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Published: January 15th 2009
My first blog entry has been a long time in coming I know...I'm sure it will take a couple of entries for me to get into the swing of things! Here goes...
So far, my travel buddy and I have spent three nights in Hong Kong! On arrival we were shocked at how massive the airport was and how hard it was to navigate between the terminals. We were totally expecting most things to be written in Chinese and English...and were concerned when we discovered that many shops, signs and general information could only been found in Chinese!
We managed to get to our accommodation easily enough... a small hotel off Kowloon's Nathan Road! We decided to give Chunking Mansions a swerve after the tales of rats, cockroaches and unsavoury characters who frequent the halls! The room was small but really clean and quiet! good times after the 12 hour flight and long cramped bus journey from Lantau Island!
After a quick nap, Laura and I headed out to explore the Temple Street nightmarket which is full of tat basically... pretty amazing to look around tho if people watching is your thing! We were keen to sample some
MMMM Noodles
Fried Noodles and Pork...sooo good!chinese food....yumm yumm! Our first night rounded off with a walk along the Boulevard of Stars at Victoria Harbour! The skyline over on Hong Kong Island was absolutely spectacular! You just cant imagine the sheer size and proximity of the buildings until you see them up close!
Our second day consisted of a trip on the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island where we got royally lost! there are walkways everywhere and there never seems to be a logical way of getting from A to B. We soon began to realise at this point that Hong Kongers were farrr from friendly and not interesting in helping with directions or making small talk. Very few people seem to smile in the street and no laughing seemed to go on...very odd atmosphere in this country indeed! So finally we took the bus up Victoria Peak to take advantage of the amazing views of both Kowloon, HK Island and the surrounding islands! It was awesome! Unfortunately Laura and I were a bit retarded, and not realising we were already at the top of the peak, nearly boarded a tram descending! "THIS IS TOP, THIS IS TOP" really not friendly people! haha!
After our trip to the Peak we thought it would be appropriate to visit the fishing village of Aberdeen...again this turned out to be a big mistake! We got off the bus and soon realised we were the only Westerners in the whole town! Nothing was in English and we got lost several times! It really is very tiring trying to work out where you are all the time! Early night tonight to try and catch up on the lost hours...!
On our last day we decided to take a ferry tour of the harbour...this was really fun and totally worthwhile doing! After some yummy Wantan noodle soup we took a walk around the harbour area and did some more people watching! Later on we watched the Symphony of Lights at the Victoria Harbour where all the buildings light up and flash to music! Sooo many people lined the harbour walkways to see the lights and there was much oohing and ahhing! After the show we took the MTR Subway to Central and had a walk around Lan Kwai Fong or THE FONG as we like to call it! This was meant to be a major party destination
Two Big Fish
Yuk...fish here are as fresh as they come...these two monsters were swimming around in a restaurant window! im scared! but the streets were really quiet and the majority of people walking around were western business men with their extra curricular gfs! We did enjoy a dance show on the streets of the Fong by some crazy Chinese guy in a denim get up, but this was the highlight of the Fong.
Laura and I were both pretty keen to move on to Thailand...Hong Kong city is a brilliant city to experience but three days was definately enough! I guess my favourite aspects of Hong Kong were alll the vibrant signs and cultural differences that were so evident wherever you looked. This did not make up for the fact that we felt rather unwelcome in this country! Role of Thailand....The Kingdom of Smiles!!!
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Scott
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First comment!
First comment, woohoo!!!