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Published: August 2nd 2010
Hong Kong Get this………I’ve bagged me a free trip to Hongkers!!! Well, free-ish……flights and 2 nights accom paid for, so I decided to stay 5 days longer and treat myself to a nice room. So now, I’m adding Hong Kong to my itinerary! Woohoo!!! How have I managed this? I hear you ask……well, I’ve been invited to an interview for a role in Shanghai, China and as my journey is one of opportunity it’s only right that I hear them out and make the trip. Ok, so it does somewhat screw up my plans of seeing more of Oz, but hey ho. Just means that I have to go back to Oz someday to see more of it. No bad thing, right?!!!
Flying into HK was a delight. 9 hours on Virgin Atlantic we fly through a thunderstorm at night. The view from my window was black outside then the sky suddenly lit up by the lightening down below us. Surprisingly for me, a nervous flyer, I felt fine. A few bumps of turbulence but we seemed to be avoiding the worst of the storm…..and then, as we exit the cotton-wool looking shaped cloud, below us are the islands
Hong Kong
On the avenue of stars, HKthat make up Hong Kong. All lit up, boats in the water, tall skyscrapers…..wow! Now, I’m impressed. Mesmerised. We bank hard as the pilot has obviously been clearance to land and we descend quite rapidly, ultimately resulting in a pleasant landing.
Through customs, immigration etc (over an hour!!) I exit into the terminal and am met by my driver. Oh yes, MY driver!!! Who’s driving MY limo!!! haha…..can you believe that? Nope, me either. But its true and we head to my hotel at what is now 11:30pm.
No time to see or much but check in, shower, shave and all the other stuff one does when they get to their hotel Anyway, still buzzing and on Oz time I ramp up the laptop and start cramming for my pending interview the next day and think about what I’m going to wear,, for I have nothing really suitable for an interview as I’m travelling.
After a restless nights sleep I hit the streets and the malls looking for some trousers, shoes and anything else that might smarten me up. Success, and cheap, I bag the bits I require, explore a touch more then head back for some swotting
Hong Kong
View from the Star Ferry and to search for a new hotel for the remaining 5 days in HK. Picked up by the limo and a couple of hours later I head back to the hotel, reasonably satisfied with my days work. It was kinda weird having not worked for 7 months having to think ’work’, but whatever will be, will be. I get back online to find a place to stay.
Kowloon City and the Regal Oriental Hotel was my choice. This 4* hotel is directly opposite the old airport, its décor somewhat behind the times but my room is immense! More a suite and in HK it was MASSIVE!! Luxury for a change, with the only downside being the MTR a good 20-30 minute walk away. But fortunately the public transport in HK is superb. I did think about getting another place closer to the city, but I didn’t bother in the end. So now what? Back online I log into Couch Surfer and search for people to meet. I eventually met some nice people, french, Chinese and an English couple who were only there for a short while. Some drinks, food and chats later and I’m already beginning to feel comfortable
in HK.
Over the course of a few days I meet people, explore Kowloon and Tsim Sha Tsui, the star ferry, Manic Mongkok…..oh so many places. Its manic. Teeming with people, the hustle of the local markets, the smell from the street food vendors…..this place is great. I meet another local from CS, who takes some time out to show me around the good, the bad and the ugly parts of the city. Get caught in a T3-T8 typhoon whilst hiking up Victoria Peak was quite funny……thunder and lighting and the rain pissing down, but it was fun and we got thoroughly soaked through. But the good thing about this climate is that it isn’t long before you’re bone dry! We say our goodbyes and I head back to my hotel for a well earned rest before my flight to LA.
All in all, I really enjoyed Hong Kong and would definitely go back someday as I haven’t seen anywhere near enough of the place.
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