Back in the game

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Wednesday - The long haul

Come June 6th and time for Sweden to celebrate its newly instated National Day holiday. What a perfect excuse to go abroad! Everything had been kinda busy the past two days tying up loose knots at the office and getting my travel gear ready. But there was also another dimension to this trip. Apart from being a groovy time out in one of my absolute favourite places on Earth it also holds a deeper symbology to me. Not only was it an incredible three years since last I visited, it was also on the first of July I had departed for Hong Kong on my very first trip to Southeast Asia five years ago, and I had really been wanting to mark this important passing on site. It marked the start of a very different and amazing period of my life. It is a subject I could ponder on for ages, but I will simply state that the experiences learnt and friendships built in this place of the world will continue to affect my outlook on the world forever.

The journey on this particular day was going to be a smooth, if somewhat drawn out affair. Five hours on a bus, the train to Stockholm-Arlanda, three hours walking the concourse, one hour flying to Helsinki, another two hours on the ground before finally undertaking the nine and a half hour flight to Xiang Gang. Finnair have recently made a number of big investments in the next generation of Airbus wide-bodies, the A350 which still only exists as a vague idea on the drawing board. Until then, we are stuck on their ageing fleet of McDonnell MD-11s, a plane with a charm of its own. I am sure I was not the only passenger to appreciate the low cabin factor, giving most of us a spare seat next to us which allowed us to spread out a bit. In spite of the generous leg room and the odd fact that the guy in front of me chose not to recline his seat (which gives me the opportunity to use my patented sleep-with-head-resting-on-table-configuration) I still could not really relax enough to fall alseep. Apart from some short slumberings I managed to really fall asleep once, only to be woken up by the flight attendant as my elbow had apparently managed to turn on the attendant call button. Brilliant...

Thursday - Familiar scents and smells

We touched down at Chek Lap Kok Int'l Airport on Lantau Island a little before half past seven in the morning, pretty much dead on schedule. In spite of having been a really tiring journey and the weather an awful dull grey the magic of the moment was not lost on me; I was at the edge of my seat busily staring out of my window taking in the surroundings, happily remembering all the little details coming back to me from the dark corners of my memory. After clearing immigration I spent one of my two leftover 100 HKD bills on a ticket for the airport express train, sinking back into the chair and enjoying the familiar views storming by the window. The pale fifty-story highrises at Lantau, the traditional cemetary at Tsing Yi, the crowded neighbourhoods of Olympic and the busy container terminals at Kowloon. Stepping off the train at Central I discovered that my old Octopus travel card had given up the ghost, but a friendly official helped me reinstate it and I spent my last 100 HKD bill on recharging it.

Using my newly beefed up travel card to gain access to the MTR-station there was a rapid change of pace. After having wandered the large and sleepy concourses at the airport I was now sucked into a neverending stream of morning commuters pressing on towards the underground trains. Imagine being in a large crowd of well dressed people, hearing the shoes tapping the neatly polished tiles of the floor, clap-clap-clap, but no one utters so much as a word. Hardly anyone was engaged in discussions, pretty much nobody was talking on his or her fashionable cell phone, just the incessant monotonous, nearly mesmerizing clap-clap-clap. It almost freaked me out.

Tsingmat kaukan tsaemun, please stand back from the doors! At last, a voice in the midst of all the silence, a familiar voice I recognize and enjoy listening to. I quickly took up my favourite spot on the train and off we went across Hong Kong Island towards North Point, my location of choice. Before long I had checked in and got myself a little harbour view room at the yellow Ibis Hotel, standing just opposite of the old Kai Tak airport. The rooms are small, spartan and very functional. If only there was a place to stash the bag...

The air in the room was a little bit damp and warm, the smell just as I remember it. I stuck the keycard in the slot and switched on the air-con. A quick look at the watch told me time was now 10.30 in the morning. The biggest challenge now would be resisting the urge to lie down and sleep, thus not only wasting my precious time on site but also screwing up my chances for sleeping in the evening. I found the bag of sweets I had purchased at the airport in Stockholm and ripped into it, figuring a dose of sugar was all that would be needed. The effect was quickly overturned by a long hot shower. Soon I was asleep on top of the bed...

I came to my senses a few hours later and by two I was ready to head out on town. I was a bit stressed by the fact that it was already Thursday afternoon, realizing I only had two and a half days left in town. Time to get busy!

I had already been in contact with some of my old friends and we'd agreed to meet in the weekend, meaning if I wanted some time to go shopping, now was the time to finish it off. It seems that whenever I am in Hong Kong I always make the same mistake, I go on a crusade at the three largest record stores in town and convince myself that I am really investing my money well. A three year wait had given them ample time to re-stock since my last craze and I left HMV Central downtown with an embarrassingly large bag of cds. I even had to go back to the hotel to drop it off before going out again. However, if you live close to the Mass Transit Railway you will find that it is very easy to travel around town, and although the crowds can be pretty intense at rush hour it is still manageable. The outrageous Indonesian-style crowdings are not the norm, and apart from some tiring morons who never learn that they should let disembarking passengers exit first, people queue up neatly on the platforms.

In the evening I headed over the bay to the Kowloon-side, wanting to take a look at Nathan Road, the famous tourist-minded (correction: tourist-dollar-minded) shopping street jampacked with shops, markets, restaurants, bars and touts. I seriously expect it difficult to do any bargains here, and the attitude of the local shopkeepers leave a lot to be desired. For example, popping into a camera store to have a look there were of course no prices on any item. When I asked one of the guys about the prices of two lenses he asked me if I was going to buy them right now, if not I could just head over to Tower to check their list prices and then come back here...

The Indian and Pakistani tailors are everywhere, as well as the guys strategically placed near the MTR entrances tugging at your arms and shouting copyrolexcopywatchcopyrolex after you. I also made a visit to the notorious Chungking Mansions, run down tenements and the local backpacker ghetto. I cruised the street level bazaar looking for Indian style eateries but didn't find much of interest, it was only later that I realized there are restaurants somewhat hidden in apartments further up the building. I ended up having my dinner in a Cantonese restaurant in Mong Kok, feasting on steamed buns and fried vegetable dumplings. After the meal I was much too full and decided to walk it off a bit by heading down back to the waterfront over at Tsim Sha Tsui. The view of Hong Kong Island from here is nothing short of spectacular. The whole promenade is littered with photographer's stands, crowds and lovers taking in the sights (well, maybe not the lovers...) and it is hard not to be amazed by the spectacular glitzy highrises shining like beacons in the night. My only regret was taking in this beauty all alone, noone to share the ooohhs and aaaahhs with. Bring a friend.

Back at the hotel around midnight I realized just how tiring the long walks had been. I collapsed on my bed and slept like a log. Jet lag didn't stand a chance.

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Photos

Pedestrian street, Mong Kok
Hit the markets over at Mong Kok, who knows, perhaps you can find a bargain.

Chun Woo House, Nathan Road
Dinner time. Four small steamed buns, $18. Ten fried vegetable dumplings $29.

My room at the Ibis Northpoint Hotel
Room breakdown:
Electricity: Reliable. UK style three pin plugs.
Toilet: Fully operational, western style of course.
Hot water supply: Abundant! Drink it if you want to.
Air Conditioning: Oh yeah!
Heating: No. Beware, indoors gets chilly in wintertime.
Food: Never tried the restaurant. Room has a small refrigerator.
Spoils: IDD telephone, water boiler, in-room safe.
Pets: They stayed out of my view.

The bathroom at the Ibis Northpoint
Well, you won't be doing any yoga in here, but it has all the amenities, what more could you ask for?