Hong Kong: A Departure from Simple and Easy

---

Hong Kong: A Departure from Simple and Easy

Man do I hate early mornings. I’m sure that many of you out there don’t sympathize with a person who is in the process of spending a year of their life being a bum, but hear me out for a second.

We returned to Cairns for the night before we were supposed to leave for Hong Kong. We spent our last time in Australia getting haircuts and doing some last minute shopping, pretty much just boring stuff that isn’t interesting to you guys. Before bed we repacked all of the stuff that has been strewn across the back seat and trunk of our rental car for the last three and a half weeks back into our packs. Its amazing how little stuff we have yet how heavy it is when packed in one pack.

I was dreading going to bed because I knew that going to bed meant getting up soon enough. Our morning flight from Cairns to Brisbane was set to depart at 6:30am (that’s 4:30am Hong Kong time) thus we had to be up at 4:30 to get ready and rush to the airport. Despite the standing recommendation to get to the airport 2 hours before a flight, we rarely arrive more than an hour early, so we left at 5am and checked in for the flight at 5:30am. We had no problems getting through customs and even had to wait around for about a half an hour before we could board our flight.

The flight to Brisbane was uneventful and so was the two and a half hour layover in Brisbane before we boarded our flight to HK. Given the amount of long range flying we have done in recent months we thought we had a firm grasp on what to expect out of the flight and facilities on the Qantas jet we were taking for our longest flight to date. We expected to have those entertainment centers that are located in the back of the seats which are really fun. I even went so far as to purchase adapters for our headphones so that they would fit well into the armrests.

Then we got on board our plane which turned out to be an aged 767 with a single movie screen in coach which was 25 rows ahead of us on the center wall. It’s rare that I swear out loud in public, but this was definitely one of those moments. The journey to HK was 8 and a half hours of pure pain. Mind you, we got through it okay, read some magazines, listened to some music, tried to sleep some. I completely understand that airlines must use all planes at their disposal, but we have been completely spoiled by new technology and found that we were unprepared and unhappy about an almost 9 hour trip in a boring metal tube. Okay, diatribe over, soapbox put away.

Arrival and Impressions

Our first impression of Hong King was hot and humid. I grew up in Richmond and therefore am used to humidity; during some of the worst weeks of the year we can have 99%!h(MISSING)umidity. Hong Kong seems to have this horrible humidity all summer long. If you’re coming this way be prepared, it is hot! As we stepped off the plane the humidity/heat pretty much smacks you in the face. It feels a bit like walking into a brick wall of heat. No matter what the temperature is the humidity make you sweat and saps the energy right out of you. Ten minutes walking around is enough to make you want to lay in a bathtub of cold water all afternoon.

We have been through a handful of the major western Asian cities and they all have their own feel. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are clean, pristine cities that feel safe, comfortable and very western. Bangkok is more crazy with drivers taking huge risks on the roads, a bit dirtier, with a slightly run down feeling but tons of energy and very friendly people. Hanoi takes the frenetic energy of Bangkok to a whole new level. The motor scooters are everywhere at once, people are more crowded and always seem to have a place to be and it feels all around more crazy but very alive.

Once again, Hong Kong very much has its own feel. The city is much more Chinese influenced with huge neon signs written in Chinese, a general press of people, and a glitziness at the forefront which hides a layer of grunge for the average Joe who actually lives here. While the tourist centers remind me of an Asian Las Vegas with bright lights, expensive shops and feeling of richness, the apartment buildings for the average Chinese person live here are gigantic skyscrapers, which are crammed with people and have a dingy façade which may or may not continue inside the building itself.

For travelers with enough money, Hong Kong offers a beautiful, comfortable city of elegance which is safe and very interesting. Our car ride from the airport offered up a view of absolutely gigantic buildings which must house thousands of people, huge skyscrapers occupied by many of the world’s largest companies, glitzy malls and quaint neighborhoods and side streets. Our hotel, which could probably be considered in the mid range or upper mid range of hotels in Hong Kong offered huge rooms, comfortable beds, and an ever present staff which was willing to meet your every need.

After checking into the hotel we found our friend Brian, who we visited in Singapore. Brian was cool enough to take us up on our offer a few weeks ago to meet in Hong Kong on our way through. He had arrived earlier in the day and was nice enough to hang around the hotel so we could get dinner together. Brian, Kel and I had plans for the evening which involved getting dinner with some new acquaintances that Kel and I had met in our last days in Australia.

While taking the crazy jungle canopy tour of the Daintree, Kel and I had met a French couple who were vacationing in Australia. It turned out that they currently lived in Hong Kong and would be returning to Hong Kong right around the time that we were getting there. Luck would have it that we were on the same plane as them and were sitting two rows apart. As we left the plane in HK, Alban and Miriam offered to take us out on the town that night and show us a bit of HK.

Kel and I changed when we got to our rooms, collected Brian and the three of us set out to meet up with our new friends. Brian had experimented with the MTR underground/subway system earlier in the day and therefore was able to give Kel and I some help getting started. We stopped and bought unlimited tourist passes for the MTR (a great way to go if you are in the town for a few days) and then headed for our meeting point. The MTR is the best way to travel in Hong Kong in my opinion. The clean cool subway cars plus easy to follow maps everywhere make the trains a perfect way to get around.

We met Alban and Miriam in Times Square just off the Causeway Bay MTR stop and headed to a nearby restaurant. Hong Kong is full of restaurants, many of which are off the beaten path. This one was on the upper stories of a giant office-looking building and was definitely a place we wouldn’t have discovered on our own. We gladly let Miriam and Alban do the chore of ordering and the sat back and enjoyed the great company and amazing food.

Our favorite dish was authentic Peking Duck. This authentic version is unlike anything we’ve had in the United States. The full duck is brought to the table after having been dry baked in an extra hot oven and then the super crispy skin is delicately cut off leaving just a little bit of the duck meat attached to each small piece of skin. The rest of the duck is thrown away and you eat the skin & meat by putting it in paper thin crepes with cucumber, scallions and a little sweet and sour sauce. The dish is amazing. If you ever get a chance to try it I would highly recommend it.

When dinner was finished all five of us got in a cab and we headed into the central area of town. We stopped in a small side street that was full of bars and mostly ex-pats and got a couple of drinks. Alban took a few minutes to share some shopping advice with me. He was able to direct me a couple of camera shops and tell me how to haggle with the shop keepers to ensure I got a good deal. This advice came in really handy for later on when we got a chance to do some shopping.

With a few drinks in our systems we parted with Alban and Miriam and headed back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep. It was close to midnight at this point and Kel and I were running on fumes since we had been up for 21 and a half hours with very little sleep. Since we only had a few days to see Hong Kong we needed to get some sleep and be prepared to get moving and see it all the next day.

Hope you’re doing great back home!

---