Hong Kong: The First Day

Hong Kong. Disneyland, incredible food, reliable internet. Those were the 3 main reasons I had any interest in going there. Compared to the Philippines and most other countries around southeast Asia, Hong Kong is one of the more expensive destinations. Hostels seem to cost around 30-60USD a night for 2 people while a regular hotel is hard to find for under 100USD. One nice thing about Hong Kong is that as a US citizen, one does not need a visa to enter and can stay for up to 90 days.

Jim and I arrived in Hong Kong around 9pm on Thursday, June 27^th after our two hour flight from Manila. We went through immigrations, picked up our bags, got some cash from the nearest ATM, and found a taxi to take us to our hotel. It ended up being a 40+ minute ride. We crossed a few bridges, got stuck in a little traffic, and were incredibly shocked by the vast size of the city. I had no idea how large the place really was. I was also very surprised to see how alive the city was, despite the time. Many stores were still open and the sidewalks in some areas were still crawling with people.

The hotel was in the North Point area of the main Hong Kong island (Hong Kong consists of 3 major islands with various patches of reclaimed land, and several other smaller ones.) We checked-in and were pleasantly surprised to walk into a room that appeared to be completely ant free. At the base of the hotel was a 7-11 which came in handy for picking up some water and cups of noodles, as well as Oreo wafers and Chips Ahoy cookies. Once we stocked up on a few snacks, it was time for bed. Seeing as I was still recovering from lack of sleep from the past month plus the change in time zones, Friday we decided to sleep in. 

I’d done a little bit of research into activities in Hong Kong and came across some fancy light show choreographed to music that started each evening. The Symphony of Lights they call it. I had learned that this show was in English on Fridays and Mondays, and seeing as Monday was going to be spent at Disneyland, that meant Friday was the day to watch the show. Jim and I ventured out and took the subway to the Tsim Sha Tsui area where the show was. 

Hong Kong has the best subway system I have ever seen. Signs are easy to find and tickets are simple to buy. They sell both single trip tickets or something called an Octopus card. The Octopus card is brilliant. It’s essentially a debit card that one can just tap to pay for the subway, 7-11, Starbucks, and various other eateries through the city. Jim and I decided to opt for the single ticket this first day since we didn’t know how often we’d be using the subway system. Upon purchasing the ticket, we scanned it to enter the train area and easily found the train we needed. Hong Kong seems to be a very clean city, and the subway trains are no different. The trains are air-conditioned and they have maps of the subway routes above the doors that light up based on the stop you’re about to reach. It also tells you which side of the train you’ll need to exit from. In addition, if you are reaching a station with transfers, it will light up the train route that you will be able to reach upon exiting. It really is a great subway system.

We made it to our destination with no problem. The show is over in the area with the cultural center, art museum, a space museum, malls, and a walkway called the Avenue of Stars which is the Asian version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We had arrived much earlier than necessary for the show seeing as we planned to wander a bit and find food.

We exited the train station and were slightly overwhelmed by the number of people, alleyways, shops, and just the myriad options of things to see. We ended up walking toward a very upscale mall. It reminds me of the shopping in Vegas, at least in the casinos on the strip. Jim admitted that he had never even seen most of the stores before.

We continued to wander and then came across a jewelry store with the remains of a tunnel system from decades ago near the Former Marine Police Compound. We walked in and looked for a minute or two before continuing through the plaza. There is a signal tower building there with a time ball on it. A time ball was once used by ships to keep time synchronized. Back before everyone had access to the internet, gps, and cell phones, they would rely on the dropping of the ball at 1:00pm to reset clocks in order to insure they were on the right time and in sync with the city and everyone else. In addition, there was a little area displaying the different shapes that are raised for various cyclone warnings. Depending on the severity, a different symbol would be lifted to warn the boats and people of the impending storm.

We wandered the Avenue of Stars, which was a pleasant walkway along the water and then we went in search of dinner. We ended up at an incredible Italian restaurant and shared cheese/tomato salad and a tasty four-cheese pizza. Then we went back to the viewing area to watch the Symphony of Lights.

Music began and an introduction was made. Each building was presented by name. And then...nothing. Music continued to play. Apparently there was a choreographed light show on the other side of the river, but we saw nothing or the sort. A few buildings flashed their lights. A few even shot green lasers from their roofs. Overall, this was the worst "show" I've ever seen. We couldn't figure out what was so great and what was so special. Music continued and the same buildings kept randomly flashing their lights on and off and we decided to head out after about 10 minutes of waiting to be impressed.

That concluded the first day in the city. The plan from there was to wander a bit Saturday and Sunday, hit Disneyland on Monday, and migrate over to Macau Tuesday-Friday and then move on. We were learning towards Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. We still had to do some research regarding visas. I'll write more about Hong Kong and Macau later.