'Chungking Express'

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Asking for directions can work as a pick-up line.... I mean literally....You need to get somewhere, but you don't know how.... So you ask for directions. Instead of the usual response, you get chatting and then you get picked up in a car and taken to your destination. In other words, asking for directions can score you a lift! Brilliant, isn't it! I got dropped off in the city by three friendly Kiwi guys, whom I'd met at the airport in Hong Kong. After saying goodbye and getting invited out for drinks with them later on, I headed out in search for a place to stay. I was walking down the street slowly, loaded up with my backpacks (2 of). Noticeable from afar, my pack had reached 'over-sized' proportions at this point in my trip. I struggled, aware that I had zero chance of escape in the event of attack by a random or something feral. Some indian guy approached me in the street and tried to persuade me to take a look at the rooms in his hostel. I was determined to get rid of him and go to one listed in my book, but then again Indians can be very persuasive... It turned out his place was in the same building I was headed to, so I gave him a chance! He took me to the building,.. Oh dear! Every second window on its exterior had broken glass, it looked soooo dodgy and so out of place, squeezed between two modern polished skyscrapers. We walked in. The Ground floor was a kind of undercover marketplace, a maze of little shops with (mostly indian) shop keepers eyeing you out and shouting out after you.... Further on we stopped in a lift lobby, there was a security monitor mounted on the wall and you could watch the people inside the lift while waiting. There were several suspicious looking types standing there next to us, also waiting. I was alarmed, what kind of place was this? We went up with the elevator to the 7th floor. The hostel had bars outside the front door, and more cameras. I didn't like this one little bit! So I went inside to take a look at the room, intending to get the hell out of there as soon as possible, but the Indian kept talking.... telling me how safety was the most important thing and how very safe this hostel was. So out of curiosity, I ask about the price, meanwhile picking up my bags.... Seeing my lack of interest, he asked how much I was willing to pay, so I name a price and he kinda laughs at me.... But I didn't care to stay there anyway, so I told him I could get a place much cheaper and started to walk away. To my surprise, he went after me and agreed to my price. Believe it or not, I stayed at this dodgy hostel. I'd managed to get a single room with private bathroom for the same price as a dorm bed elsewhere... with the added bonus of staying in a world famous place. Get this.... It wasn't till two weeks later that I found this out. I was in Shanghai, staying at a hostel, and a couple of germans invited me to watch a movie with them on their computer... it was called "Chungking Express". Turns out, I'd stayed at Chungking Mansion in Hong Kong, the place where the movie is staged. If you haven't seen it, you must watch it!! Great film.

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Photos

The longest escalator in the World
This IS the world's longest travellator/escalator... it runs parallel to a street. It's the same escalator from the movie, the one next to which the policeman's apartment is located, and the same one that the stewardess takes to work every day.

Our dinner...
...'Before' shot

Our dinner...
...'After' shot. It was the pink fish.

3 Kiwies and an Aussie
...we went bar hopping after dinner.

Random bar, HK
...to those who've been to HK, there is no need to explain what you are looking at. To those who haven't, well... you'll just have to go and find out for yourselves.

My lunch...
...soaked rice with prawns and a selection of asian mushrooms. It was sensational.

At the 'Star Ferry' pier
...Asking for the time can win you new friends, ... and company until the rain passes. I didn't see much of HK that day, the rain didn't stop. Instead, I spent a couple of hours at the pier, getting to know these guys and drinking their beer.