Hong Kong: City of lights and skyscrapers

I'm back from Hong Kong (香港). It was a 5 days trip with my girlfriend and it was a unique experience. It was unlike anything I saw before. Hong Kong is the real Far east. If you want density, all kinds of pleasant and unpleasant smells, all kinds of food, modern skyscrapers among old run-down buildings, then you're at the right place.

We flew from Singapore on the 14th January at around 15h and arrived at the Hong Kong airport 3 hours later, it was already sunset when we reached there. The airport is located about 25min away from the Central MTR station. We bought the famous 'Octopus card' at the airport for about 30eur (you get 5eur refund later) and you can use the card 3 full days (72h) to travel everywhere with the MTR trains (Mass Transit Railway), plus 2 rides with the airport express train from the HK airport to HK Central and back are included. First you pay a little more, but you actually save a lot, if you plan on exploring the city. It's definitely worth it.

We arrived at the HK Central MTR station around 19h. There we transfered to another train to Kowloon, to the Yaumatei station. The train was so full, that the door hardly closed. Luckily it was only a 3 stations ride. When we came out of the subway, we saw this (see photo on the left): Nathan road. It's Hong Kong's busiest road, stretched many kilometers, covered by 4 MTR stations (Tsim sha Tsui, Jordan, Yaumatei and Mongkok). It's full of shops and restaurants, shopping malls and markets. I recommend Jordan night market, Mongkok night market and Ladies' street, also in Mongkok.
But Ladies' street was a disappointment for me, I prefer the Tung Choi street in Mongkok. Friday to sunday they close the road and pedestrians are all over the place. You have all kinds of things to shop: bags, souvenirs, fake Rolexes, gadgets, computers, whatever...
Just be careful when bargaining, the people are quite tough. I saw some western people how the bought a fake bag for maybe 10% discount. When I bargain, I beat down the price at least 70%, if not I don't buy. And it works. If they don't give you your price, go on, either they'll come after you and give you your price or you find someone else with the same thing and start over. Sooner or later you will be lucky. Don't buy too fast.
Well, the first day was quite cold, and it was dark already around 19h. We were so lost while walking along Nathan road. A friend recommended us the Evergreen hotel, so we kept asking people about the hotel, but nobody knew. It supposed to be near Nathan road. Well, we wandered around more than an hour, because we were so amazed by the lights and the buildings, so we forgot the time. We snapped many photos. Finally my girlfriend's friend texted us the name of the street and somehow we found the hotel. Funny was, we been so close to the hotel already, yet we turned around and went back... so we wasted a lot of time there, but that's just part of a big city adventure, right? Once we checked in (hotel cost 30eur per person per night, a bit more than we planned), we unpacked, washed up and I somehow convinced my girl friend to go out and see Hong Kong's night skyline. It was worth to go out!
The second day was full of adventure as well. We started with going to the Central, where we walked around, snapped many photos of the highrise buildings. We also went to the piers and then slowly back to the station. The most important destination of the day was the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau island (located on the same island is also the HK international airport) it's 30min away by train, but with the regular MTR train, not the Airport express. One station before is the Disneyland. We skipped it, because we're not into this so much. The station we were headed was Tung Chung. It has a big shopping mall where you have many outlet stores, so if you're shopping for brands like Nike or Puma, it's much cheaper there.
Well, the best way to see the big Buddha is by sky train. If you're afraid of heights, better take a bus or cab, if not, take the sky train! It's a unique experience, it costs about 10eur (return ticket, per person). The ride is about 25min, you rise above the sea and mountains and you see the whole airport and the beautiful nature of the Lantau island. Even though I felt a bit unwell at first, I didn't regret to take the sky train.
My girlfriend was just the opposite, she was so into it at first, when inside, she suddenly felt unwell and didn't want to look down. Anyway, she got rewarded by the marvellous 34m tall bronze Tian Tan Buddha on the top of the hill. It's unbelievably amazing. When you alight the train, there's a small village-place for tourists with restaurants and souvenir shops. I bought me some funny souvenirs, one of which was a photo of chairman Mao supposedly bringing you good luck. Usually these souvenirs have Buddha or some other diety. Weird, but funny. Well, once you reach the Tian Tan Buddha, 5 min by foot, there's a lot of tourists, all snapping photos like crazy. There's a stairway leading up. Once you reach there, you see the whole majesty of this sculpture. It's breathtaking. And the view as well... I snapped many photos from all corners. But I realized, you can't fully grasp this Buddha on photos, you have to see it in real. It's a must if you visit Hong Kong.
We returned back around 19h and we went to the Avenue of Stars, it's the most southern tip of Kowloon, the one facing the marvellous Hong Kong skyline. Every day at 20h, they have a laser and light show from the most famous Hong Kong's skyscrapers. The show is backed up with music. It was nice and also full of people. This place is something like the Hollywood Walk of fame in Los Angeles, just that it keeps the fingerprints of the stars of Hong Kong cinema, like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Stephen Chow, Gong Li and Cecilia Cheung, to name the most famous.
The next day, I thought, since we bought the Octopus card, let's go and take many rides and try to see some temples. So we stopped at some MTR stations that had a temple near by. I recommend you Diamond hill. There's the beautiful Chi Lin Nunnery, a complex of many temples and gardens, clean and peaceful. We reached there in the morning, there was no tourist around. It's definitely a treasure.
After seeing 2 temples, we reached the Central, we made a huge circle from central kowloon to eastern Kowloon, to the eastern Hong Kong and back to the western part, where the entral is located. We went out at night, walked around. There was many western people in clubs and pubs, but we returned back home to the hotel.
For the next two nights we transfered to another hotel which cost us about 17eur per person. The room was small, a double bed and a toilet, small useless window and a TV. But it was nice and clean. It was in Mongkok and recommended by one of my girlfriend's colleagues, who happened to be in Hong Kong in that day, but she was deprating the next day. We had 2 more days. We saved quite some money, which we later spent on souveniers and some clothes and a bag.
After going to so many places, the next 2 days we just took it easy, we stayed in Mongkok a lot, went to eat and shop there, slept longer. We were exhausted! So when we packed all the things for the check out, I suggested to go to the Victoria peak. It's one of the top destinations in Hong Kong, every tourist must go there. We had a whole afternoon to spend, the flight back was at 2020. We checked out at 12h, it wasn't a warm goodbye from the auntie in charge. And we took the train to Central, walked outside, followed the signposts for the Peak tram.
It was so hot the last day and sunny, must be almost 20 degrees Celsius. First day was only 11. Well, it was pretty hard to walk uphill with a 12kg rucksack on my back and my girlfriend's shopping bag. But we made it. The legs hurt like hell, the tram was full of tourists and the ride was bumpy (it cost 3.3eur per person). First time I went uphill with a train. Marvellous. On top I snapped some photos of the beautiful Hong Kong skyline. It's really breathtaking, a scenery full of skyscrapers. I guess only New York can keep up with Hong kong in that regard.
It was a great image for the end of this trip, I will always hold and treasure it.

Who knows how many times I will have the chance to return to this beautiful city. Maybe never again.
But I can always proudly say, I've been there, I saw almost everything and I can advise you. Even though it was only 5 days, Hong Kong is easy to grasp, easy to get the orientation and the feel of the city. I would gladly stay for a longer period in Hong Kong. I could stay up to 90 days, if I had the cash. Maybe one day... Maybe... Goodbye, Hong Kong...

[All photos by MKL, 2009]

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