight ...

... whole bus on my own in case it came out wrong but I did it the next day when I headed back into Hong Kong city to see the Kowloon walled city park (former city, semi lawless high rise slum that was demolished and turned into a park in 1995) and then to ...

... Kowloon est ferme aussi parce que les horaires ont change... Il commencait a faire trop nuit pour aller Chi Lin Nunnery et au Kowloon Walled City Park.. Du coup, on refait tout ca demain et je vous raconte. Pour remedier a ca, on part pour le marche ...

... Sik je-sais-tjrs-pas-la-suite, le Chi Lin Nunnery et ses jardins et maisons en bois, et le Kowloon Walled City Park. Plus de reception a la Bank of China Tower, on peut enfin admirer HK du 43e etage. Et encore une fois, on a marche, marche, ...

... and is now a lovely park in Kowloon! An archive photo of the Kowloon Walled City Sean and Lindsey - diplomacy in action in Kowloon Walled City Park We managed to get our Chinese Visas the day of our flight and still catch our flight to Guilin where ...

... were almost 20 of us, we sat at a super long table that happened to be set up already!  After that we got Tofu Fa for dessert from one of the oldest dessert places in Hong Kong, and walked to Kowloon Walled City Park to sit and eat and hang out. ...

... a little to the south. Kowloon Walled City Park Found at the edge of the now abandoned Kai Tak International Airport is Kowloon Walled City Park.  The walls that enclose this attractive park began as the perimeter of a Chinese garrison in the 19th ...

Saturday afternoon I went to Kowloon Walled City Park, which I expected to be full of ruins from the old walled city, but it was mostly gardens and ponds with a small section of the original South Gate.  There was an old brick wall lined with bamboo ...

... of the true neighborhoods of the New Territories and just enjoy being in our adopted city. We'll definitely meander back to Kowloon's Walled City when it's not so damp and dreary...but until then, we'll have some good memories and a few fine pictures to ...