After my enjoyable Singapore Airlines flight, I managed to
clear customs and receive my checked baggage quickly then discovered where the
shuttle desk was located.
An hour later and HK$150 (about C$30), I arrived at the
Dorsett Wan Chai, a 4 star hotel booked on Hotwire. As I was early,
the room was not ready and was offered to check in earlier with a room with two
single beds. As I had been flying for almost an entire day I seriously thought
about that trade off of getting into a shower and a bed earlier. Regardless, a
friend of mine from Vancouver was in town and I ventured out to TST to meet him
in the hopes of catching the last period of the Senators versus Rangers game
(easy math on time zones when only 12 hours apart).
As he had been there before (and the Senators defeated the
Rangers already) he quickly introduced me to the Statues of Stars (where of
course I had to have my picture taken in fight pose with Bruce Lee). From there
we wandered TST where he introduced me to 7-11 "travellers" as
beers in a bar are way too expensive. Regardless, we ended up at Ned Kelley's,
Hong Kong's oldest pub. HK$75 for a pint, or about $15. So back to the
7-11 we went for round three.
We explored a little more of TST eventually settling into
lunch at Wollomoloo steakhouse for a salad and pizza (overpriced). He later
took off to head to the airport while I walked along the main boulevard and
headed back on the Star ferry for a magnificent although hazy view of the city.
Once at the the hotel, I checked into my room, finally
decided on the original queen bed (at least that's what Hotwire said). Arriving
there, the Queen bed was the smallest queen I've seen (more for bedding show
room demos) and the room smelled like new paint. My patience wearing thin, I
requested a room change and was given a larger room without a view. I
immediately discovered the washroom was large due to its wheelchair
accessibility. It was not a problem for me and thought it would be good
for the next two days.
After a long awaited shower, I discovered the shallow tiled
barrier on the floor was breached somewhere and the water spread all over the
bathroom floor. The towels I had were all used to mop up the floor. As I was
eager to explore I simply notified the front desk as I was leaving fr the day
in hopes it would be fixed or I would have a new room upon my return.
The happy hour scene in Hong Kong is much sought after as it
is an expensive city and any break on food and drinks is welcomed. My
friend earlier in the day pointed out a place called Stone Nullah that had a
happy hour called "Beat the clock". Starting at 5 pm drinks
were around HK$5 and doubled in price every hour. Unfortunately the rules had
changed, and when I arrived it was now HK$109 for as many drinks the bartender
could keep up with and as many chicken fingers and strips of bacon the kitchen
could crank out. I met up with a couple of the ex-pat university students from
Los Angeles and London. They passed on tips for areas to go see, live music and
the in-city horse racing track.
After having had my fill (remember I haven't slept since
since Monday morning, and it's now Wednesday evening Hong Kong time) I headed
back to the hotel for a free shuttle to pier 9 from where I could see some of
the office towers light show put on Nightly (lasers, graphics , bright lights
etc...I'm sure Premier Kathleen Wynne would be salivating at the Hydro bill
these buildings would be paying if they were along Bay street). After a wander
around the piers, the large ferris wheel and lion's heads I caught the shuttle
back to the hotel. With the hopes of a recommended area to go see, I
could barely keep my head up as I slouched in the shuttle bus chairs. Coming
back to my hotel room, the hotel merely gave me new towels and ignored the
sloppy mess that was there. A phone call to the front desk, wait five minutes ,
catch up on the Bloomberg US television, cleaning staff arrives, everyone knows
about this now (but if course not repaired), then I immediately turn in.
The next day I awoke after a great sleep. I took the hotel
shuttle to Causeway Bay this time and questioned why this place ranks so high
of all the areas to see in Hong Kong. If shopping and labels are your thing,
then it is a mecca. After WiFi hopping, I searched for buses on Google maps to
Stanley Markets and luckily was standing very near the #40 bus stop. With
almost the correct change (HK$10.80) I took a pleasant and scenic 40 minutes
bus ride South. A much hotter and sunnier day, the overhead stall canopies were
a welcomed shade beak.
After being followed by a short, chubby, crazy lady yelling
at me, claiming she was going to call the cops and that I should delete the
pictures from my phone, I went searching for lunch. As I perused the
overpriced water front restaurants, guess who found me and was continuing
to yell at me? As she could not even keep up with a normal walking pace I
headed to the Stanley Plaza where I found a grocery store and had lunch there
(bananas and something from the pastry section). Afterwards I walked back along
the waterfront, expecting to run into my new friend again, I found a hole in
the wall ("Gaucho 's Cafe") and had a cold Corona overlooking the
water. It was back to the #40 bus stop, to the hotel and drop off my market
purchases.
From there I had to figure out the subway system going back
to TST and to the Eye Bar, a rooftop restaurant and patio overlooking the
island side. Once again happy hour was the strategy, which meant beers were a
somewhat normal price in C$ terms. After conversing with a few like minded
tourists around me and taking in the light show firm a different view point of
the city, I headed out for live music as suggested by the ex pat stirrers the
night before. I headed back to Wan Chai to a place called "The Wanch"
, an ex pat hangout. A decent band paying the odd Aussie tune I was looking for
something more lively and headed back to a place I heard on the way. A
fantastic cover band playing Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Cream like covers
was filling the street from this open window bar. After a couple of Coronas I
realized the females around were a little more scantily dressed than the
millions of others I had seen in the city and realized I was on a part of
Lockhart st that had "other entertainment". As I walked back to
the hotel, there was no shortage of invites to come into their neon lit
establishments, one older lady even going so far as to grab my arm to motion me
in. All taken in stride (yet discouraged at paying C$15 for a beer no matter
where you went), I entered my new " deluxe upgrade" room (with a
non-flooding shower) and fell asleep after another full day.
The city is a must see despite its craziness and chaos.
Every space is used and what would be used for homeless people under a
bridge in Toronto, is an entire market in Hong Kong. Directions are never
simple ("just over there" or "by the big brown hotel
building" to someone never turned out that easy for me in navigating
through the city). Just arriving after 23.5 hours of commuting, did not
leave me in the "sampling all food mood", as such will have to be
another trip. After all it was only two days. Be warned, it is an expensive
city (food, drinks, shopping); however, sticking to such simple delights as a
Star Ferry ride or a bus ride to a further destination will allow you to have a
good perspective of the city. The transportation (ferries, buses, ferries) is
excellent and very reasonable (all my trips were no more than HK$14). The MRT
subway trains are a marvel to see - efficient, clean, timely and long.
Not only that but about four shopping levels below ground. The traffic is
an opposite and should be considered when returning to the airport on a shuttle
or taxi. As in my return, the shuttle to the airport that was 20 minutes late.
Next up, Bali...
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