Blogs from Kowloon, Hong Kong, Asia

May 25, 2012 (Hong Kong) After 14 hours and 38 minutes we landed in Hong Kong, tired but all in reasonable spirits. We piled all our luggage and passengers (8 people now) into two cabs and drove the 30 minute drive to our hotel on the harbor front Kowloon side. It is warm and very humid, but a clear view of Hong Kong Island below the low cloud coverage typical in HK. We are staying in a different hotel this year - the Harbor Plaza Metropolitan Hotel. Its very nice and the staff were exceptionally gracious - upgrading our rooms to suites. Its good to be here. We'll sleep (its 13 hours ahead of Central Time Zone) tonight and see Hong Kong sights tomorrow and head to Chengdu for Sunday.... read more

alla fine mi e' scauto il visto e mi sono sparato una gita ( un po lunga )per hong kong , siamo stati a dormire dalla zia .prima in 3 ( con una sua amica ) poi l'amica e tornata a lavorare l'1 maggio mi sembra ovvio , ha avuto libero il sabato/ domenica quindi mo lavora ...laura' dane' laura' Noi invece siamo rimasti altri 3 giorni, un sacco di cinesi saltano il confine per fare shopping: alchol , oro,borse e tecnologia .insomma roba che costa , dove possibilmente si tagliano le tasse che non paghi a HK. Il resto poca roba , ho visto le spiagge , un budda in una foschia totale ... abbiamo verificato degli appartamenti ...e magazzini cari come il fuoco e decrepiti ... 200.000 euro 45 mq , in una topaia ... read more

Fancy that no dramas leaving good ole NZ this time, for those first time readers last time we left for an overseas trip we got hauled out from boarding because they found something suspicious in our luggage, a printer, however I digress. Arriving in Hong king airport in fog, it was hard to see many details of the landscape apart from mountains. Breezing through customs, like no check of our baggage at all we couldn’t find our transfer people and I didn’t have the contact details in my hand luggage it was packed away, so I am stressed to the max after a long flight and no sleep, we finally figured out we were in the wrong entry area, for those of you who don’t know HK airport is really really huge, like bigger than a ... read more

Thu 12 Apr ------------ So to Hong Kong for our last 3 days before coming home. We are both looking forward to getting home now and we are missing friends and family. Up at 3:30am for flight to Melbourne. Flies about 6:15am and is a 3+ hour flight. Arrived in Melbourne at 8:00am (adjusting clocks back 2 hours). Flight to Hong Kong not until 14:15 so we have 6 hours in the airport! Flew to Hong Kong and after a 9 1/2 hour flight and a 1 1/2 hour transfer to our hotel, we arrived at 00:30am (having adjusted clocks back another 2 hours). We have now been up with no sleep for 25 hours and have to be up for a City Tour trip at 8:25am in the morning (a little bad planning here, thanks ... read more

Hong Kong on a cloudy, foggy day. We are at the Hotel Cosmo on Kowloon. The hotel is brand new; the room very small but adequate. Hong Kong is a vertical city. Apartment complexes are clustered together and soar up 50 to 70 or more floors. I guess there is little choice but to build up instead of outward since the city is confined mostly to several islands and there is little level ground with mountains rising almost directly up from the sea. This morning Bill and I took one of the historic Star Line ferries across the harbor to Hong Kong Island and then hiked up some very steep streets, arriving at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception just in time for Easter Mass. Bill, a Unitarian, is a good sport to attend without complaint. Afterward ... read more

So Hong Kong was very different to LA. A slight change in food from burger and fries to frog, pig intestine and snake. So we found starbucks! Not quite sure how chinese food came about in the uk as nothing i found ever looked like sweet and sour chicken and rice. Enough to turn me vegetarian. Well that at least will help with my size 0 plan ;-). Its definitely a place that makes you feel very poor. Mall after mall of luxury designer outlets but certainly not at backpacker prices. Queues outside Chanel just to get in. More Jimmy Choo and Leboutin shoes than a girl could look at in a day. Then we come to the watch shops, Mark thought he was in heaven. He tried on everything from 5k to 300k all in ... read more

I arrived in Kowloon just after 1pm and HK immigration was very fast, lucky as my ferry was the only ship docking at the time. I think waiting times could blow out if you dock at the same time as a cruise ship (or two). I walked the length of the cruise terminals right down to the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel which is at the tip of the Harbour City shopping centre and just before the TST Star Ferry Terminal. Location wise, this was superb for a panoramic view and my room did not disappoint. I had an unobstructed view of HK island across Victoria Harbour and it was indeed wow factor - definitely one of the best cityscapes in the world! This hotel was mid to high range and I loved it despite the ... read more