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First day in Hong Kong - The trip so far...Apr 12, 2005
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Singapore Airlines 747-400 2 storey plane
Arriving in Hong Kong
Jackie Chan on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong
The trip so far....
Hong Kong is an absolutely amazing city. A busy modern place, but quite unlike anywhere else we have been in the world.
In some ways it is a very clean and safe city. Walking along you see people cleaning things constantly, and unlike places like New York you feel quite comfortable riding the subway (which is also incredibly clean, modern, fast and efficient) anytime day or night. Walking on street level most places you see look more modern than anything you would see in Toronto or even Tokyo, but where you notice the difference is when you look up. Higher above street level, even in the more upscale part of town you see incredibly run down high rise buildings with people packed on top of each other, creating quite a contrast with the Burberry stores and giant plasma screens on street level. The city could probably best be compared to a cross between Tokyo/Vancouver and Havana.
The food is what you would expect... some of the best Chinese food in the world. We started off our first night by being a bit adventurous and eating at an outdoor street stall at the Temple Street Night Market. Not exactly what you would expect at home, but the food was cheap, piping hot and delicious. It was an interesting set up with 5 or six outdoor places all being serviced by a few women cooking in oversized woks in a back alley down the street and then food shuttled out in carts. Two hot pots went for a grand total of about $7 CND and beer could be had at a little stall across the street. You certainly couldn't call this part of town spotless by any stretch of the imagination, but the place was packed with locals so we knew it must be good. We were not disappointed. Our dishes were delicious, flavourful and very authentic.
Dave
