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Published: July 23rd 2017
I took a long, roundabout routing to get from Honolulu to Singapore because I found a decent priced (and, most importantly, upgradeable) ticket on American and Cathay Pacific. The route was Honolulu-Los Angeles-Hong Kong-Singapore, and I paid US$795 one-way plus 25,000 miles+$350 for an upgrade on HNL-LAX-HKG. As an added bonus, this routing included an 8.5-hour layover in Hong Kong.
I arrived refreshed in HKG around 7.10am after almost 14 hours in the air on American's amazing Business Class seat in their B777-300ER. This seat is seriously comfortable and I actually had a good sleep on board. I even wore AA's comfy pajamas to sleep (a first; I usually decline pajamas). At Hong Kong Airport, I got through immigration and customs easily and I was on the Airport Express to HK Central in no time.
After disembarking at HK Central, I wandered a little, observing the pre-work commuters, before heading to the Peak Tram. When I got to the station, I was relieved to see that there was no line (I would have gone to the mid-level escalators if there had been a line) so I booked a return trip. The Peak Tram goes up a very steep line
Peak Tram
Pulling into the station at the top.to the top of Victoria Peak, and it took about 10 minutes to get to the top. At The Peak, I wandered around the trails for over an hour, admiring the views of the skyline below, before heading back down to Central.
Back down in Central, I wandered around some more. Much of my time was spent looking upwards admiring the architecture. The highlight for me was the most amazing Apple Store I have ever seen - three stories perched above a road with views of the city. Wow.
My next goal was to head across the channel to Kowloon. To get there, I took the Star Ferry, which is an antiquated cross-channel ferry affording great views of the city en route. The Star Ferry used to be an essential mode of transport before the MTR (Hong Kong's metro system) was built. It seems as if the service has been preserved, down to its ridiculously cheap fare of HKD 2.70 (about USD 0.30).
Landing at Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon, I felt hungry and I remembered I had once eaten at a nearby place called Cafe de Coral which offered canteen-style local food. I found Cafe de
Coral easily, had a satisfying lunch, and made a beeline for the Avenue of the Stars walk along the shoreline with its views of Hong Kong island.
That done, I set about looking for a Pokémon called Farfetch'd that was only found in certain countries in East Asia and is known to hang out in public parks. I walked inland and braved a steep incline and a long set of steps (it was very hot and humid) to get to Signal Hill, which was once known as a hotspot for Farfetch'd. Alas, there was no Farfetch'd to be found there. I then headed for Kowloon Park via Nathan Road. En route, I wandered into Chungking Mansions - Hong Kong's infamous rabbit warren of low rent hostels, tenements, and shops of every ilk mostly run by immigrants, but I got annoyed with all the merchants trying to get me to part with my money. I then went to Kowloon Park and wandered around but, alas, once again Farfetch'd eluded me. Kowloon Park was an interesting pit stop by itself; my favorite site within the park was a stretch with statues of anime characters.
I exited Kowloon Park around 1.15pm,
dispirited a little by not finding Farfetch'd and also by the heat and humidity and the jet lag that was catching up with me. I considered throwing it in and taking the Airport Express from the nearby Kowloon station, but I know that would get me to the airport too early for my 4.40pm flight. So, I decided to walk back to the Star Ferry Terminal and go back to Central and take the Airport Express from there. I arrived at the airport around 3pm, headed immediately for Cathay Pacific's lounge where I had a much needed shower, and then I went to the gate for my flight to Singapore.
This was my second unsuccessful attempt at finding Farfetch'd (the first was during my
layover in Tokyo last September). I have a three day stop in Tokyo scheduled in September on my way back home to Honolulu. I hope I catch that elusive critter then!
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
HK has a special place in my heart...
I loved following you on your brief walkabout through Hong Kong... I have a sneaky suspicious that you bought that ticket route just so you could hunt for Farfetch'd in HK ;)