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Published: November 7th 2006
Hong Kong
Hong Kong seen from The Peak!UPDATED WITH MORE PHOTOS!
A few photos and a jou sahn (hello) from Hong Kong.
This is quite a crazy city, wayyy too much people and traffic!! Although the people in general are very friendly and helpful, when you're out in the traffic or in the street the politeness is gone. People jump queues, they run right into you and push their way through, and it's not like anybody would bother saying "sorry".
Well it's just the way of life here, and you get used to it after a while, it's just a little overwhelming and frustrating at first. Quite a difference from Britan where people say sorry even if there is hardly any reason for it.
Otherwise it's a cool city, lots to do and activities around the clock (or so it feels). The hostel (again a very interesting experience) has an excellent location in Mong Kok close to shops, markets and restaurants, it's packed with people in the evenings.
In Hong Kong I am also making two excursions, one two days excursion to Guangzhou in China, and yeasterday I did a day excursion to Macau.
Macau was quite a cool city, or country. Just like Hong
Hong Kong
The cable car to get up to The Peak, very very steep at times! Kong it is now part of China, but is regarded as a special administrative area, so you have to show your passport when travelling between Macau and China or Macau and Hong Kong.
Macau is a fun mix of everything, east and west! The Portuguese were there for quite some time, so there are several nice colonial buildings and churches next to Chinese markets and Buddhist temples.
Portuguese is still also the official language, together with Cantonese and Mandarin, so all official signs and street names are in Portuguese, which certainly made things a lot easier.
As I speak French and a little Spanish, understanding Portuguese (at least written) is really not too hard, however I actually never heard anybody speaking it.
Macau is also a gambling Mecca, actually 40% of the GDP come from the casinos, so it's serious business in Macau.
But I prefered to spend my money on other things, probably wouldn't have managed well at roulette and black jack anyway.
In just two hours I'm off to Guangzhou, or Canton (the European name), just two hours by train from Hong Kong.
It is not supposed to be the prettiest of cities, but it's real
Hong Kong
Central and the Hong Kong island seen from Tsim Sha Tsui. China!! It will be a very interesting experience!
I wonder how I will cope with the language, I really don't think each and every person of the four million inhabitants in Guangzhou speak English.
We'll see how it goes, I'm a little bit nervous actually.
Laters!
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