The Highs and Lows of Hong Kong

From Macau we took a one-hour Turbo Jet ferry to Hong Kong. The ferry was a hydrofoil and rose above the water on fins – it was really cool. Despite being a windy and stormy day, the ride was calm and excellent - more comfortable than an airplane. Besides the proximity of Hong Kong to Macau, we were also forced to follow this route because of the visa situation. Before we left Canada, we were accepted for a dual entry Chinese visa. Not knowing it at the time, this turned out to be one of the smartest moves we’ve made, since the Chinese government recently restricted visas in response to the Olympic torch/Tibet demonstrations. Had we waited until now, getting a visa would have been impossible. The dual-entry also turned out to be crucial because going to Macau and Hong Kong is technically considered as leaving China. Therefore, without our second entry permit, we would have been stranded in Hong Kong and barred from returning to China.

Although most travelers in our age and budget brackets end up staying in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong, we were able to find a great deal at a recently opened Ibis hotel on Hong Kong Island. We booked a six-night stay online, but when we arrived they were advertising a seven-night stay for a lower value, so after a little haggling and arguing we were able to exchange our booking for that deal. We ended up paying approximately $60 cdn a night for an air-conditioned double with en-suite – an incredible deal given Hong Kong prices. The room was nothing to write home about, and even if it was, there would have been no space to do so. The room was about 8 feet by 8 feet, including the bathroom. Although advertised as a double, if I were to roll over during the night, one full revolution would have sent me over Rebecca, onto the floor and up against the opposite wall of the room. We also suspect that the hotel had some hidden toxic mold problem, since we seemed to suffer from lethargy, grogginess and headaches during our entire stay at the Ibis.

However our lethargy could be attributed to the weather, which was awful. We’ve been plagued by never-ending rainstorms since Yangshuo. Actually, the rain wasn’t never-ending…it would stop just long enough to lure unsuspecting victims from cover and then it would start all over again but with a vengeance. Having left/lost our umbrella and my rain jacket back in Thailand in May, we spent a lot of our time in Hong Kong running through puddles looking for cover. When it wasn’t rainy, it was almost unbearably hot, humid and muggy. Just walking down the street brought on a sweat, which was unfortunate since all the locals are very smartly dressed, and mostly in business attire. The result is that we spent most of time in Hong Kong wet from either rain or sweat. You know how a leather watch band stinks after absorbing sweat? Well, my leather belt smells like that now. It’s disgusting.

In all honesty, we probably would have left Hong Kong earlier but for the wait for our Indian visas. We had heard that it was easier to get an Indian visa from the consulate in Hong Kong as opposed to the Indian embassy in Beijing, although we were warned that it would be a frustrating exercise nevertheless. The whole process of processing took 7 days, keeping us in Hong Kong a little too long for both our liking and our budget.

Under normal vacation circumstances, Hong Kong would be a great city with quite a lot to see and do. But when the weather isn’t cooperating and your budget is restrictive, the city is just a tease of fantastic fine dining, incredible shopping and interesting outdoor activities. Just walking around the downtown portion of Hong Kong island is exciting as one is surrounded by incredible modern architecture mixed with some hidden gems from the last century. The pace is fast, the streets are crowded and busy, and the hours are long. It wasn’t unusual to see businessmen and women leaving the office at 9 or 10 pm. It was definitely a reminder of the life we left behind. We were surprised by the large number of young, Western businessmen and women we saw in Hong Kong. Realizing the long hours they must work, we were still a little jealous of their lifestyles as young professionals in such a worldly and cosmopolitan city.

On Hong Kong Island we took a walking tour of the downtown’s sights, which included temples, the antique street, the ginseng and Chinese medicine street, and the old Western market. We loved going to the Soho area at night, which is filled with excellent restaurants featuring cuisine from all over the world. There is even a Canadian restaurant called ‘Canucck’, featuring such familiar delicacies as Alberta beef tenderloin and Pacific salmon. Although most places would be considered very reasonably priced compared to similar restaurants back home, we mostly found ourselves on the outside, licking our lips while peering in through the windows. I’m a big fan of street noodles anyways. At least I was until we personally witnessed the mass culling of chickens from the street noodle shops due to another Avian flu scare. Maybe vegetarianism isn’t such a bad idea after all.

We also enjoyed the Lan Kwai Fong area, which is Hong Kong islands bar area. Although Lan Kwai Fong is the name of a single street, the adjoining streets are also lined with bars and pubs, forming a cool entertainment district that is frequented by locals, ex-pats and tourists. There is even a Canadian pub called the Keg that is decorated with hockey jerseys. These areas are both close to the world’s longest escalator, which is open-aired, but covered and takes riders over 800m in 20 minutes. It only goes up though, so one still has to walk back down to catch the subway.

We also walked through the Hong Kong botanical and zoological gardens. The zoo held mostly monkeys, rodents and birds, and we stayed away from the birds because of the whole bird flu scare.

By far, the best attraction on Hong Kong island is the peak tram. The peak tram was the first funicular in Asia and it takes passengers to the point of the highest peak on the island. There is a huge complex on top, and for a small charge, you can go to the top for an even better view of the Hong Kong skyline, the surrounding islands, and the sea. This was our favourite view, and we both agreed that the Hong Kong skyline is the most impressive we’ve seen – better than New York, better than Chicago, better than London, better than Vancouver.

After exploring most of Hong Kong island, we started making day trips over to the Kowloon area, which is accessible by the subway. Kowloon is just across the harbour from Hong Kong Island. It is less of a business hub than Hong Kong, but more of a tourist-friendly shopping hub. The main street, Nathan Road, consists mostly of electronic, clothing and souvenir stores. It also hundreds of touts trying to sell tailored suits and knock-off watches and purses. Our first stop was the Hong Kong Museum of History. This is an excellent museum – in our opinion it is a ‘must-see’. The museum outlines Hong Kong’s history, beginning from a geological study of how the was formed, straight up to the British handover in 1997. The exhibits are detailed, informative and interesting with excellent English descriptions. There are films to supplement the exhibits, and the museum was new, clean and easy to navigate. It helps that Hong Kong’s history is interesting, with the opium wars, Japanese invasion, its rise to prosperity, and its current unique place within China. Before we knew it we had spent a whole day there.

We then went to the Avenue of Stars. The Avenue of Stars is a waterfront walkway where stars from Hong Kong’s film industry are immortalized with handprints in concrete. We were able to recognize four names – bonus points if you can guess them. The best part about the walk is that it faces the harbour and Hong Kong Island, providing excellent views of the skyline. Every night there is a choreographed light show where a dozen of Hong Kong’s biggest and most prominent skyscrapers are lit up with different coloured lights and lasers. It’s not really as cool as it sounds, but it is worth a view.

By this time, we had finally had enough of our computer problems, which had caused us to miss out on plane and hotel reservations by crashing at the most inopportune times. We took it in to be fixed in Macau, and it worked for approximately two days before crashing again (surprise, surprise!). So, in an almost dream-like state, we found ourselves contemplating, then looking, then actually buying a new Apple laptop. We are excited with our new purchase, and believe we got it at a reasonable price with a few extra bells and whistles. Hopefully this puts an end to our computer problems, although we now have the new problem of trying to figure out what to do with our old laptop. It doesn’t seem like an item we can just put in the hotel garbage can.

As we mentioned previously, there are many other attractions in the Hong Kong area. A few that we were really looking forward to are the big Buddha island, a harbour cruise and some beach time. Unfortunately, the incessant rains ruined our plans by causing landslides on the Buddha island and, obviously, prevented any beach time. Because of a botched reservation, we were forced to change hotels for our last night. We found a great deal on some last minute travel website, and ended up picking up our Indian visa and moving to Kowloon for our last night. We stayed in a very nice hotel, and that night we enjoyed a couple of drinks and some burgers at the Hard Rock Café Hong Kong. We could feel the lethargy, grogginess and headaches disappear, which further reinforced our belief that the Ibis has a mold problem.

We made our further travel arrangements through a local travel agent. This proved surprisingly cheaper than booking online. Flights out of Hong Kong are expensive, so to save money we would have to take the ferry to the mainland and fly from Shenhzen, the closest city.

So, another early morning walk across town to the ferry terminal; bags heavier with an extra laptop; passing through another beautiful downtown park filled with locals doing their morning exercises, and on to Shanghai. And wouldn’t you know it – blue sky.

Jun 19, 2008

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