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Chung King Mansions, Hong Kong
Backpackers accommodations in one of the many hotels/hostels in this 15 story building. There are shops and services to compliment your stay at this centrally located place.We were off to Hong Kong
on Tuesday, January 15th via Vancouver. We flew from Saskatoon at 8AM, landed in Vancouver and then had a 5 hour layover waiting for our flight to HK. That gave us time to read, check our emails, and have lunch. We arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday after a 13 hour flight. Wow!! It was like 3 in the morning for us, however, because of the 13 hour time difference it was about 4 Wednesday afternoon local time.
We have decided to include the currency exchange rates for the various countries we visit. We sometimes refer to local costs, and over time, we don't always remember ourselves. So, the Exchange rate at this time: $1 CN dollar is 7.56 HK.
Because Linda has been to Hong Kong a few times, she knew we could catch a bus to Kowloon and the A21 took us very close to Chung King Mansions. Chung King Mansions is a huge building with many hotel/hostel dwellings on each of the 15 floors. It also has shops and food for the guests and users of the place on the 2 bottom floors. We checked into Canada Hotel on the 15th floor. An 8 by 8 room complete
The Walk of Stars
Located on the waterfront near the Star Ferry. A gathering place for locals and tourists alike. with bathroom (shower, toilet and sink in a 6 by 2 foot space) would be our home for the next 4 days.
We wandered around on the streets near our hotel and were amazed at the billboards hanging well over halfway across the street. Because of all the lights and neon signs, it was light as day even though it was late in the evening and dark. We found food for our tastes and then headed back to the hotel to read and rest. We slept from 10-1 and were awake for several hours. Oh well, time to turn our clocks around. We were up and out by
9AM to tour the city. We started with the Avenue of Stars located by the waterfront. We caught the 'hop on hop off' Big Bus tour (with commentary in 8 different languages) and explored downtown Hong Kong (the blue line). We drove by the exclusive Peninsula Hotel, down Nathan Road to Monk Kok (the most heavily populated place in the world with 16 people per square foot), stopped off and shopped at the Ladies Market (that went on for 5 or 6 long blocks on both sides of the street). We hopped back
Walk of Fame
On one of the waterfronts in Hong Kong. The weather is a balmy 20 degrees. Even the construction walls are pleasing to the eye. on the bus and continued onto the International Commerce Center (the 4th tallest building in the world) and viewed the exclusive buildings and hotels near it, then back onto Nathan Road and to the Hong Kong Coliseum. We ended back at the waterfront. We strolled the waterfront marveling at the buildings, the shops and the services available to all. In the evening we watched the Symphony of Lights from that same waterfront. It was so neat, laser lights set to music bouncing off the buildings on the other side of the harbor for about 20 minutes!
Next day we found the Corral Cafe right next to our hotel, a restaurant chain of fast, inexpensive, good food. Then off we went to the Star Ferry. We crossed the bay and caught the (green) Big Bus line. It took us through the sky scrapers along Admiralty and Causeway Bay to the Peak tram. We boarded the tram and rode to the top of the Peak observing how the buildings all looked like they were on 'tilt'. There were many exclusive shops and restaurants with a fantastic view of Hong Kong. It was cool, smoggy and quite windy. It gave us a good idea
Hong Kong Big Bus Tour
Hop on hop off bus, a great way to see the city. They operate 3 different lines and offer dialogue in 8 languages. of what we were to see and drive through for the rest of the tour. We rode to the bottom and were shocked to see the line up to ride the tram, just an hour later. We drove by St. John's Cathedral, back down Causeway Bay and the towering high rise buildings and went onto Ocean Park (a park with sea life, penguin and panda displays and rides for all ages ), it was cool so there were few line ups and we were able to take in quite a few displays. We boarded the bus once again and headed past Aberdeen (the floating village of boat people), onto Stanley Market and Beach where we shopped for awhile. Then we were back on the bus as evening came on and it was getting quite cold. We rode back past Repulse Bay and the typhoon shelters to Star Ferry via the complicated freeway system amid the towering buildings. Next day we boarded the ferry again to catch the (red) Big Bus line. This line took us past the towering IFC Building (it is only the 9th tallest building in the world at 110 stories), around Hong Kong Islands luxury towering hotels
Constant Construction in Hong Kong
They build with little disruption to traffic, and they build high! and malls, down Queens Road Central for unique open air shopping, past Man Mo Temple, and onto the Peak stop. Here we changed to the green line and headed for Aberdeen and the Sampan ride through the floating village of permanently moored boats and sampans. We got dropped off at Jumbo Floating Restaurant for a totally authentic Chinese eating experience. The restaurant was massive and decorated in gold and red with dragons everywhere. We shuttled back to Hong Kong Island, caught the bus back to the ferry and back to the Avenue of Stars where we strolled through the shops and walkways back to Chung King Mansions.
Linda has kept in touch with Douglas Brooks, an acquaintance from her first visit to Hong Kong 8 years ago. We were able to make arrangements to visit in Clear Water Bay, an upper middle class area of Hong Kong. Douglas and Richard took us to Sai Kung to see the ugly creatures for sale that come out of the ocean, then lunch, and finally to wander the pier and watch the people and their dogs. We visited their house with their families for the afternoon and shared stories. Later we caught the bus
Signs Reach over half of the Street
The colorful signs now reach over half of the downtown streets. At night the signs light up. The only difference is the color of the sky between day and night. back to our area on Nathan Road, had a beer and visited with other tourists in the bar. We made arrangements to meet Douglas for lunch the next day and tour his flower display shop. We traveled by metro for the first time and popped up very near the building that housed the floral displays created by Douglas. We toured the warehouse full of exotic displays created for the celebrations through out the year. Then Douglas took us for a long lunch. We parted ways and headed for the Ladies Market. After Linda got a great haircut complete with a 15 minute head massage, we wandered the streets and shopped some more.
Later in the evening, we met Frances, another of Linda's Hong Kong acquaintances, for dessert at Langham Place, another massive mall all decked out for the up coming Chinese New Year.
Hong Kong, we'll miss the very efficient bus system and the double-decker buses. We'll miss your markets and the brand name stores which people need to line up for just to get in. We'll miss your signs hanging over the streets and the information overload they invoke. We won't miss the noise, the lights and the crowds!
January 22nd found us
Buses in Hong Kong
Most buses are double decker. The bus system is very efficient. at the Hong Kong airport by
9AM heading for Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It was a short flight to Taiwan. Between Christmas and New Years, the director of Kaohsiung American School offered Linda a 2 year contract to teach their grade 4 class. We were delighted as many of our international teaching friends said that if we had a choice, Taiwan would be a fantastic place to be in Asia. The nation's capital, Taipei, is at the northern rainy end of the island, whereas Kaohsiung, the second largest city is situated at the southern edge of the country, and enjoys much more sunshine and trees and green space than Taipei.
In Taiwan, the currency exchange is 1 CN dollar to 29.16 New Taiwan Dollars, or NT.
Upon arriving, we got into a cab and were taken to the Garden Villa Kaohsiung Hotel. It was beautiful! The doormen greeted us with huge smiles and led us into the lobby which held the most amazing orchid display. We checked into a huge, beautiful room with a king size bed. After a change of clothes we headed to the Kaohsiung American School, where Linda will be teaching beginning in August, 2013. At the school we met Thomas
Signs at Night in Hong Kong
This photo taken without a flash. Notice the difference between day and night photos of the signs. Farrell, my superintendent, Gerry Dery, my principal and many other staff. We were toured around the school in grand style. It is a school of about 525 students with 55ish staff. First impressions told us that we were going to love Taiwan and teaching at this school.
We wandered back to the hotel amazed at all the scooters on the roads. The fumes from the scooters' exhaust will be a problem. We had the buffet in the hotel for $480 ($16ish CN) and Linda tried crow meat salad as well as a lot of other food creations. It might take a while to acquire a taste for some of their foods, but we'll be up for the challenge. Next morning we were called to the school to present Linda's documents, sign the contract and visit more of the school and with staff.
With formalities out of the way we headed out for a beer and to explore Kaohsiung. We began with the 5 mile walk around Lotus Pond and the more than 20 temples surrounding it. Each temple was decked out for the upcoming Chinese New Year as well as the regular red and gold decorations. We rested after the long trek
Symphony of Lights
Each night a 20 minute light and laser show is presented to symphonic music. This show can be seen from the waterfront on the Walk of Stars and then went in search of dinner outside of the hotel. We discovered that the language barrier was a problem so we settled on McDonald's as we could point and order. Walking is not done by the locals. They scooter everywhere and the sidewalks are used for parking their scooters. We walked on the road in the scooter lane. People have the right of way
IF the scooters let you have it. At the intersections, we weren't sure where to stand as the scooters swept around, behind, and in front of us as we stood waiting for the walk light.
We tried the metro to Gushan Ferry the next morning. From there we went onto Cijin to check out their black sand beach, explore the vendor stalls, sample food and then we ferried back to the arena in Kaohsiung. We walked to the night market, a popular place for shopping and eating. We loved it! What a lot of new things to see and experience! After a delicious stir fry we walked back to the hotel and made it just before our legs and feet gave out. We discovered that there was very little English spoken there.
After a good nights' sleep
Big Bus Tour Along Causeway Bay
The freeway system runs along Causeway Bay and Admiralty, two main streets. The roads run one over the other some 15 or 20 stories above and through the towering buildings. we wandered to the Love River which, a few years ago, was declared a dead river due to pollution. They have since cleaned it up and it is now an active place for water events, sailing, fishing and for strolling along. They have great parks. We were told about the 'borrow a bike system' that we will need to try when we stay longer. The streets are wide and the city is very clean and modern. We checked out the Fine Arts Museum and enjoyed the varied displays and entertainment. We saw our first Salvador Dali exhibit with the rest of the crowd (was it EVER crowded!!!). Once again we wandered through more parks where the ducks, turtles, fish and other birds were being fed by the locals. We discovered that we'll go to 7-11 if we want to get coffee or beer, and sit at an outside table, with free WiFi! The school staff gave us a link to the 1 hour program National Geographic created on Kaohsiung where we learned much about the city.
Taiwan will be a great place to live and explore starting August 2013.
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