Hong Kong, the city of bright bright lights......

The contrast between all the places I had been and Hong Kong was amazing and really interesting!  My overnight flight had been changed by Quantas to a day flight so it was 6pm when we landed at the new airport on Lantau Island and already dark.  From my window seat, I had seen patches of lights as we approached, then there was nothing but darkness.  As we got closer to the airport and the cabin lights were dimmed, I made out the lights of a series of high rise appartment buildings, all uniform in height but that was all that stood out in the darkness.  

Pick up by the transfer company was a bit of a fiasco and it was an hour before I was on a coach heading towards Kowloon and I was quite weary after an early start but by the time I arrived in Kowloon itslef, the weariness was replaced with excitement and anticipation.  It was by now about 8.30pm and dark but the streets were brightly lit with illuminated shop signs and with many people still out on the street.  A far contrast from what you would expect in the UK in winter.  And to add to the usual illuminations, the city was already prepared for christmas with decorations and tinsel everywhere too.  First impressions, vibrant and buzzing, a very positive place to be.

My hotel was very central to the Kowloon commercial district, just off Nathan Road which splits that district down the middle.  This proved to be a very useful location and a good choice.  It had had mixed reviews on Trip Advisor for small rooms and unfriendly staff, but I had no issues at all. The only comment I had to make was that the bed was as hard as a board and gave me back ache.  But as I understand, that's how it is in China and hotels cater to local preference rather than the needs of delicate Europeans.

The hotel had a tour desk in the lobby and I picked up a few brochures for day trips which looked interesting, and very reasonable in price so I decided I would try them out with a half day Hong Kong Orientation trip the following day. 

The tour started at our hotel and took us through the tunnel from Kowloon over onto Hong Kong Island and made its way through the central area, past the Happy Valley Race Course and up the hill towards Victoria Peak which was to be our first stop for a view over the city and harbour which was stunning.  Next stop was Aberdeen fishing village to look at the remaining fishing and houseboats and of course to admire the famous Jumbo floating restaurant, the largest floating restaurant in the world.

After that we were taken around the south side of the island, past Repulse Bay and then on to Stanley Market for a spot of shopping.  The guide was really very informative and I learned a lot about Hong Kong, its history and people and traditions which made the trip excellent value.  

That evening, I opted for an evening excursion which would take us on a cruise around the harbour then on to Aberdeen again for dinner on the Jumbo floating restaurant and then a trip up to the mid levels of Victoria Peak to get a view of the city lights and harbour from that vantage point.  The cruise was very interesting, the harbour was pretty choppy and stepping on board our boat was quite interesting, the crew didn't seem to bothered and just yanked us each on board without giving us chance to be too worried about it.  I had met up with an Australian couple, Sonia and Rob who had also been on the earlier trip so we spent the evening getting to know each other.  They were actually on their honeymoon so I was quite lucky that they didn't seem to mind company.

Dinner at the Jumbo was excellent, the benefit of doing a tour and eating with a group of people is that you get to try so many more dishes.  We were started off with soup, then went on to have 5 main dishes, mainly seafood with noodles and rice, all followed by mango pudding.  It was all very tasty and we enjoyed it.

A good day all round, I decided to take the following day to explore myself and headed out to the MTR (underground) station to pick up an Octopus Card, something like the London Oyster card, and take myself over to Hong Kong island to explore.  Once I had established what I was looking at in terms of the map and the different routes, it was fairly easy to navigate and I was really pleased becasue I had been a little disortientated and had been a little intimidated by the size of the place, it was much bigger than I had been expecting and everything looked the same.  Whatsmore, Kowloon is almost built on a grid pattern but with so many one way streets that the buses which did pick up and collection from our hotel seemed to me to be going around in circles.  I normally have a very good sense of direction, but this was very confusing.  So by the time I was on the MTR and heading for Central station on Hong Kong, I was already feeling a small sense of acheivement.


The other benefit of doing the day trip was that I met people who had been in Hong Kong for longer than me and who had friends living there, so I was able to get some tips from them as to where to go and what to do.  From Central, I wandered towards an area called Soho and found street markets selling fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, lots and lots of fish.    It was really interesting to look at all the produce, some of which I recognised, other things I didn't.  I was looking at fruit on one stall and the stallholder was trying to get me to buy a fruit I didn't recognise.  It was like a large grapefruit but shaped like a pear and some of the fruits had been half peeled like an avocado halved with the tone still in.  It looked interesting and he kept telling me they were very sweet, so I decided to buy one and then worry about what it was afterwards.  He kindly peeled the rest of the fruit for me and separated some of the segments to make it easier to peel then sent me on my way!  I later discovered it to be a Pomelo, the flesh was quite dry and less juicy than a grapefruit and milder in flavour but very interesting.  I enjoyed it.

At the top of the street, there was a large group of people standing outside a bakery, queuing for freshly baked something or other.  I couldn't see what it was so I walked past and then doubled back.  An american bloke was now standing at the back of the queue talking to a group who were with him, I assumed them to be guests visiting from overseas, and he was explaining that this was the place to go for tourist to try the Hong Kong egg tarts, somewhere that Governor Chris Patten used to go when he was in charge there.  So I joined the queue and picked up a tart and some things which looked like they were made of coconut and then headed off to find somewhere for a coffee.

I spent the best part of the morning exploring, even went into Marks and Spencers, only because it was the first M&S I'd seen since August!  Very amusing to see typically M&S clothing in the middle of Hong Kong.  I went for a late lunch back in Kowloon at a place recommended to me by the lady from the tour desk.  It was inside a shopping centre and when I went in, there wasn't a single person in there who wasn't chinese and I soon discovered that the servers didn't speak english!   My server asked me if I wanted chinese tea, but when I asked her what was good on the menu, she didn't understand me.  I spent a little more time looking at the menu offering lots of things which didn't look familar and just as I was about to panic, one of the managers approached me and offered to help me make my selection.  Phew!  Dim Sum was what would be served, a meat choice, a seafood choice and then the restaurant's specialty, one dim sum filled with hairy crab coral.  It was a really delicious lunch and quite special as it was, I beleived quite authenic and in authentic setting surrounded by locals.  Although I have to say I did feel that all the people around me were sniggering at my clumsiness with my chopsticks, but I didn't care!!  And in the main, they did all smile at me which made me feel a bit less like I stuck out!

That day, Sonia and Rob had planned to go to the horse races but we had agreed to meet at a bar near the hotel in a shopping centre called The One.  The bar was on the 19th floor with an outdoor balcony offering seating with a view of the harbour and all the lights of the city. A beautiful location and when they arrived, they brought with them some other aussies who had also been at the races.  It was a fun evening, the view was stunning and at 8pm we had a perfect view of the laser light show.  A great end to the day.


To be continued......