Blogs from Hong Kong, Asia - page 8
February 6th 2012
We survived the 15 hour trip via Cathay Pacific from Los Angelos to Hong Kong. Good food and good movies help pass the time but the highlight was the outside camera which allowed us to watch the touchdown from the nose of the plane. Beats any ride I've been on! We were met by our guide Mike who had us to our hotel by 9:30am. We were able to check in to our hotel the Excelsior and have harbour view rooms on the 26th floor. The view is spectacular of the 3rd largest natural harbour in the world. We dumped our suitcases off and headed out on foot to explore. It was Sunday so lots of people on the streets. A marathon of 70,000 people was ongoing and Victoria Park close to our hotel was full ... read more
February 3rd 2012
The description of this hike: The minibus will drop us half the way up Tai Mo Shan (Hong Kong's highest peak) but we'll still have 550m of climbing to get to the top. After descending down through Leadmine Pass, we pass through monkey country, around Shing Mun Reservoir , before finishing at Pineapple Dam. This is a moderate hike with 550m of climbing in total (equivalent to about 180 floors of a building), and requiring the stamina to walk for 4 hours. It was 16 degrees when I left Central and by the time we reached our drop off point, the temp had plummeted to 11. We (20 of us) hiked most of the way in the clouds. It was a hard slog up the hill, but in hindsight, probably harder as we went from the ... read more
February 2nd 2012
Lost in Hong Kong Sunnuntaiaamulla suuntana oli juna-asema ja pitkä matka kohti Hong Kongia. Otettiin paikallisbussi, jonne Mark meidät opasti. Heitettiin hyvästit isännälle ja lähdettiin matkaan. Bussikuskilla ei ollut kyllä matkan teko mielessä, sillä madeltiin noin 30 km/h eteenpäin kaikkien muiden puuskuttaessa ohi. Saatiin hyvin hermot jo kireälle miettien ehditäänkö junaan ollenkaan ennen todellista koitosta. Juna-asemalla ehditiin kuitenkin vielä lounastaan. Mentiin junaan vähän viimetipassa ja reppuille oli vaikee löytää paikkaa. Oltiin saatu liian kaunis kuva Kiinan junista tähän mennessä, sillä totta kai tälle pisimmälle matkalle sattui vanha kunnon pikajuna menneisyydestä. Istuttiin vastatusten niin, että pystyttiin meneen varvaslittaa kiinalaisten kanssa kovilla takapuolta kuluttavilla penkeillä. Jalkatilaa oli ryanairin standardien verran. ... read more
January 30th 2012
Hot tip: generally by way of 'tourist attractions' if you've seen it once, you've seen it all. Nevertheless, I had a spare day in Hong Kong so I decided to head over to Lantau Island to see the big buddha again, as the last time I was there was 7 years ago! Nothing had changed. It was still a buddha, it was still big, I was still not Buddhist and the vegetarian buffet in the monastery still tasted like rubber. I have a late (overnight) flight to Paris, where I will catch the thalys highspeed train to Brussels, Belgium... bring it on jetlag!... read more
January 29th 2012
Finding my feet.. Today feels like the real 'day one' of my solo adventure. I arrived in Hong Kong last night and settled in quite nicely, despite severe jet lag kicking in and complete lack of sleep - but what's overseas travel without jetlag and what's a blog with complaints? boring. So enough of the nonsense! Today I went shopping. Think Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the city style.... yup. I spent a lot. Leg 1: Times Square, Causeway bay shopping centre. This was a rough start - it started to rain, my map was ridiculously disproportionate and Hong Kong people seem less inclined to approach a solo person that in previous travels (especially with a group of women - mum is a charmer). Soooo I didn't end up finding Times Square first, but I made a ... read more
January 29th 2012
Our time in Hong Kong was limited. We arrived at our hostel around midnight Thursday night after an pleasant experience going through immigration at HKG. Our hostel was not great, but fortunately we were only sleeping there. Out of the places we've stayed at, we paid the most and had the least value. If anything, I think that encouraged us to get out more during our time there. We had to change rooms at the hostel at noon on Friday (the room we'd booked had been given away by the time we arrived Thursday night), so we stuck around until then. After, we went out for lunch and went to a couple neighbouring hotels for some flyers about local attractions. We decided to sign up for one of the Gray Line tours of Hong Kong. We ... read more
January 28th 2012
Melbourne (Aus) > Hong Kong (SAR) (PRC) Arrived in Hong Kong this evening, around 11pm. Planned to head out for some drinks in Lan Kwai Fong to see Gilbert Yeung's (owner of Dragon-i) newest addition to the HK nightlife scene - "Tazmania Ballroom". Unfortunately, after a rather festive evening the night before in Melbourne lasting into the wee hours of the morning, I was unable to make it that night. After around a half hour journey on the Airport Express I arrived on HK island and made my way to Causeway Bay. Normally I choose to stay in Kowloon, and have previously frequented accommodation along Nathan Rd - one of my favourite places in HK of a night! After following directions to my accommodation I realised just how frustrating travelling alone would be in such circumstances! ... read more
January 28th 2012
Scott did his back in at the gym last week, so it was just me on a Chinese New Year easy peasy hike out to the Wishing Tree in Lam Chuen. Takes an hour to get out to Tai Wo Rail, and then it was a slow jaunt up a long hill, past the Tai Po HK Dog Rescue kennels, where Speeto picked up Timmy the mongrel for a walk. Arrived at the festival after climbing 195m and then down the other side, muddy, slippery and only possible hanging on for dear life to the rope that was tied all the way down. Arrived at the festival, which is a colourful tacky, fun and traditional celebration, centring around the Wishing Tree. The idea is to write your wish down on a card, attach with ribbon to ... read more
January 27th 2012
I'm not someone that gets homesick that often. As much as I love my family (a LOT), I often find myself missing different things from back home...such as: my bed and pillow personal space English Breakfast tea Diet Coke (not so much since I left Korea, but in Yongin it was non-existent) teaching/daily routines I'd been feeling homesick while I fell ill in Beijing, but it hit an all-time high at the Beijing airport, while walking to our gate (the furthest possible gate away, of course). Gate E07 Flight AC 8353 Toronto My heart sank. I can't tell you how much part of me wanted to bail on the rest of my trip, go home, and wake up in my own bed Friday morning. Obviously I'm glad I came to Hong Kong and am continuing on ... read more
January 20th 2012
Vi ankom til Saigon lufthavn med lokalbus og var der 3 timer for tidligt, hvilket betød at vi var nødt til at vente 1 time på at kunne tjekke ind. Men det gjorde ikke så meget, for vi havde heldigvis forberedt os til en sådan situation ved at købe masser af proviant. Da vi som de første prøvede at tjekke ind, da indcheckning endeligt var åbnet, blev vi genet til side fordi vi ikke havde papirer på en udrejse fra Hong Kong. Og først da jetstar havde fundet nogle papirer på at de lagde al ansvar fra sig, som vi skulle skrive under på, kunne vi checke ind, og komme med flyet, og da vi landede i Singapore, havde lufthavnen stillet computere til rådighed, så vi brugte lige nogle timer på Facebook, som vi var blevet ... read more
