Touch down in Hong Kong
Trip Start
Aug 04, 2008
1
16
Trip End
Aug 21, 2008
Hong Kong,
China
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Well, as I write this, it's technically Day 8, and I've finally gotten a chance at extended free internet and nothing else to do this morning. I'm sitting here in the hotel lobby of the Sugar Palm Resort in Phuket, Thailand. It's about a 3 minute walk to the beach, and... well, I'll leave all that good stuff part for the Day 8 entry.
So, as I was saying... Day 1.
We touched down in HK around 8am. Our flight had been delayed back in Vancouver, for over 2 hours, so we took off at 5am for a 3am flight. Either way, Maggie was patiently waiting for us at the arrivals terminal with a sign with "JASON LEW" in big letters
Air-conditioned view of HK
. Good thing too, because I don't think I would've recognized her if she hadn't!We woke Sash, her husband, who was napping in the corner of the seating area, and off we went! Actually, Tracie and I hadn't really known what to expect upon our arrival in HK. We knew we wouldn't be able to see much having only 2 days to spend. But, piling into the back of their car, we were in for a fantastic surprise. Maggie and Sash offered/insisted on taking us around (by car!) to any and all places we wanted to see! Looking back, I doubt we would've seen even half of what we did, had it not been for their hospitality.
The first stop was the apartment. It turns out that it was quite close to the apartment I stayed in last year when I came through HK with Frank. The place was beautiful! Full kitchen, TV, everything! The kitchen turned out to be pretty useful on Day 2: class 8 typhoon day.
From there, we ended up in the Shum Shui Po area, looking for lunch and shopping for electronics. After haggling unsuccessfully at a few stores, I picked up a camera for my sister, gave up on trying to find a cheap iPhone, and we headed to the Ladies' Market
Our chaperones
. It seemed much less impressive this time around, compared to my last trip through here when I thought it was the greatest thing ever. After storming through the market and buying nothing, we left for the IFC mall. Maggie and Sash had a few errands of their own to run, so Trace and I meandered around the mall for an hour. I guess in this day and age of multi-national corporations, it wasn't surprising that most of the shops in the mall were the same ones we could find back home in Metrotown. Still, we ended up at the grocery store where we treated ourselves to fresh-baked Chinese buns, and found a thank-you gift for Maggie and Sash.By the time we met back up, it was dinner time. From there, we headed to the Peak. Really, being driven around in an air-conditioned car is a great way to experience this city. The underground MTR is nice and all, but this was VIP treatment! The view from the peak was just clearing up when we arrived. It had been spitting rain all day, but the clouds were blowing away just as we reached the Peak. We snapped a bunch of pictures, then found a nice place for dinner.
This was the perfect start to our trip. Escort from the airport, plenty of sight-seeing, air-conditioned car, great food, and good company.
Back at the apartment, with nothing good on TV. We passed out pretty quickly.
Tomorrow, sight-seeing day... or so we thought.
