Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Hong Kong: Day One
Soundtrack: 'Here Be Monsters' by Ed Harcourt. It contains the track 'Shanghai,' which is the closest I could get to a song about HK.
There wasn't anybody on the plane, which was a Godsend. I had an enitre middle row to myself, so I lifted up all the armrests so that I could lie down full length and sleep. Except I'm crap enough at sleeping anyway, and the seats on Qantas' lame old Boeing 747 were a bit annoying: they were a bit narrow to lie down on properly, and they slanted inwards, which resulted in me having to lie with my shoulders in crazy shapes and I didn't get much sleep in the end anyway. Huh.
I arrived in HK very early in the morning, and I was picked up at the airport by Michael Wong, one of the Old Man's old school friends. He took me for a dim sum breakfast, saying that whenever he flew long-haul, he always felt stupidly hungry afterwards, and I'm inclined to agree. Afterwards, I checked into my hotel, the Bishop Lei International (Catholic-run, and next to the church). I picked it because it was the cheapest one in the asia-hotels.com directory, but it's actually rather good, with a pool and everything. Not that I used it, because I was so busy out in the city.
The weather was absurdly humid, but there wasn't any sun, due to smog blown over from China. It's very hazy in HK - because the city is surrounded by mountains, I think the effect's a bit like in LA, but at least the haze can blow out to sea. In the heat of the afternoon, I walked down the Mid-Levels Escalator (the escalators are true escalators, in that they only go upwards, and you have to walk the whole way downhill). For those of you who don't know, the Mid-Levels Escalator is the longest in the world, and the Mid-Levels are an expensive residential district on HK Island. I walked round the city on that side of the harbour for a while, but I found it too artificial and westernised. Disenchanted, I went in search of the Teaware Museum, which made everything better. The post is below.
The museum is close to the Peak Tram, which for HK$30 (2.07 pounds - no pound key on this keyboard!), you can travel return to the top of Victoria Peak, the big mountain in HK. The incline is scary steep, but that was okay because so was the Bergen funicular. Actually no, the Peak Tram was steeper. The views as you climb are amazing - you can see the whole city. The best bit is once it's dark, though. The lights of HK are gorgeous, almost ethereal. The skyscrapers are all lit up really well, also, especially the Bank of China building, and this other one whose name I forget which actually changes colour. Genius. As I looked at all the lights, I realised that HK was actually a totally ace place, and I couldn't wait for my excursion to Kowloon the next day, which I'd randomly decided upon at some point. You know me.
There wasn't anybody on the plane, which was a Godsend. I had an enitre middle row to myself, so I lifted up all the armrests so that I could lie down full length and sleep. Except I'm crap enough at sleeping anyway, and the seats on Qantas' lame old Boeing 747 were a bit annoying: they were a bit narrow to lie down on properly, and they slanted inwards, which resulted in me having to lie with my shoulders in crazy shapes and I didn't get much sleep in the end anyway. Huh.
I arrived in HK very early in the morning, and I was picked up at the airport by Michael Wong, one of the Old Man's old school friends. He took me for a dim sum breakfast, saying that whenever he flew long-haul, he always felt stupidly hungry afterwards, and I'm inclined to agree. Afterwards, I checked into my hotel, the Bishop Lei International (Catholic-run, and next to the church). I picked it because it was the cheapest one in the asia-hotels.com directory, but it's actually rather good, with a pool and everything. Not that I used it, because I was so busy out in the city.
The weather was absurdly humid, but there wasn't any sun, due to smog blown over from China. It's very hazy in HK - because the city is surrounded by mountains, I think the effect's a bit like in LA, but at least the haze can blow out to sea. In the heat of the afternoon, I walked down the Mid-Levels Escalator (the escalators are true escalators, in that they only go upwards, and you have to walk the whole way downhill). For those of you who don't know, the Mid-Levels Escalator is the longest in the world, and the Mid-Levels are an expensive residential district on HK Island. I walked round the city on that side of the harbour for a while, but I found it too artificial and westernised. Disenchanted, I went in search of the Teaware Museum, which made everything better. The post is below.
The museum is close to the Peak Tram, which for HK$30 (2.07 pounds - no pound key on this keyboard!), you can travel return to the top of Victoria Peak, the big mountain in HK. The incline is scary steep, but that was okay because so was the Bergen funicular. Actually no, the Peak Tram was steeper. The views as you climb are amazing - you can see the whole city. The best bit is once it's dark, though. The lights of HK are gorgeous, almost ethereal. The skyscrapers are all lit up really well, also, especially the Bank of China building, and this other one whose name I forget which actually changes colour. Genius. As I looked at all the lights, I realised that HK was actually a totally ace place, and I couldn't wait for my excursion to Kowloon the next day, which I'd randomly decided upon at some point. You know me.
