Beth in Hong Kong
Hi. Haven't written in here for an age. Thought I'd share the email I sent to my family about my time in Hong Kong.
"My flight to Hong Kong was on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt and it began with a big disappointment. We didn't have our own tv screens and the movie they were going to show was 'The Karate Kid'. However, I ended up sleeping for 5 hours of the 10 hour flight! I was v. disoriented when I woke up with just over an hour to go. I'd even missed breakfast!
I'd bought the pinkest book I could find in Geneva airport and read a lot of that for the conscious 5 hours of my flight.
When we arrived in Hong Kong, we were transported on a train to the main terminal building. Once there, I was actually surprised at the number of Chinese there. I thought with the British rule for so long and english being an official language that there would be over ~15% British people there. I don't know why I thought that. It was strange being white and being the minority after my Timaru and Dunedin upbringing.
I had trouble finding my hotel transfer. I asked at a desk who in turn diverted me to another desk, who in turn diverted me to another. Luckily the 3rd desk was the winner. I had to wait a wee while but eventually I got transported in a bus to my hotel.
I got my room and dumped my stuff. I looked around the info in my room and fell asleep for another hour. I'd kept falling asleep and waking up again on the bus ride in too. When I woke up it was 2pm and I felt so weird. I felt mixed up about leaving Europe and coming to NZ again soon and being alone in the biggest, strangest city I'd ever been in for 3 days. But I pulled myself together and went walking around for two and a half hours. The 1st thing I noticed when leaving the hotel doors was just how HOT and MUGGY it was. Being an NZ girl, I'm not familiar with this! I walked around and round a few times so I can't quite remember the sequence. I bought a bubble tea because I was thirsty and went into a bookshop to see if there was anything cheap about Hong Kong but there wasn't anything really even though the exchange rate was in my favour 5.5:1
I got tired so came back to the hotel and watched some tv. I read more of my book and then realised that it had got suddenly quite dark. Ofcourse being closer to the equator, the daylength was shorter. I'd arranged a 5 hour tour of HK island for the next day but I didn't really know what to do with myself. So I allowed to shut myself up in the hotel room.
But that wouldn't do! I ventured out again. I asked at the hotel lobby for an internet cafe. He gave me directions to one. I never found it (in fact, I never found a single one in my 3 days there) but I did find a 13+ storey high shopping mall full of everything I could ever want (and not want) and busy as and it was after 8.30pm on a Wed night! I wondered if my life had been empty until now.
I wanted to see the city lights from the waterfront so I walked all the way. It was a loooooooooooong way and I was in my jandals and it seemed FOREVER. At one point, some brown goop landed out of the sky and onto my chest. Ew! So I scraped it off onto a plant nearby but felt contaminated after that. Ew and on my first walk in the arvo, I saw a huge cockroach thing running across the footpath.
So I eventually made it to the waterfront and it was worth all that walking! The skyscrapers were all lit up and towered above the water. I took some photos and noticed that the sky was putting on a light show too. The flashes and rumbles of lightening and thunder added to the already dramatic scene.
I began to walk home again but only after about a 1/3 of the way there, the storm had made its way to me! The booms were enormous and the rain falling was incredible. I've never got that wet that fast before! All the locals had umbrellas but I got as drenched as if I'd just jumped in the swimming pool with my clothes on. I thought about taking a bus or the subway home but I couldn't work out what to do so I walked the several kilometres home not getting any wetter because I was already saturated. When I finally got back the hotel, I walked across the lobby floor to the lift leaving wet puddles behind me. A Chinese man at the elevator looked at me dripping and commented "that came on suddenly didn't it?" I could only laugh and reply that I'd had a bath with my clothes on. I learnt the next day on my tour that HK has only been having these storms for less than 10 years and that about 6 years ago they brought in a warning system. Green is ok and as the risk of a storm increases, the warning goes to orange to red and then black. She said that the storm had been brewing for days (that's why it was sooo MUGGY) and that last night, it went from a red to a black. When this happens, the schools and workplaces close and people are ordered to go inside. Oops, and here I was walking for several kms in it, completely naive!
The tour I did the next day was really good! The commentator was really good explaining the significant places and discussing the life, culture and history of HK. There were 9 of us on the tour, mostly american but there was a young couple from south america? on their honeymoon. We went under the Victoria Harbour and drove to Stanley Park. It was amazing the difference between downtown HK and the south side of the island. it was like going from Manhatten to Eastbourne in 5 mins. At Stanley, we stopped for an hour at a market before going on to Aberdeen. We went on a boat ride and saw a community of people who spend their lives living and working on the boats. It was bizarre because it was surrounded by tall buildings. There was a big floating restaurant called Jumbo that was so flash on the front but when the boat went round the back, it revealed how scuzz and disgusting it was!
After this boat ride we went to the Dynasty jewellery manufacturer. It was more of a show room than a factory but they explained how the jewellery is made. Finally we went up Victoria Peak. The views were great and I took a bunch of photos. Then we made it back to Kowloon. I then had quite a bite at a french cafe but ordered Chinese food there. I wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant that my tour guide recommended but felt too awkward because there were no other people sitting by themselves there. I like travelling by myself but eating at a restaurant alone feels a little funny. It's fine at a cafe but not at a sit-down order-off-the-menu restaurant.
I went to the HK museum of History. This was really good. I enjoyed the video displays because my legs were tired. I was a bit shocked to learn about how opium was used by the British as a tool for gaining HK for themselves. I felt a little embarrassed actually even though I wasn't involved but I feel that I passively reap a lot of benefits from the greed of the British in the 19th century. I thought I'd take the subway home but got hopelessly lost. Eventually I found my way and it took two stops to get back to the hotel. The trains were PACKED. Wow, I'd never, ever seen anything like it! When I got out, it had gotten dark just like that. I decided that Hong Kong at night is like Picadilly Circus on steroids! When I got back I thought I'd do a few things but fell asleep for half an hour - twice. Then I went to the night market which was right nearby. I thought to myself how cool it was that there were so many people there but that there was no way I would bump into anyone I had ever seen before. Presently I bumped into the young honeymooners who had been on my tour that afternoon. It doesn't take long does it.
There were soooo many tourists at the market and all the stuff for sale didn't really interest me but it was amazing to see.
Hmmm, the morning's disappearing... Only 1 day left to write about. I'll be more brief.
The next morning I went to the downtown via the ferry. The was a completely different world to the one my hotel was in. My hotel was in the slums and downtown had so much money and glitz. There were name brands on all the sides of the buildings. It was also a lot more multii-cultural and everyone was wearing business suits. The buildings linked via bridges and itwas actually a long way until I could find a spot to go outside. I couldn't take long downtown because I had to be back for my airport transfer. I walked along the avenue of stars again in Kowloon and almost passed out in the HEAT and the glare and the stickiness. I could actually feels balls of sweat forming on the back of my neck. Ew. The smog came down and I could barely see the other side of the harbour. In fact by the time my airport transfer drove by the edge of town, I could only just make out a couple of sky scapers and that was only because I knew they were there.
So all in all a good adventure in HK. It was the most surprising part of my trip and was pleased I'd made the stop-over."
"My flight to Hong Kong was on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt and it began with a big disappointment. We didn't have our own tv screens and the movie they were going to show was 'The Karate Kid'. However, I ended up sleeping for 5 hours of the 10 hour flight! I was v. disoriented when I woke up with just over an hour to go. I'd even missed breakfast!
I'd bought the pinkest book I could find in Geneva airport and read a lot of that for the conscious 5 hours of my flight.
When we arrived in Hong Kong, we were transported on a train to the main terminal building. Once there, I was actually surprised at the number of Chinese there. I thought with the British rule for so long and english being an official language that there would be over ~15% British people there. I don't know why I thought that. It was strange being white and being the minority after my Timaru and Dunedin upbringing.
I had trouble finding my hotel transfer. I asked at a desk who in turn diverted me to another desk, who in turn diverted me to another. Luckily the 3rd desk was the winner. I had to wait a wee while but eventually I got transported in a bus to my hotel.
I got my room and dumped my stuff. I looked around the info in my room and fell asleep for another hour. I'd kept falling asleep and waking up again on the bus ride in too. When I woke up it was 2pm and I felt so weird. I felt mixed up about leaving Europe and coming to NZ again soon and being alone in the biggest, strangest city I'd ever been in for 3 days. But I pulled myself together and went walking around for two and a half hours. The 1st thing I noticed when leaving the hotel doors was just how HOT and MUGGY it was. Being an NZ girl, I'm not familiar with this! I walked around and round a few times so I can't quite remember the sequence. I bought a bubble tea because I was thirsty and went into a bookshop to see if there was anything cheap about Hong Kong but there wasn't anything really even though the exchange rate was in my favour 5.5:1
I got tired so came back to the hotel and watched some tv. I read more of my book and then realised that it had got suddenly quite dark. Ofcourse being closer to the equator, the daylength was shorter. I'd arranged a 5 hour tour of HK island for the next day but I didn't really know what to do with myself. So I allowed to shut myself up in the hotel room.
But that wouldn't do! I ventured out again. I asked at the hotel lobby for an internet cafe. He gave me directions to one. I never found it (in fact, I never found a single one in my 3 days there) but I did find a 13+ storey high shopping mall full of everything I could ever want (and not want) and busy as and it was after 8.30pm on a Wed night! I wondered if my life had been empty until now.
I wanted to see the city lights from the waterfront so I walked all the way. It was a loooooooooooong way and I was in my jandals and it seemed FOREVER. At one point, some brown goop landed out of the sky and onto my chest. Ew! So I scraped it off onto a plant nearby but felt contaminated after that. Ew and on my first walk in the arvo, I saw a huge cockroach thing running across the footpath.
So I eventually made it to the waterfront and it was worth all that walking! The skyscrapers were all lit up and towered above the water. I took some photos and noticed that the sky was putting on a light show too. The flashes and rumbles of lightening and thunder added to the already dramatic scene.
I began to walk home again but only after about a 1/3 of the way there, the storm had made its way to me! The booms were enormous and the rain falling was incredible. I've never got that wet that fast before! All the locals had umbrellas but I got as drenched as if I'd just jumped in the swimming pool with my clothes on. I thought about taking a bus or the subway home but I couldn't work out what to do so I walked the several kilometres home not getting any wetter because I was already saturated. When I finally got back the hotel, I walked across the lobby floor to the lift leaving wet puddles behind me. A Chinese man at the elevator looked at me dripping and commented "that came on suddenly didn't it?" I could only laugh and reply that I'd had a bath with my clothes on. I learnt the next day on my tour that HK has only been having these storms for less than 10 years and that about 6 years ago they brought in a warning system. Green is ok and as the risk of a storm increases, the warning goes to orange to red and then black. She said that the storm had been brewing for days (that's why it was sooo MUGGY) and that last night, it went from a red to a black. When this happens, the schools and workplaces close and people are ordered to go inside. Oops, and here I was walking for several kms in it, completely naive!
The tour I did the next day was really good! The commentator was really good explaining the significant places and discussing the life, culture and history of HK. There were 9 of us on the tour, mostly american but there was a young couple from south america? on their honeymoon. We went under the Victoria Harbour and drove to Stanley Park. It was amazing the difference between downtown HK and the south side of the island. it was like going from Manhatten to Eastbourne in 5 mins. At Stanley, we stopped for an hour at a market before going on to Aberdeen. We went on a boat ride and saw a community of people who spend their lives living and working on the boats. It was bizarre because it was surrounded by tall buildings. There was a big floating restaurant called Jumbo that was so flash on the front but when the boat went round the back, it revealed how scuzz and disgusting it was!
After this boat ride we went to the Dynasty jewellery manufacturer. It was more of a show room than a factory but they explained how the jewellery is made. Finally we went up Victoria Peak. The views were great and I took a bunch of photos. Then we made it back to Kowloon. I then had quite a bite at a french cafe but ordered Chinese food there. I wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant that my tour guide recommended but felt too awkward because there were no other people sitting by themselves there. I like travelling by myself but eating at a restaurant alone feels a little funny. It's fine at a cafe but not at a sit-down order-off-the-menu restaurant.
I went to the HK museum of History. This was really good. I enjoyed the video displays because my legs were tired. I was a bit shocked to learn about how opium was used by the British as a tool for gaining HK for themselves. I felt a little embarrassed actually even though I wasn't involved but I feel that I passively reap a lot of benefits from the greed of the British in the 19th century. I thought I'd take the subway home but got hopelessly lost. Eventually I found my way and it took two stops to get back to the hotel. The trains were PACKED. Wow, I'd never, ever seen anything like it! When I got out, it had gotten dark just like that. I decided that Hong Kong at night is like Picadilly Circus on steroids! When I got back I thought I'd do a few things but fell asleep for half an hour - twice. Then I went to the night market which was right nearby. I thought to myself how cool it was that there were so many people there but that there was no way I would bump into anyone I had ever seen before. Presently I bumped into the young honeymooners who had been on my tour that afternoon. It doesn't take long does it.
There were soooo many tourists at the market and all the stuff for sale didn't really interest me but it was amazing to see.
Hmmm, the morning's disappearing... Only 1 day left to write about. I'll be more brief.
The next morning I went to the downtown via the ferry. The was a completely different world to the one my hotel was in. My hotel was in the slums and downtown had so much money and glitz. There were name brands on all the sides of the buildings. It was also a lot more multii-cultural and everyone was wearing business suits. The buildings linked via bridges and itwas actually a long way until I could find a spot to go outside. I couldn't take long downtown because I had to be back for my airport transfer. I walked along the avenue of stars again in Kowloon and almost passed out in the HEAT and the glare and the stickiness. I could actually feels balls of sweat forming on the back of my neck. Ew. The smog came down and I could barely see the other side of the harbour. In fact by the time my airport transfer drove by the edge of town, I could only just make out a couple of sky scapers and that was only because I knew they were there.
So all in all a good adventure in HK. It was the most surprising part of my trip and was pleased I'd made the stop-over."