Blogs from Hong Kong, Asia - page 5

As I have said many times - each 12 hour long haul flight is but 3 movies long. And sometimes it can be a trilogy that just needs to be watched. having read the Maze Runner series of books it was a good chance to compare and watching back-to-back movies can sometimes help pass the hours if you can't sleep. Hong Kong airport: Exiting the airport proved to be a little more fraught than expected. Diligently following the hotel website instructions, we located the A14 reception desk and requested to book the hotel shuttle. Met by blank looks. This no longer happens so it would seem. Sooo.. out to the hotel shuttle pick up points - no luck there either. After wasting another 15 minutes we decided to buy the Airport express train ticket and get ... read more

Have you ever come across a blog from a traveller who last visited Hong Kong during British rule, well before the handover of the territory to China in 1997? Well, dear reader, if you haven't I urge you to read on. I've been at the airport since, which by the way didn't exist when I last was last in Hong Kong proper, but always in transit on the way to other exotic destinations. Of course I've heard anecdotes from travellers about Hong Kong under Chinese rule, but I believe the best way to form an impression of a destination is to get there in person and explore. It goes without saying the skyline of Hong Kong Island has changed from my previous visit all those years ago, but I'm delighted to say that Hong Kong still ... read more

First, I was wrong. This is not a western city. It merely looks like one from afar. Once you get close and personal, it is Asian to the core. To my eyes, this means exotic, unusual, enigmatic and fascinating. I have seen such sights! I could spend years here and never understand it all. Secondly, in the last week, Honkers has experienced record breaking temperatures (hottest in 100 years). I was not being histrionic - it’s a bloody sauna out there! Thirdly, the subway here is a cinch. Even I am able to get around. Purchase an Octopus card 50 HK dollars deposit - you can get that back and any unused credit when you’re done. Lastly, our Salisbury Road YMCA has proved to be a moderately priced gem of a place. It is located next ... read more

When we docked on Saturday morning in Chongqing, we had arrived at a very big modern Chinese city. The whole day was spent at the airport waiting for a 5pm flight to Hong Kong. The airport, built one year ago was bright, shiny and new. The city, vast and quite ugly was blanketed in fog or smog... no need to ever stop there to see it, I think. In contrast, Fragrant Harbour (Hong Kong) was all twinkling lights and interesting buildings. This may now be part of China but it is nothing like the rest of the country. This is a Western city. Every building is identifiable and the cult of individuality is discernible. In China, there are multi-storey buildings everywhere you go and they are all utilitarian, colourless, unidentifiable. Hong Kong is like a cymbal ... read more

I had decided to do another free tour today. This one was For Hong Kong Island and I thought it would be a good contrast to the Kowloon Tour that we had done at the weekend. I headed over to Admiralty and met up with the tour guide. At first, I was the only one there, and I almost had a private tour, but a couple more people turned up and off we set. We headed over to Tamar Park first, this was just a short walk away. I had been to the park the day before, but we had mainly walked along the waterfront and I got to explore more of the park now. We had walked through the big 'open door' of the Government HQ building, which was completed in 2011. The building looked ... read more