Blogs from Kowloon, Hong Kong, Asia - page 8

It getting more difficult to obtain space in Hongkong, every direction you walk...crowded, crowded, crowded!! What'd happen nowaday? report said there are more than 30 million visitors arrived in this 6 million populated Hongkong last year, and this figure are only for the visitors from mainland China. Back some years ago I still could walk leisurely in the city between 10am to 4pm. hangout in local foodstand or cafe in a more quiet environment. look at today in this city, with the rent rocketed to astronomical figure, beside those stupid LV and Prada showroom, there are only gold & jewellery shop, pharmacy and cosmeceuticals store left in Hongkong. see...walk in the city not just suffocated but also bored! Well...lifted myself from ground level seem like a reasonable escape. I quickily concentrated on the Lionrock hill that ... read more

Woke up at 8AM refreshed and I was glad we had drank at the hostel because it is easier to get in bed afterwards. Today my group was all going to different places. Me back to Canada, Ian to China, one Vera to Taiwan and the other Vera to Macau. I walked with Vera to the airport bus stop where she would take the bus to the airport. I memorized the location for my own use later that day. I grabbed breakfast at a nearby diner and after that I went looking for a foot massage place. The hostel had recommended one but when I got there it was not open yet so I circled the block and found another one which was some lady's apartment. First I had to dunk my foot in very hot ... read more

It was a little past midnight once I got to Singapore from Perth. Scoot airline runs almost all its flights through Singapore. The unique feature of the Singapore airport is that even thought you are only transferring planes you have to do the immigration check. It is only one form and I got through it fast enough. Singapore airport is also quite beautiful, modern and full of art features like fountains. I also had to collect my bag and check back into Scoot Airlines and boarded the flight to Hong Kong. I will say there is something strange about the airplanes on Scoot Airlines. First off there is no entertainment system and I had to pay for food. In this case some curry and rice. It has more to do with the air on the plane ... read more

I found it particularly difficult to wake up Monday morning, all these early mornings, late nights and jet lag are starting to get the better of me! Packing consisted of running round chucking things at the cases, and retrieving the copy of moli hua from under the dressing table. Mostly sure that there was nothing left in the room- we went for our last toast and sweet buns brekkie and headed to the airport to fly to Hong Kong! There were so many of us at check in the flight people gave up and I ended up helping a Chinese lady distribute boarding cards (who needs passports eh?) and bleeped at security for no apparent reason which ended up in me getting frisked .... Nothing bleeped when I was checked though so I think I was ... read more

Queen Mary Day 19 Hong Kong welcomed us with stormy weather, but reasonably calm seas. Quite a few cruise ships including Star Cruises’ “Pisces” followed us into port. There were at least three Chinese cruise ships but they did not dock at a port but anchored in the Bay. On the way into Hong Kong we passed several areas where poverty was obvious. Several people had tours arranged and as usual the Cunard organisation let us all down. Yes, it was raining, yes there were 1600 people doing various tours and personal trips, but it could have been so much smoother. Once we reached our coach we had a comedian, Patrick as a tour guide. He was both informative and humorous at the same time and had superb interaction with the passengers. One lady in the ... read more