After getting to bed at only 1.30am on Friday 24 July, I
woke up at 10 o’clock to a grey morning. Luckily, that nice Chinese man had
helped me the night before when I got off the airport bus with all my luggage.
What I didn’t mention before is that we got lost looking for Austin Road when
we should have been going to Austin Avenue! He ended up calling a taxi and
telling the Chinese driver – in Chinese of course, where to take me – and off I
went – luckily to my hotel! I had bought an octopus card at the airport and
this is the most wonderful thing to have – it covers you for all public
transport – and I used it on ferries, trams, buses, the Metro and even the fast
train to the airport when I left.
For my Hong Kong stay, I was very blessed to have my dear
friend, Janique Klingelhoeffer, who is a total HongKongophile, draw up
“Christalla’s Hong Kong Adventure” – my own private itinerary and boy was it
detailed and absolutely fantastic to have with me in such a huge and daunting
place as Hong Kong! It was Janique with whom I chatted to on the bus from the
airport (free WiFi on public transport) and I checked in with her each night
too.
On my first day in Hong Kong, I decided to see the Peak and
walked all the way down to the harbour. It was fascinating seeing such western
shops, a Christian church, a mosque, and lots and lots of people. At the
harbour, I jumped on the ferry – again enjoying the water – and after a short
trip of about eight minutes was in Central and following Janique’s instructions
to find the tram which would take me up Victoria Peak. I started chatting to
young Chinese chap from Beijing called Forres (doesn’t sound very Chinese?) and
as we were both going to the Peak, we agreed to go together! He was very sweet
and his English was good! The tram was very efficient and it managed to get up
a very steep incline fairly quickly. We reached the top and then had to go up
about six escalators to get to the Sky Terrace. It was a bit cloudy up there, but
the views were still wonderful. I chatted to some lovely ladies from Dubai who
were quite taken with my adventures. We decided to come down by bus and that
was fun – lots of spinning and looping. I seem to always be in buses in quite
hair-raising places, but always with excellent drivers!
I wanted to go on to Stanley and Forres was meeting his
friend to start the 23-hour return train journey to Beijing so he very kindly took
me to the bus stop and we said goodbye! Stanley is a pretty fishing village. I
got off the bus and saw a nice man also getting off – and he seemed to know
what he was up to – so I asked him for some help. We ended up chatting for
about an hour about various places to see and what to do in Stanley. His name
is Gerald and he had worked in Hong Kong at HSBC and then returned to England,
but like me, he chose to escape from work early and so he had resigned and come
back to Hong Kong. It seems that if people love Hong Kong, they really do love
Hong Kong! I left him and had a good walk, a look at the markets – looking only…..remember,
I don’t shop anymore! – and some lovely sole for lunch/supper. I then found the
bus back to Central, got back on the ferry and walked back to the hotel after a
really lovely day out.
The next day was quieter – I decided to have a break from
find-a-friend …. and to try the Metro (underground train). It was fantastic –
spectacularly clean and efficient and very easy to use! I opened a packet of
puffed rice and then looked up and saw a sign – “No eating or pay a fine of
2 000 HK dollars!” Oops! I put the packet away very quickly. From the
station, I took a bus to Sai Kung – on the recommendation of Gerald – and found
myself in a pretty little fishing village. It is so nice to be able to explore
a city from different angles and it was great to see this place. I took the bus
back to Diamond Hill and then went into the Po Lin Nunnery – beautifully calm
and peaceful, with bonsais and many pretty plants in the gardens – and lots of
Chinese tourists on three tour buses! When I went to find the Metro home, I
went into a huge shopping mall, complete with Marks and Spencers! I may as well
have been in England. Still …. only looking! I went back to the hotel so I
could print my newest proofreading job and get started on it.
On Sunday, I took the Metro again and went all the way to the
end of the line to get the cable car to see the Big Buddha. Find-a-friend mode
was back on – so I found two! I was chatting to Nelissa and her brother,
Avolino, from Melbourne and I asked if I could hang out with them – they are
both in their thirties and we had a great day – and they gave me tips about
Melbourne! Avolino is also travelling and he had just had his phone stolen at
Hong Kong airport – with none of his photos backed up! I felt so sorry for him.
We queued for nearly two hours to get on the cable car – and there were lots of
them, not like Cape Town’s big one. Each cabin took ten people. This is where
we saw some of the Chinese doing one of the things they are very good at –
pushing in! Janique had warned me not to get frustrated, but I must admit that
my elbows did come out sometimes! The ride was quite scary, but definitely
worth it for the views of Hong Kong and the airport, and to see the Big Buddha.
You go through a whole village – shops, coffee shops, Subway… and then you
climb many many steps to get to the top for more spectacular views.
We only came down after 6pm and then parted. I took the
train back to Central at the harbour and then jumped on the ferry to see the
city by night and to watch the laser light show at 8pm from the Walk of Fame. I
chatted to some young Thai girls and told them how much I loved their country –
and they said they are also going to travel lots when they are big like me!
Then, I went to the Temple Street Market – still managing not to shop – and
finally, it was back home to finish my proofreading. Luckily, Hong Kong is 7
hours ahead of South Africa!
I got up late on Monday, packed and left my luggage with the
concierge and had a good walk down to the harbour and back through Kowloon
Park. The concierge got me a taxi to the train station and once there, I
checked in for my flights to Singapore and Brisbane, left my suitcase and got
on the fast train to the airport – so efficient and painless! I love my purple
suitcase, but I also love seeing it go! I was really looking forward to seeing
family and friends in Australia – Merlene, my sister-in-law, and her fiancé,
Wayne, in Airlie Beach, Brian and Theresa Breetzke and their children, Callum
and Jenna on the Gold Coast, Leane Kopke
and her fiancé, Ben, in Sydney and finally, another Airbnb – this time in
Melbourne. I had managed nearly two weeks on my own and learned a lot! Time to
see Australia!
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Spot the missing numbers on the lift panel! Apparently 14 means, "you might die!" and 4 means "you will die!" |
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Tallest building at 88 floors |
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View from the walkway to the ferry |
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More skyscrapers |
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Taxis - red and white Toyota camrys |
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Super modern shopping malls |
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More interesting architecture |
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View from the Peak
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Harbour at daytime |
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Look at this lovely plane - at Hong Kong airport! |
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