Imagine All Of NY Was Chinatown
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2010
1
99
102
Trip End
Dec 22, 2010
Hong Kong, China
Saturday, December 18, 2010
When we got to Hong Kong International airport, it took some time to get out, as the queues for immigration were very long. When we did make it out of the airport we had a couple of choices on how to get into the city, again about 45 minutes to an hour away. We could take a $50 taxi ride, a $20 train ride or a $4 bus ride, so we opted for the bus. As we drove into the city, we were amazed at all of the high rise apartment buildings and the shipping port, which had hundreds of massive cranes for lifting freight containers on and off the ships coming in and out of port. This is by far the biggest sea port I have ever seen.
As we got closer and closer to our stop the city got busier and busier with so many shops, it boggled the mind. There were hundreds of jewellery and watch shops, clothes shops electronics shops. Really amazing. We got off at our stop and it was just a short 5 minute walk to our hotel, where we checked in to the tiniest room in the history of mankind. We knew this room was going to be small, but I don't think we were quite prepared for how small. We don't have enough space to open both our bags at the same time. There is literally a 4 foot by 4 foot space of clear floor for all three of our bags, plus two small day packs, our shoes and camera bag to fit into. Not to mention us. Our guidebook says that Hong Kong is the most densely populated city in the world and that space is at a premium. I believe it!
We spent a little bit of time in our room looking up places for dinner before we headed out again. We just wanted a nice Italian restaurant to have a decent meal that did not consist of chicken and rice, before we delve into the Chinese food here that is supposed to be so good. When we started looking at menu's we realised that Hong Kong is EXPENSIVE. I mean, if we came directly from Melbourne, which is an expensive food town, it would still be pretty expensive, but coming directly from Vietnam where most of our meals cost between $5 and $10, it is astronomical. A cheap bowl of pasta in this town will run you $20 to $30, with a soft drink setting you back $5. According to our guidebook, a cheap meal for two should come in at $40-$50, whilst an expensive meal will set you back hundreds.
We ended up at a restaurant called Fat Angelo's, an American Italian restaurant that serves family style. This was good because it meant we could share a meal and with two soft drinks it came in at $30. I would have loved a nice glass of red wine, as it is cool enough here for that, but one glass of wine was $10-12. Not on our budget! The food was not outstanding, but as Rich said, it was the best Italian meal we have had on this continent and for tonight, that was good enough. After dinner we stopped at Hagan Daas for some ice cream and then walked down to the water front to watch the light show they put on every night.
Across the water from where we are staying (Kowloon) is Hong Kong island, with heaps of high rise buildings sprawling up to the top of the hill, which is called The Peak. The high rises are all lit up and at this time of the year they all have Christmas lights, which was really fun to see. They pump out music and laser lights dance across the buildings to the music, which whilst a bit corny, was cool to see. There were thousands of people down there, so it was hard to get great pictures, but with Rich being tall, he can usually take them over everyone else's heads :)
So far, having been here only a few hours, our impression of Hong Kong is that it is a huge and bustling city that is alive with energy. It has the vibe of new york city, but looks like chinatown. There are thousands of shops and neon lights and just crowds and crowds of people. You don't feel as if you walk down the street so much as be propelled by the hoards of people. Its quite amazing and unlike anywhere I have ever been before. I am looking forward to exploring it more over the next couple of day.
Comments
"Imagine All Of NY Was Chinatown"... that's either a great title for a travel blog or the latest title of a military strategy paper originating from a bunker in Shanghai :)
Keep having what seems to be an awesome time and the blogging for those of us serving cubicle duties in Melbourne!