After yet another long haul journey (on a train which decided to 'go slow' between Guangzhou and the border) we arrived at Shenzhen and crossed the border from China into not-quite China by 'escalator'. A little travel weary, we arrived in bustling Tsim Sha Shui to be greeted by swarming touts offering their discount rooms in the manky building known as the infamous 'Chungking Mansions'. Mansions by name but defintely not mansions by nature! This old dilapidated building is a host to many budget hostels and which, although a little basic, was what we were to call home for the next 10 days.
There's a first for everything! 
Aimes and Mimi in Lan Kwai Fong We immediately freshened up and hit the streets to meet up with Mim who was there enroute to Delhi for a friend's wedding. Sporting a new Honky perm we almost didn't recognise her from behind. Though it was really great to see a familiar face. We set out for some food as Hobbes was a little cranky as he hadn't eaten all day (it was 3 o'clock!), our first taste of Hong Kong was the speciality - a steaming bowl of true wan ton noodles! Yum!
We spent the arvo and evening walking around town, catching the famous 'Star Ferry' across Victoria Harbour and grabbing a drink in the VERY exi Lan Kwai Fong area. The next day we sampled the local fare by visiting Mim's aunt's favourite 'hole in the wall' congee shop, where what was meant to be pork congee for Hobbes ended up coming out from the kitchen as pig's liver! Aimes and Mim had lots of Cantonese practising to do!
The 'glamorous' Chungking Mansions
As it was Sunday, it was 'maids day off' in Hong Kong. Every street and bit of parkland was full of 'picnicing' Filopino women who use this day to shoot the breeze with their fellow maids. Walkways, footbridges and mall areas were all full of women gathering, chatting away, playing cards and picnicing on flattened cardboard boxes. The whole city seemed to be brimming with young and old Filopino women - it really made you wonder exactly how many people have maids in this city.
The commercial heaven of Causeway Bay
Definitely the best way to get around
Sunday also coincided with a pro-democracy march, which having been in China for so long seemed a little inappropriate (it was then that we realised we'd been corrupted by watching too much CCTV). We were at Central later that evening when the news on a giant LCD screen showed a piece on the march - all the people on the street broke out into a spontaneous applause, it was a very uplifting moment seeing so much community spirit in a big city. However, the channel was quickly changed at this point, suggesting that the Chinese Big Brother wasn't too far away...
Starting the following week was the well publicised and contentious WTO conference, it took a lot of convincing to explain to Aimes' relos that we weren't visiting HK to partake in some rioting shenanigans with the Korean farmers and cop pepper spray in the face (although it was a worthy cause).
Avenue of Stars - last night Jackie Chan came round...
More commercial craziness - Mong Kok
Though the HK police did pay us a visit on one night of our stay in Hong Kong. Our hostel was raided at three in the morning for a passport check... one of the unmentioned benefits of staying at Chungking Mansions!
Being December, Hong Kong had certainly got into the 'consumer', if not quite 'Christmas', spirit. Every mall and shopping centre had extremly elaborate decorations, each seemingly trying to out do the other. The most spectacular was the 8pm light show each night, where most buildings along the harbourside skyline were lit up with Christmas lights and a laser show. It was like a whole city had been turned into a giant (if very quiet) rave party. We enjoyed walking along the 'Avenue of Stars' (a la Hollywood, but with Chinese actors), watching the kids go nuts over the light display.
Aimes gets a bit carried away with online gaming...
People, people and more people
Of course the consumer spirit is at the heart of Hong Kong and despite our meagre funds, we tried our best to join in (when in Rome...). Several kilometres were walked around the streets and shops of Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, Temple Street and Tsim Sha Tsui, resulting in a couple of boxes having to be sent home...
During our time in Hong Kong it felt as though we used just about every type of public transport available - ferries, subway, buses, trams, trains. Fortunately Hong Kong is a little (maybe that should be light years) more advanced than Australia with the 'Octopus' smart card being able to take us all over the island, surrounding islands and even to Macau. It really set a precedent for how good a transport system can be if there is some investment into it!
Hong Kong's skyline by night
Also, on the planning front, we visited the Urban Planning exhibition which showed us how much of the harbour is being reclaimed to build a public waterfront precinct. The jokes around town is that one day the island will meet the Kowloon side with all the rubble they are pouring into the harbour.
The Bank of China Building
Our trip to Lantau island was a little poorly planned as the day we went was full of blustering freezing winds. We explored the quaint and colourful fishing village of Tai O and walked out to the windy headland looking out to the new airport. It is hard to believe that such a sleepy place can be only half an hour away from the big city lights of Hong Kong Island - it was like the central coast on valium! The big Buddha, temple and Lantau Peak were given a miss as the weather was not going to change in our favour any time soon.
The colour of Tai O 
Brrrrr...cold weather on Lantau Island
Drying fish, Tai O Village
Being able to eat Cantonese food for the first time in 3 months (it is surprising how much you miss soy sauce) was one of the unexpected benefits of being in Hong Kong, Yum Cha of course being the highlight. We visited one restaurant in the city hall with views over the harbour and caught up with 'Pat-rick' (the Pom from our trip in Mongolia). 'Char-siew farn' (BBQ Pork with rice) was also another favourite - much better than the Sydney stuff, returning twice to one little shop in Soho for it, where Anthony Bourdain had given his tick of approval. We were taken to the acclaimed 'Tai Foo' by one basketball-touring 69 year old uncle who is spritely as a 20 year old, and also had yet more yum cha with an another uncle and aunt who were going to take us to Aimes' great great grandfathers' village on the mainland in the coming week.
Waiting for a bus on Lantau Island
Temple Street Night Market
Soho was also cool for antique shops (although overly priced compared to the mainland) and a little temple called Ma Mo which has the beautiful incense coils hanging from the ceiling. We went to the Soho Festival one Sunday, which was a little tame, with a bit of face painting and some beer stalls on the street (maybe it should have more accurately been referred to as a Heineken Promotional event) - give us the Surry Hills Fest or Newtown Fest anyday! The only highlight was taking the world's longest escalator up to the mid-levels. Also from the mid-levels we walked around to join the throngs of weekend tourists to take the famous Peak tram to the top for that great view over the island and surrounding area.
Soho streetscape
Hobbes on Stanley's Main Beach
Lifeguard tower at Repulse Bay
To top off our stay in Hong Kong we dropped the pace a bit and spent a relaxing day down on the south side of Hong Kong island visiting Stanley and Repulse Bay. In contrast to our trip to Lantau Island, it was a perfect sunny day and the best part was rolling our jeans and sleeping on the beach soaking up the rays - although Hobbes was tempted to strip right down and plunge into what would have been freezing water (such a Piscean!).
Connaught Road, Central
South Korean farmers protesting against the WTO
Soon after this we had our passports returned with our shiny new Chinese and Indian visas which meant we could start to think about moving on (and back to the mainland...). So despite the temptation of joining in the anti-WTO protesting fun, we decided it was time to depart and booked ourselves on a boat to Macau.
No comments:
Post a Comment