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Woke up to a super quick breakfast before being whisked away to the airport to say goodbye to Vietnam and hello to Hong Kong, where my parents were on my Dad’s business trip. From Hong Kong airport it was easy to navigate the trains to the Tsim Sha Tsui stop, in order to find my hostel – Germany Hostel. I could not find this hostel for ages and had to ask around for a while and eventually found the Chungking Mansions building where it was and then I had to locate the lift to the correct floor and then find the reception. In a nutshell, as soon as stepped into Chungking Mansions it was horrible and I felt so uncomfortable, it was dirty, full of men of what felt like an unsavoury kind. Then I had to wait for ages for the lift to arrive which made me awkward. Then I checked in and s***, I wanted to run. The room was a crap bunk bed and a double bed in a tiny room. There were no keys to give me, so I tried everything to get hold of my Mum so I could plan what to do. I think at this point I felt so uncomfortable I cried. Finally, got hold and met my Mum and decided to leave that hostel as it was a complete s*** hole.
I went back to the hostel got my bag and left and the women was like fine suit yourself, b**** still charged me. So, I decided to treat myself to a room at the fancy Eaton Hotel for the night where my folks were staying and this was a much better option. Even a backpacker needs the odd night of luxury, even if it is at a price. That evening was spent catching up with the parents over some wine, a walk around the harbour which overlooked Hong Kong Island. Sadly, it was too foggy and wet to be overly impressed by the skyline. As I was shattered, as was by Dad from a day at work, we stopped for a big stodgy pizza before heading back to the hotel for a night cap and calling it a night.
However, the next day all refreshed we did a bit of sightseeing and headed over to Hong Kong Island to meander around the claustrophobic streets that are lined with skyscrapers. We passed an M&S Food and instantly craving a bit of home food I darted in to get my beloved sausage roll. Delighted. Getting hot and tired from roaming the streets, and has the fog and clouds had lifted, we sought out the Peak Tram which took us up to the top of the ‘mountain’. The view was quite impressive; in the far distance you could see the mountains that bordered Hong Kong to mainland China. It showed the density of Hong Kong and how many skyscrapers are crammed in to such a small area. It was incredible really. With the bird’s eye view, it made the buildings look like Lego blocks.
Later that afternoon, I checked into a new hostel – Apple Inn Mong Kong. And in comparison to the other hostel, wow! It was clean, the room was nice even though there was no space, the staff were friendly and the building felt safe. Result. I grabbed a glass of wine with the parents before heading back over to HK Island to meet a friend for dinner. She took me to popular restaurant called The Social Place where I let her order the food since it was in Chinese and yum yum!! It was great to catch up with her, as she had moved back to Hong Kong a few years earlier. We rounded the catch up and night with dessert and wine and then a hot chocolate. There certainly isn’t a shortage of places to go on the Island for food and drink! Then a safe evening journey back to my hostel and passed out as the next day was my Mum’s birthday and a day trip to Macau.
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