Hong Kong is a city which just keeps going. There is never an ounce of quiet; where the street crossings beep at you to wait as well as cross, and at every turn, something is happening.
During our time in Hong Kong, we witnessed the aftermath of some of the protests. Protesters caused some hefty damage and vandalism to the streets, but in a matter of hours, it looked like nothing had happened at all.
Our first moments in Hong Kong started with us trying to navigate the bus system to get to our hotel. I assume under normal conditions this would be easy enough, but at times of unrest, the airport was under strict entry measures due to the current protests. These measures meant that after having left the airport, we found the only place to get an Octopus card (Hong Kong’s travel card system) was inside the airport. As we weren’t due to fly again today, we weren’t allowed back in. Bummer.
We eventually managed to find a way to get us on a bus with a cash ticket. After a short period of wandering around looking for the hotel, we eventually found it, and we checked in and dumped our bags. We walked through the city streets and found ourselves overlooking the nearby docks. There was a Ferris wheel set up, so we decided to be cheesy and have a ride on the wheel followed by a ride on the carousel next to it, a lovely night time introduction to the city.
Day two began with us meeting Railway Professionals from Hong Kong through a connection made via the Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers. This meeting and lunch was an excellent opportunity for us to hear about developments occurring in Asia concerning new processes being implemented in the railway networks. It also showed that many of the problems seen at home are commonplace elsewhere. For example, they are experiencing skills shortages in Engineering also.
As lunch continued, we got all the insider tips on what to see in Hong Kong and how to do it. Appreciative of this insider knowledge, we parted ways and Katy and I embarked on our sightseeing.
First on our agenda was to get to the Peak Tram. This FUNicular brings passengers 368m up through Hong Kong to reach a viewing platform, called Victoria Peak, which provides for some epic views of the Hong Kong downtown area and skyline.
While in Hong Kong we were eager to get our foodie style down and head to what has been dubbed as the “Cheapest Michelin Star Resto”. Situated within Hong Kong central train station, Tim Ho Wan provides delicious dim sum food at incredibly reasonable prices! We wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone who finds themselves in Hong Kong!
Finally, we decided to go on a touristy bar crawl of Hong Kong to see some of the nightlife scene. We went out on Halloween, and it must be said, some people made some impressive efforts for their costumes.
Day three in Hong Kong started with both of us having sore heads. We headed out to a market in search of fabled delicious breakfast noodles which came highly recommended from a close friend of ours. We weren’t disappointed. The tasty noodle dish had it going on. Great texture from the thick rice noodles combines with the soy and sesame sauce made this excellent street food. Not having any idea of how much this would cost, Katy handed over a $500 note. The woman serving looked severely unimpressed (as did everyone in the rather large queue), and counted out $490 change. Whoops.
After breakfast, I started to feel my age come on (read as: Massive Hangover). The hangover, combined with the heat of the streets and manic chorus of market sellers conveying their wares (which included an entire stall dedicated to TV remotes), I decided walking was not my Jam today.
We decided we would go to see the big Buddha at Ngong Ping. We caught the train out there and realised, as per that we hadn’t planned the next stage. We read one website which said it would be a 50-minute bus ride from our location to Buddha. Not feeling overly fussed, I suggested why not see a film. So the rest of our day was watching Joker in a very air-conditioned cinema and some post-film sushi with train delivery system.
Day four, we awoke with more energy and enthusiasm than our last, rather shameful day (I’ve lumped us both in this, but really it was just my hangover had subsided). We woke up early and headed straight back to Lantau Island to get on the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car and see the big Buddha!
For our last day in Hong Kong, we had decided to visit the nearby Lamma Island. A quick google search will tell you “Lamma Island has a free-spirited, multicultural vibe and is home to hipsters and creative types”, so you know, being the hipsters we are we had to go check it out.
To get the island you need to catch a quick ferry from the mainland. On our way, we ran into large crowds of women. It turns out we had stumbled into Maids Day. This is where the foreign domestic helpers for homes, or maids, in Hong Kong celebrate their one statutory day off by meeting with their friends and relaxing around the city. As they don’t have their own homes (they live in the houses they work in) the setup camp all over the city to enjoy each others company. It really is a sight to see.
We made our way to the ferry port to get to Llama island. When we arrived there was not a car in sight, just a large number of bikes. Our day was going to be a short 7km walk combined with beaches to soak up some delightful Asian sun.
After our day of walking around and beaching, we headed back to the main island and spent our final evening watching the impressive Hong Kong light display. This takes place at 8 pm every day, and we felt like we added to the atmosphere by playing the live soundtrack to the event, available online, through our tin sounding phone speakers.
Delighted with our stay in Hong Kong, albeit a very intensive few days, we packed our bags and made our way back to the airport to continue onto Indonesia.