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Published: February 10th 2007
Hello Everyone!
I have been to Hong Kong!
And what a wonderful place!
Too be honest, I really didn't know what to expect and was a little anxious. However I have kind of fallen in love with the place.
It is very busy, yes. However, it has alot of culture and really tries hard to be unlike anywhere else in the world.
There is a very British influence here (which is hardly surprising due to the fact it used to be part of the British Colony - but yet is surprising to see a Western influence in a very Eastern country). So what I really mean is; it does try hard to break away from the Western Culture, but it is very evident still. Here they have the same traffic lights, roadwork signs, registration plates, double-decker buses and plug sockets, as we do in England. Really strange.
The people are interesting too. Very few of them speak English, a few more understand it, but only the basics. This I find quite odd, mainly because everything here in Hong Kong is written in Chinese but will always be written in English as well (below or even
above the Chinese writting). This includes adverts, shop signs, road signs... everything! Also there are very few 'Westerners' here. I walk down the street or go on their underground train network, and I only see Asians... very rarely would I see a European or American. So this results in people looking at me (like I am the odd one out) alot of the time. The people here are also very small!! I didn't really realise this before I came. But even the men are at an average height, I would say, of 5ft 9. The people here are mostly Buddhists. You see them practising relaxation in the parks and praying to Buddha quite frequently. The most shocking thing about this country, is that you see beggers in the street with a missing limb or some kind of deformity. It really makes me think about the world and it's cruelties
The transport here is pretty efficient. Very clean too. They have an underground train network, which runs alot better than London's... mainly because it is cleaner and the trains come every 2-3 minutes no matter which line you are on. As Hong Kong is made up of 3 main islands
(Kowloon and New Territories, Hong Kong Island and Lantau Island) they have ferry services that run between them. The main one (and the most famous) is the Star Ferry. It takes about 10 minutes to get from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and the journey works out to be 15pence (in British money).
Everything is soooo cheap here. It really is amazing. Transport - to get from one end of Hong Kong to the other will cost you no more than 2pounds. Food as well! A meal with a drink will cost no more than 3 pounds. A can of Coke costs 30p. It just shows how expensive everything is in England.
I have been staying in a Hostel, but have had a single room with en-suite (as it was only 10pounds a night). So that was pretty cool. And it is located right in the heart of Kowloon.
Oh yeah, it is also the Chinese New Year... so the whole place is red and gold! And everyone seems to be in good spirits. And it's the year of the Pig... so there are lots of model pigs and pictures of pigs around (as shown in some
of my pics).
So, enough of my going on about how good Hong Kong is.... this is what I have been up to:
I arrived on Wednesday evening and the first thing I realised was how warm it was!! So after working out what bus to get onto from the Airport I eventually made it into the centre of Kowloon. I checked into my hostel (after alot of confusion) and then went exploring. Armed with my map I set off. I found the Temple Street Night Market (which I had heard was very good). It had hundreds of stalls, selling things like Asian traditional gifts, Chinese New Year gifts, Buddhist gifts, dvds (real of course) and t-shirts etc.
Then on Tuesday I set off to Hong Kong Island on the Star Ferry. The first thing I did was to travel on the World's Longest Covered Escalator. This was really strange, as it is located over all the streets and is outside. After that experience I then took a trip on the Peak Tram. This was again pretty cool as it takes you to the best view over Hong Kong... and to get there the tram travels at
a 45 degree angle...amazing! Once at the top I thought I would pay a trip to Madame Tussauds (as I liked the one in London so much). It was really cool, it did feature a few Asian people who I had never heard of, but mostly there were people like David Beckham and the Royal Family and Hollywood stars. I then went and looked oer Hong Kong from the peak. And the view was sublime! I don't think I have ever seen so many skyscrapers! But it truly made the country look beautiful (see the pics). Then I went to see the 'Forever Blooming Bauhinia Sculpture'. This bronze sculpture was given to Hong Kong when it was handed back to China in 1997. There was also the 'Reunification Monument' located there.
On Wednesday I went to visit Ngong Ping on Lantau Island. The main attraction here is the Big Buddha! To get there I had to take a stunning 5.7km cable car ride up the side of a mountain. After 25minutes I had arrived at the village. Firstly I went to go and see an animation called the 'Monkey's tale'. Then I walked up to see the huge Buddha
(which is the World's Tallest Outdoor Seated Bronze Buddha - a mouthful). It was huuuge! But really impressive. I then went and had lunch in the Buddhist Temple. As Buddhists are vegetarian and don't drink alcohol, you could only purchase vegetarian meals and soft drinks. So I got a traditional Hong Kong meal... which was really nice (see the pic!). I then walked around the temple, which was very impressive. The Buddha in the temple was behind a glass screen and surrounded in flowers. Many people were praying infront of it and offering gifts of fruit, incense and even money! I then went on an interactive tour called 'Walking with Buddha', which explained the Buddha's life and path to enlightenment.
In the evening I went to watch the famous Hong Kong Symphony of Lights. It is the worlds largest consistant light festival. Basically, everyone watches from the harbour, and all the buildings on the opposite side on Hong Kong Island produce a quality light display. As it is at night, it looks awesome. Most have lighting effects on the skyscrapers... some had laser lights from the roofs... and the most amazing thing about it was that they were all
in time with the music being played on the speakers. Amazing to watch! Some skyscrapers even have 'Happy Chinese New Year' with patterns all in lighting on them. And then I visited the Avenue Of The Stars. Like in Hollywood, however the stars of film and television are Asian. Some hand prints and autographs. I got a photo with Jacki Chan's (see the pic).
Thursday morning I woke up at 4am, as the TV in my room had a channel showing the England vs Spain Football match live. Not really worth getting up early for, so I went back to sleep afterwards. But during the day I visited Ocean Park. I didn't really know what it was, but it had signs up everywhere so I decided to go. It was a part amusement park, part Aquarium. It had sharks, fish, seals etc. and even Pandas (but couldn't see them as their enclosure was closed for renovation). But it also had Hong Kong's longest Roller Coaster... so I went on that! And also a plunge ride, which takes you up high on a tower thing, you hang there... and then it drops you down really fast (hard to explain sorry).
But there is one of these at Thorpe Park... but this one was better as it kept taking us up and down, up and down, rather than just straight down. Later in the day I visted the.... wait for it.... 'Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple'... lovely long name. That was very impressive. Once again there were lots of people praying etc. I even had a go at their traditional method of predicting what would happen in the next year. I took a box full of bamboo strips... each strip was numbered (there must have been about 100 strips) and then I shook it until one came out. It was number 44! I then took this number to a fortune teller who said to me that in the upcoming year (in Chinese years...the year of the pig) Spring (Feb 4th for 3 months) is my best part of the year (which it always has been!)... and it will be the best season for me to find my career when I return home. So it was all a pretty amazing experience.
So I left Hong Kong yesterday (Friday) unfortunately... however I do believe I have seen all there was
to see there.
My next and final stop on this adventure is the lovely Thailand. I arrived around 11am on Friday local time. I am really excited as everyone I have met travelling who has been here, raves on about how good it is! So it should be good.
I hope you all enjoy the pics, and I will do another blog within a week hopefully.
Lots of Love,
x
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maria
non-member comment
HKG
I see HKG has changed little over the years, pics are great. R tells of his adventures there during the Navy, I have been there 3 times. Where one stays on Nathan Street determines how much money one has. The further away from the Star Ferry the less money one has. My first visit took a very long walk to SF, my last visit, I was almost on the water! I had arrived! I wonder where you stayed - YMCA at SF?