you can squeeze a lot into 3 days...

17/09/09

Leg 2. Amsterdam to Hong Kong leg went even more swimmingly, perhaps due to the fact that a cheeky smile and an honest face got yours truly upgraded to Business class. Slick.

Veal Fricassee, more courses than you can shake a stick at, practically vertical seats so I could get a few hours shut eye and the 85 on demand movies on my own screen. OH. YES.

Naturally I took a peek at Watchmen, Star Trek XI and indulged my inner child in a bit of Coraline. Fantastic stuff.

We arrived on time, bags got through fine (thank god) and took the MTR from the airport into Kowloon…. It’s a pretty bad-ass train ride. The trains are nicer than first class Easy-Jet I swear.

My god this place is HUGE! Skyscrapers that are actually just blocks of flats as well as every type of shop, boutique, restaurant and museum you can imagine. We rocked past Tiffanys, Hermes, Cartier and The Peninsula with its British Racing Green Rolls-Royces. My mam would love this place. The Langham Hotel Hong Kong which is our base is a cavern of warm, honey coloured marble, gold and people so desperate to help (either out of good nature or tips) that you worry they might actually break their face with smiling too much.

Im going to hit the shower then go out exploring. Ill get some snaps of the hotel and room shortly.

17/09/09 - part two

So me and dad had a wander around Kowloon, grabbed a quick beer and took in the evening Hong Kong harbour light-show. Pretty impressive stuff considering it happens EVERY NIGHT. There isn’t a single direction you can look without being blow away by an amazing panorama. It’s epic.

Nathan Rd is fully of busy, full of people and full of shopping opportunities, and it’s plenty hot outside, around 33 degrees or so. Absolutely sweat-tastic. Then more wandering around with the goal of finding Temple St market and upon its discovery find places all over the shop, selling really great smelling food. They call this place the ‘Fragrant Harbour’ and so far it’s living up to its name in a great way.

Day one complete. Bring on the next.

18/09/09

Rise and shine, it’s your early morning Hong Kong call.

A stroll round the corner to ‘The Toast Box’ for eggs and French toast ‘cantonese style’, which basically means with pepper and soy sauce. Pretty damn good, try it.Then my first journey across to the island on the Star Island Ferry. This thing is amazing, 2 dollars a trip and a view of both sides of the harbour everytime. Another scorcher hitting 33 degree for the second day, and if the weatherman is to be believed it’s going to be 33 for another few days. Woof.

Hong Kong island is vast. 7 and a half million people live here and you can definitely tell. Swarms of people, cabs (in the red and white for HK & Kowloon), buses and my favourite off all: the Ding-ding. For 2 dollars a trip you can ride this oldy-worldy tram around the city until your heart’s content. I saw about half of the city this way, from high-rises to corner shops all the way to Causeway Bay and back to Central. Then we took a walking tour around the city. The western market; dried fish-stuffs markets; the herbalists and apothecaries; Man Mo temple; the antique district; the 800 metre escalator. There is so much here to take in, if it weren’t for my camera I think my head would explode.

We took in the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen museum (I’ll admit I didn’t have a clue who he was before we set off, but he was a pretty bad-ass revolutionary) and then went in search of food, which presented itself in the form of a noodle and won-ton bar. We both had the house special, a few cups of tea and the bill came to a grand total of $70-something dollars, which equates to little over a fiver for lunch for the two of us. Bonus. Back to the room for a quick shower and then back out wandering.

After a good bit strolling around we came across Knutsford Steps, which okay isn’t the most traditionally Chinese place you’ve ever seen, but there are plenty of locals kicking around and a zillion different types of food at your disposal. We naturally opted for a Steak the size of our faces and it was raaaaaather good. A few beers and then a casual meander around Temple St again. I picked up a little something for the lady from this guy in the market then it was back to the hotel. We haven’t quite got used to the time zone yet, but 1 o’clock local time is a respectable time to be heading in I think. Especially after a day of losing half your bodies water supply in the heat.

19/09/09

Today we started out a little more Western, as it is possible to be, making a bee-line for the nearest Starbucks (there are dozens and dozens of them here). Then we queued up for the Junk ride, affectionately named the ‘Duk Ling’. A traditional fishing boat that is over a hundred years old; red sails, deep brown varnish, ropes, wooden deck; the whole nine-yards.

We sailed around the harbour for an hour or so, taking it all in from every possible angle. The steam that comes off the water in the harbour is intense. You can’t see the boats at the opposite end through the haze. I thought I might be able to see the Buddha on Lantau Island but no such luck (I’m making sure I get up there to see it at some point). Dropped off at Central on the island we set off in search of the 260 bus to take us to Stanley Village on the south side. As has been the running theme for this trip we seemed to catch it at the perfect time, getting straight on and setting off before we had even got upstairs and sat down.

Stanley Market is labyrinthine in its layout, with stalls so fancy they might as well be shops in a mall of some sort. I was quite surprised that the place was so Westernised, the perfect example of which being the fact that the temple close to the waterfront was surrounded by a McDonalds on one side and a Starbucks on the other, not to mention the four floors of open air shopping mall behind it. Bizarre.

All was not lost, however, as we persevered and found a small Dim Sum restaurant hidden out of the way and had a great meal. The highlight of which was the pork and salted fish dumplings. I’d have another basket of them in a snap given the chance.

Another walk around the market then it was back on the express bus to Central. The journey was epic. I’m pretty sure the driver was either on speed or had a death-wish, as we came close to hitting most of the obstacles along the side of the road, as well as oncoming traffic. I swear he was aiming for the pedestrians too.

We made a pretty snappy return back to Kowloon, being pretty hot and worn out, and after a shower and a change of clothes we were back out heading toward some restaurants we’d seen the night before. Even now I don’t remember the name of it, but we pulled up a chair, ordered a few beers and eventually some food ( a rather spicy number that brought tears to my eyes and some duck spring rolls) and watched the Sunderland v Burnley match that was being broadcast at the time. Sadly the black cats didn’t win but it was a good night, Happy hour made it even sweeter, then it was back to the hotel for a reasonably early night. We’re taking on the peak tomorrow and need as much energy as we can get our hands on.

NJH