Blogs from Hong Kong, Asia - page 359

I'd only ever seen the Hong Kong skyline on the TV and that made it look like a very modern and clean city, so when we drove into Hong Kong I was quite surprised by just how grubby and dilapidated some of the areas were. The building that housed our hostel was no better, although the room itself was spick and span, if not the most spacious. Nathan Road, the main North-South road is a mass of people, cars and signs and because of this we inadvertently walked into a Japanese restaurant when hunting for a Chinese meal! Surprise surprise, we later stumbled upon an Irish pub where we hoped they would be showing the Liverpool Vs Milan AC European Cup final. They weren't, but the Oriental looking girl there turned out to be a thickly ... read more

What do you do once unpacked and settled in shopping paradise? Well actually we rested and took it easy for a while and didn’t venture out till dinner time. Just watched T.V. and even had a bit of a nap, this was to be the pace of this trip really, instead of a mad rush to see everything and go everywhere we decided to do whatever we fancied at the time. So having rested we got a bit hungry and ventured out into the night and headed straight to the Temple Market. Comfort House turned out to be well located for our needs (even though I think they ripped us off on the pricing giving us the excuse that it was labor week-end and everything would be booked out with a large influx of Chinese tourist, ... read more

Finishing up April, Part 2 April 24 Tony’s day off, get a late start as usual. Up till 3am the night before - beer, burritos and a movie at home - hmmm, seems like a familiar activity - oh yeah, just like what we did in Milw & LA only the setting has changed. Want to hike but aren’t sure where, it is late and threatening to rain, a very gloomy day indeed. Head out about 3pm, but are still undecided as to whether to stay close to home or to go to the New Territories, so we stand on a corner with Lonely Planet’s HK guide looking like confused tourists. Getting frustrated by further indecisiveness, I take the plunge and opt for the NT since that’s where Tony wants to go anyway. Off to the ... read more

Our first stop from Huang Shan was Shenzen to visit Joes company's factory (Paco International LTD). There wet up with the company's senior staff for lunch and a tour of the facilities where they make handbags under the names Koltov and Sag Harbour. Then the entire group of 9 of us boarded the jet ferry for the one hour ride to Hong Kong. We enjoyed an incredibly tasty Vietnamese dinner before hitting the sack. On Saturday, we were treated to an 8 hour boat ride (departing for Sai Kong) to enjoy fishing, swimming and the scenery around Hong Kong. Upon leaving the harbour, we caugh the first race of the Dragon Boat Races which is very popular here. During lunch on a small island, a helicopter crashed 250 yards from us. Within 15 minutes, two huge ... read more

I made it to Hong Kong and awaited the arrival of my first traveling partner from home....Joe Cov. We were only in Hong Kong for a quick night and left the next afternoon for Beijing. I will be back in Hong Kong later this month and will explore it then. It was a bit cloudy and thus my photos are a bit grey. We did manage to venture up to The Peak which overlooks the Harbor. You cant help but be amazed at the tremendous buildings in Hong Kong (even though I hail from NYC). To get to the peak, we took a double-decker bus and sat on top of the driver. He must have forgotten it was a huge bus as he drove like a formula one driver. While I usually like fast driving, I ... read more