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Hong Kong, Jordan Hotel, Nathan Road, Kowloon
10th-12th March
The flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong was really good- quite a lot of space, your own TV and relatively nice food. Managed to sleep for quite a few hours which passed some of the 12hour time limit.Then we checked out which was also fine and made our way to the bus station. We then proceeded to go around all the bus stops and found ours last but then the bus pulled up immediately. It was at this point that i realised just how heavy my backpack was- think lots of struggling may lie ahead! However, when we first saw a signpost labelled "Nathan Road" which was were our hotel was we eagerly jumped off pleased not to have missed it after the bus driver failed to speak English. But it must be a road about 3miles long so we then jumped on a jump to get to the other end which was a good plan! The hotel was lovely, people very kind and beds very comfy.
That night we went exploring to find somewhere for dinner. It is a big culture shock when you arrive in a country where a huge majority of people look ethnically different to you.I don't think i had even thought about that! When you first find yourself in a situation similar to that, wherever you are, feelings such as insecurity, unimportance and interest immediately rise. It makes you realsie how insignifacnt your own expereicne of the world is when their is such huge variety on a global scale. Hong Kong really is an amazing place which you cant help but fall in love with. It is so busy, lively, varied and vibrant. In some ways in seems to be miles ahead than the UK- the airport was amazingly efficient and the tubes were well above London standard with smoking, eating and drinking forbidden everywhere with fines and punishment labelled everywhere. Anybody ill wears a face mask for hygenic prevention and people generally seemed immaculately behaved. It struck me how about 99% of the population was still off pure Chinese origin with virtually no mixed-races at all. It was also very totalitarian in ways. Very regimental, strict and obedient...lots of young beautiful women with older men and evidence of any people with disability being shunned out of society and forced to resort to begging.
The buildings were incredible too. All towering upwards at great heights- we had our breakfast on the 15th floor penthouse of our hotel. But also whilst the hotel buildings were immaculately kept with lots of sparkling clean windows they were often found next to a shabby block of flats.
The MTR service was fascinating. The system was effecient, clean and very stressfree. They even had an 'octopus' card similar to Londons 'oyster card'. If you were not staying for the length of time when this would be useful they had a touch-screen tube map. You simply touch where your destination is and are presented with a series of fare options. The tickets themselevs were plastic and very snazzy so we ended up purchasing a cheap fare ticket just to keep one as a souvenir. It was on the tube that i first realsied we (being white) were in an ethnic minority. Surrounded by a huge group of people who are all connected by race makes you feel slightly isolated. People seemed to find us interesting but with a few hostile glares thrown in.
The first night we got there we found a little outside restaurant in the middle of the market with little plastic stools and rolls of toilet paper on the tables. We were a bit overwhelmed by pork's throat, chickens legs etc and had sweet and sour and smoked chicken with flat noodles which was scary enough but was nice and the environment was amazing. Spoke to an american couple whilst we were there who warned us the service was awful but to stay for the quality of food and fantastic environment.However the whole meal with drinks came to about 8pounds which was good.
After the dinner we went through the market. This mainly sold fake DVDs, TVs, Ipods and other technical goods. However, as well as this there was also sparkly bags, slogan t-shirts, jewellery and figurines. It went on for miles in what seemed like hundreds of stalls all selling the same goods at alternate distances.
The next day we woke up early, had breakfast then went off exploring. We headed for The Peak and got the MTR to Central station from Jordan. This took us away from the Kowloon district where we were staying to Hong Kong Island which is more touristy. To get to the top of the peak we took a tram. The hill was so steep the buildings seemed at a 45degree angle until this was masked by the dense fog which had appeared whilst we were on the tube. When we arrived at the top on the viewing platform there was a huge mist enveloping us...We could barely see our hands a metre or so in front of us. So the view ended up just being a huge grey haze but the trip was very fun and had a delicious lunch at a quick-convenient noodle bar. I seemed to make a dodgey food choice though. We didn't give up there though and went to the Botanical Gardens and Zoo. The gardens and landscaping was beautiful especially dandelion-like fountains. However the aviary was empty due to bird flu a while ago, no sign of the panther....
A lot of the locals didnt speak english but seemed to find it amusing to jabber at us very quickly in chinese. We were situated in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong on the outskirts were it seemed to be mainly locals. It was a lot more crowded with towering flats and clothes hanging out of evry window on precarious ledges. It was immensely different in Hong Kong city where it was obviously for tourists. We mainly ate in Kowloon as it was loads cheaper and generally nicer and then wandered round the tourist attractions. A really good experience i would love to repeat and spend some more time there and in Asian in general.
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