Hong Kong Hotels
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I have a plan, a start point & an unknown ending.
Just the way I like it.
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"Copy Rolex.. nice suit for you, Sir?"
Entry 12 of 58 | show all | print this entry |
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I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within
- Lillian Smith
He made it
Welcome back. I've moved on. 2 countries down with God only knows how many more to come. I'm presently in Hong Kong having left Seoul with a heavy heart. I left some good memories in there but, and I say this a lot, all going to plan I'll be back for the New Year celebrations and to do one more (final?) Camp Korea in January.
After our ungodly early start on the day we left Seoul (Friday, August 26th) we made it safely, and uneventfully enough, to Hong Kong. I say we because, amongst other things, I picked up a passenger, Cal, in Camp Korea who is going to accompany me for the rest of the trip... or at least the bit that in the coming months will hopefully see me do loop of East Asia (through South East Asia, India, Nepal, Tibet and Northern China) and back to Korea for the New Year. I had planned on doing the trip alone but having a travel buddy along for the ride is always a good thing. Anyway, Cal had an eventful time in camp and while I won't go into the details here it's suffice to say he was lucky to be 'allowed' to stay in Korea for as long as he did. He even made it through immigration in Seoul airport without as much as a "where's your letter of deportation, punk?" from the immigration officials. Umm, I was sorta looking forward to that spectacle. We flew Thai Airways, which I hadn't flown before, and I was quite impressed. Nothing fancy (after all, they were the cheapest ticket for the route) but nice nonetheless. But I couldn't figure out why all the cabin crew had different uniforms. I guess there are more important things to worry about. The flight lasted about 3 and a half hours (for some reason I though it would be a lot shorter) and the time passed uneventfully enough for me. But poor Cal... it was certainly a longer flight for him as he was suffering from over indulgence the night before. I was a good boy on my last night in Seoul, having spent the night saying goodbye to a certain Canadian, and although I was lacking in sleep (nothing new there) I wasn't fighting a hangover.
All roads lead to Chungking
So Hong Kong, part II. Back to dodging drips of water from the overhead air conditioners, back to incessant offers on every manic street corner from Indian immigrants for a fake Rolex's or tailored suits and back to the quintessential head on Asian rush of people, stress and the conflict between the haves and the have-nots so obvious in Hong Kong. This is my second time in Hong Kong. I visited a year ago, but as I noted in my previous entry from Seoul, I expected Hong Kong this time around to be way different. I wasn't disappointed. We had arranged to meet up with Gareth, one of the friends we made in camp. Gareth's parents, Derek and Mary, live in Hong Kong and Gareth was spending time here with them before leaving for the UK. First thing we did after meeting Gareth was to find somewhere to sleep. The tout who made a bee line for the 2 lost looking foreigners standing in the sweltering heat with massive backpacks helped in that regard and I guess it was just easier to follow her than to search out something ourselves. So we ended up in Chungking Mansions, a huge, ugly building that houses hundreds of budget orientated guesthouses, very few (if any) of which would be considered good places to stay. Don't believe anyone if they tell you otherwise; anyone with a bit of money wouldn't be found dead in the place. Anyway, among the warren like hallways of the building we got a little shoebox of a room, barely bigger than the bunk bed that occupied it, on the 17th floor. But it sure was cheap and when you're on a budget, especially in somewhere like Hong Kong, that's all that counts. We hadn't planned on spending much time in the place so as a central and cheap place to crash for a few nights it was perfect.
Lan Kwai Fong
Once the bags were off our backs and we had showered (I won't even go into the story of what an adventure showering in the Chungking Mansions was) the fun began. Gareth's parents had bought a new IBM Thinkpad (a laptop, to you non computer heads out there) and after applauding them on their selection, not to mention comparing it enviously to mine own aging Thinkpad beside it, I started about configuring it for them only to be interrupted by the call for a night on the town. After a trip to the Kowloon shorefront for pictures of Hong Kong island across the harbour (see pictures attached to this entry) and a short hop across said harbour on the Star Ferry we meet up with a good friend of Gareth's, Eugene, and his girlfriend Geni, who showed us a great night out in the nightlife district of the city, Lan Kwai Fong. I can't honestly remember getting to bed but the last picture on my camera was taken at 5:40am. What was it I said about seeing a different side of Hong Kong this time around.
Lantau Island
There was, understandably, a late start to the following day's activities, which involved a visit to the Worlds largest outdoor seating Buddha out on Lantau Island. So now I've seen the Worlds largest Golden Buddha (Bangkok, Thailand), the Worlds largest reclining Buddha (again, Bangkok), the Worlds largest Buddha (Leshan, China) and now the Worlds largest outdoor seating Buddha. It must be competitive being a Buddha.
Gastric Feast & The Tour
That night we met up again with Eugene and Gine for a trip to the Peak, the observation deck in the centre of Hong Kong Island overlooking the fancy buildings on the Island, the harbour and Kowloon in the distance. Visibility wasn't good and that coupled with the extensive renovations taking place meant the visit wasn't as good as last years but it's still an impressive sight looking down on Hong Kong from up there. Eugene then took us to a seafood restaurant on the island for gastric feast of real Chinese food, topped by the likes of manta shrimps and my favourite, pigeon. I'd never had pigeon before but it was tasty. Very tasty. I avoided the neck and head area and left that for the more adventurous in the group. After that we left Hong Kong Island drove to the New Territories area (less densely populated and altogether more relaxed area of Hong Kong north of Kowloon) for late night desert of Mango pie and a few beers by the sea (although at the time I though it was a lake..... hey, it was dark). Heading back to Hong Kong Island we got the call that there was a party going on in a friend of Eugene's apartment so once it was okayed to have foreigners attend we stayed there until getting a taxi back to the mansions for 6am. One would almost think we were trying to avoid the mansions.
My fix, Chickens feet & Felix
The following day was our last in Hong Kong and after a quick trip to the computer centre (I needed my fix) I finished off working on Gareth's parents new computer and we all went for Dim Sum, an authentic Cantonese meal, normally consumed as breakfast. Again the choice of restaurant was Eugene's and top marks again for the pick. Local knowledge really does make a visit to a place that much more enjoyable. One of the dishes on offer this time around was chickens feet. Yep, I kid you not. This may sound like a stupid statement but they actually looked like chickens feet. I've spent quite a long time in Asia and I've seen a few weird dishes but why anyone would want to, let alone enjoy eating such a thing as chicken's feet is well beyond me. It doesn't fit into my Irish potato and 2 veg a day routine. Of course one but believe me it didn't touch my lips for too long... just long enough to confirm that there was indeed no meat on them and to taste the sauce covering it (which was bearable, I suppose). With our time ticking myself and Cal had a walk around Central before a quick farewell drink with Gareth in the plush Felix bar on the top floor of the Peninsula hotel (we even had to get dressed up for that......see the pictures). It was then time to say goodbye to Hong Kong, and everyone who made it so enjoyable. Gareth, his parents Mary and Derek, Eugene and Geni. Thank you so much guys, your generosity was much appreciated and hopefully I'll get to return the favour in the future sometime. So as you see folks, Hong Kong this time was way different. I did the touristy thing last year and this time around it was less of a tourist, more of a local.
Macau
Having been escorted to the ferry terminal by Gareth and all (making sure we left maybe?) we caught the late ferry to Macau, the former Portuguese colony 1 hour 30 minutes across the South China Sea. Again, I was retracing my steps from last year but as always it's good to revisit somewhere you like. We stayed in a nice hotel (certainly a few notches up from where I stayed last time I was there) and got a much needed sleep-in on our only morning in Macau before a day of seeing the sights. In 4 hours going from place to place I got to see most of what I saw in 2 days last year, including a temple I didn't get to see first time around. But I guess being familiar with a place cuts out a lot of standing on street corner looking at a map and trying to decide where to go.
Going to the mainland
After a good tour of Macau it was time to head into mainland China proper - Hong Kong and Macau are called SAR's, or special administrative regions, of China and although they ultimately take their orders from Beijing they do have a say in their own affairs and still retain their old colonial currency and customs. Aggh, back to mainland China. Time to get dirty again.
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