One Night in Hong Kong

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I had to take a layover in Hong Kong to get a good mileage trip on United from Hawaii to Bangkok, so I decided that I might as well make the most of it, and stretch out my layover as long as I could and explore that mysterious oriental-occidental mishmash. My flight got in at 22:30, which was 04:30 Hawaii time, so just equated to a bit of an early wake-up call. Well. . .that would be true under the assumption that I slept on my flights, but with a middle transfer in Guam, and my inability to sleep without lying down, I didn't catch many Zzz's. So I took in some coffee-fuel to keep the motor running.



I stashed my stuff “left baggage” and headed to Wan Chai, one of the major nightlife areas. This one is pretty heavily favored by expats in Hong Kong, at least it was on this Friday night. There were a ton of Brits and Americans out there, with some local Hong Kong natives in the mix as well. The US vs Canada Olympic hockey game happened to be going on, so a lot of people were engaged in watching this in sports bars. I watched a fair amount, and then grabbed some dim sum and checked out a few bars/nightclubs with dancing.



The whole scene felt strangely familiar, maybe because it was packed with finance types. I could have mistaken it for NYC or London, save for the higher concentration of Cantonese. I got kind of bored with this scene by 3 or 4, and started walking through the city. I decided I could tackle Prospect Peak, and reach the top around sunrise to get a nice view of the city. Well. . .I reached the top around sunrise, but a lot of haze had already rolled in, making the views less than they could have been. Still, a nice climb for being right within the city. I grabbed a bus down, and was getting kind of tired at this point, so headed back to the airport.

I also had a United Club freebie to burn, from the United Mileage Plus Explorer Visa Card. The Hong Kong club was pretty nice, and I took advantage of breakfast and lunch there, caught up on some logistical planning, and rested before my 15:00 departure to Bangkok.



I surely didn't do Hong Kong justice with this brief visit, but from the expat scene that I did see, my interest wasn't all that piqued. I've spent enough time hanging out with financy-types having gone to a prep school in the US northeast, and then to Princeton for my bachelor's. I don't really miss that vibe, and it didn't feel particularly novel, even in it's Hong Kong incarnation. I'll probably be back at some point, and would try to see more of the more traditional parts of the city, and also Macau, which I only learned upon arrival is easy to access directly from the airport (before exiting security) via ferry.

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Photos

Flight to Guam
This flight was so empty that I had a triple to try to lie down and sleep on. Problem is that I'm epislon too tall to lie down on a triple (even maximially fetaled) if the side armrests dont raise (usually they don't).

Hong Kong
Just like I remembered from Bloodsport :D

US vs Canada
Apparently everyone roots against the US whenever possible

Nouvelle Cigarette
Saw some guys smoking out of these steel contraptions. I assumed they are some type of e-cigarettes.

Skyline
Hong Kong's skyline is majestic at night

What's the deal with Asians and masks?
General bad-air protection, bird flu fears, or something else?

United Club
Big pimpin'

Beware
Basically, the summary was you are extremely unlikely to catch birdflu if you don't handle poultry.