Couldn't quite wait to update Hong Kong travels together, so here's the next installment.
Woke up really early today, it's going to be a tiring day today, a lot of walking, shopping, exploring in the big business district of Hong Kong.
After a quick breakfast of congee and milk tea, we went off to see the sights, and buy what is needed to be bought. :) Hong Kong's transportation system is magic, it's very organized, extremely well placed, and very convenient to get around the large metropolis. The key to the magic? The Octopus Card. This card comes with 150 HK dollars on it, and can be used for almost any type of transportation short of private taxis found in the city. I believe even some grocery stores will take the Octopus card for quick and easy transactions. Unfortunately for me, the parents did not believe that it was worth the money as we were only in Hong Kong for a day (their mistake, believe me). It is so much easier to just swipe a card and move on, instead of looking for a ticket booth to buy single-journey tickets everywhere. Whatever, their problem, I just get to stand around and wait for them while they get frustrated by the automated ticket machines.
At any rate, we ride the subway into the center of the city, and even at 7 in the morning, this place is bustling already. The smaller street stores have not opened yet, but the bigger department stores are all ready for action. First stop for Hong Kong? The Great Peak and the Sky Terrace. We ride a tram up the mountain and get to see the magnificent sight that is Hong Kong. There was probably about 20 stores up here, but we didn't get anything as it was the sights we went to go see.
So coming down from the Great Peak, we went to Victoria Park, where I saw a group of young men playing soccer...they weren't very good. Eh, didn't have time to go play them, so whatever. We dive into the bigger shopping districts, and there are so many shops, with like 10+ floors in every "mall." One of the bigger ones we went to was called Times Square...aptly named. This place was huge...the only thing missing was the crystal ball.
One of more well-known stores is Chow Tai Fook, or (Zhou Da Fu), a gold and jade jewelry store. My mom got a buddha, and my sister got a little double heart pendant. It's the same chain of stores that I got my Guanyin bodhisattiva from.
Later, we came upon the Ladies' Market...before you say anything, this is the largest street vendor booth set up that I've EVER seen. It sells everything from polo shirts to purses to soccer jerseys. Speaking of soccer jerseys...they're all fakes. The saleslady was trying to convince me that Michael Ballack, an idol of mine, played on a team that I KNOW he didn't play on. There's no point in trying to sell a fake soccer jersey to a guy who actually follows soccer. So after some shits and giggles from that venture, we kept going...after my mom got a purse, a wallet, some shoes, my sister got sunglasses, and my dad got 2 fake Polo shirts...the whole thing cost maybe...300-350 HK dollars...lol
Next stop? The Avenue of Stars...yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's a parkway along the side of the Hong Kong bay, and has all handprints and names of many famous Hong Kong movies stars and directors. Too bad for me, I didn't really know too many of them. Although, a few famous names did come up: Cecelia Cheung, John Woo, Bruce Li, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Stephen Chow. I compared hand sizes with Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Andy Lau. Jet's hands are smaller than mine, Jackie's are about my size, and Andy's hands are puny, which surprised me indeed.
We finished the day of exploring Hong Kong by eating at a restaurant that specialized in xiao long bao. I think I was extremely hungry or something, because I ate until I fell half into a food coma. Man, I think I have a weakness for those little things. Still, no complaints about food around here.
Right on schedule, pictures!
Octopus Card: http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/15/hongkong_octopuscard.jpg
Chow Tai Fook: http://img1.gootrip.com/attachments/326167/1216870083/12168704151716106206.jpg
Avenue of Stars (No I did not actually get to see him, but I did see where he left his mark): http://www.jackiechankids.com/images/JC_Ave_Stars_2.jpg
Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Traveller's Update 6/19/09
Mmm, might as well update you guys as much as I can while I still have a stable internet connection.
Today started way early, as we are leaving Taiwan and jumping on a plane to Hong Kong. We rode on Cathay Pacific, a Hong Kong airline, and my god, for a two hour flight, it was a pimped out plane. Normally, any flight that doesn't really last more than an hour or two, won't provide any food, since it's like up and down in air time. We got a full plate of breakfast: a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, fruit salad, a cup of orange juice, some Gruyere with crackers, and a roll. Nice.
After arriving in Hong Kong, the airport is huge. We went through immigration and customs faster than Usain Bolt ran the 100m, so that was a plus. My dad is here for a meeting at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), so a contact of his picked us up from the airport and drove us nearly an hour to the mountainous campus of CUHK. We stayed in the Guest House, which for a University isn't half bad, but that isn't really saying anything...this place makes the Knight Center at WashU look like a 4-5 star hotel, but I guess that's not a fair comparison. Let's just say even the internet connection was iffy until I set up a VPN connection through the school's dial-up network. At least that didn't take too long.
Aside from the Hot and Humid weather that I'm already used to from travelling around in Asia, Hong Kong is still organized much like the British system, where the driver's seat is on the right side, and everyone drives on the left side of the road...disorienting...silly Brits. After dropping all the luggage in the rooms, we went to grab lunch...at the CUHK student cafeteria. Now before you all cringe at the fact that I went to get cafeteria food, remember, this isn't University of Michigan cafeteria food (I'm not sure all of that is edible, sorry guys.), this is Hong Kong. You go up to the counter, and you pay first for tickets of whatever it is you want to eat, and then go to the correct booth (noodles, stirfry, japanese, grill, etc) to get your food. I got Roasted Duck + Rice, cost about 20 Hong Kong dollars (that's about $2.60!). Hell, after this trip to their cafeteria, I wouldn't mind being a student of CUHK just for their food, haha.
So we came back after lunch, and went back to the Guest House. The entire campus is like carved into the mountainside, so the roads are all either uphill or downhill...tiring. I'd be in great shape just walking to class. There is nothing else on the TV, other than Cantonese children's cartoons, and AlJazeera...haha, at least I get my world news from AlJazeera.
While my dad went to give a seminar for professors about his research, my mom, my sister and I went to the Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong to get some more HK dollars. Coolest thing ever: Hong Kong has a new 10 dollar bill, which is not made of paper. Rather, it's plastic and "washable." Man, these guys think of everything. Now people who are forgetful and put money through the wash can rest easy that their 10 dollar bills won't be phased what-so-ever by the wrath of their washing machines.
I tried contacting Jessica and Liz since they were both in Hong Kong at the time, but only Liz replied, and due to a dead cell phone that doesn't work in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan, I'm stranded. Bah, so close and yet so far.
We'll continue to explore Hong Kong tomorrow.
As expected, picture time!
CUHK Campus: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/40thanniversary/1024x768.jpg
CUHK Cafeteria: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ow6S8PmFACM/SWtEhUfOsnI/AAAAAAAAAFY/ZPkEmoqODUk/DSC00016.JPG
Roasted Duck + Rice: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/monophoto/leap%20day/2pm.jpg
Washable Money: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GZ0htXDae4lLsiuYWEOhu4iXlxT_e1w0HTxEJg4ZoIr6_tbWfM8ZON8ZqDEbRYU7vM9ZA64gq088DTGtHTtWkxzFD6sOQQThNgIUyzLJgOZMUBPzkjS-xIsFuyUUVTqieFrOe9nF8Mw9/s320/hk-money.jpg
Today started way early, as we are leaving Taiwan and jumping on a plane to Hong Kong. We rode on Cathay Pacific, a Hong Kong airline, and my god, for a two hour flight, it was a pimped out plane. Normally, any flight that doesn't really last more than an hour or two, won't provide any food, since it's like up and down in air time. We got a full plate of breakfast: a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, fruit salad, a cup of orange juice, some Gruyere with crackers, and a roll. Nice.
After arriving in Hong Kong, the airport is huge. We went through immigration and customs faster than Usain Bolt ran the 100m, so that was a plus. My dad is here for a meeting at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), so a contact of his picked us up from the airport and drove us nearly an hour to the mountainous campus of CUHK. We stayed in the Guest House, which for a University isn't half bad, but that isn't really saying anything...this place makes the Knight Center at WashU look like a 4-5 star hotel, but I guess that's not a fair comparison. Let's just say even the internet connection was iffy until I set up a VPN connection through the school's dial-up network. At least that didn't take too long.
Aside from the Hot and Humid weather that I'm already used to from travelling around in Asia, Hong Kong is still organized much like the British system, where the driver's seat is on the right side, and everyone drives on the left side of the road...disorienting...silly Brits. After dropping all the luggage in the rooms, we went to grab lunch...at the CUHK student cafeteria. Now before you all cringe at the fact that I went to get cafeteria food, remember, this isn't University of Michigan cafeteria food (I'm not sure all of that is edible, sorry guys.), this is Hong Kong. You go up to the counter, and you pay first for tickets of whatever it is you want to eat, and then go to the correct booth (noodles, stirfry, japanese, grill, etc) to get your food. I got Roasted Duck + Rice, cost about 20 Hong Kong dollars (that's about $2.60!). Hell, after this trip to their cafeteria, I wouldn't mind being a student of CUHK just for their food, haha.
So we came back after lunch, and went back to the Guest House. The entire campus is like carved into the mountainside, so the roads are all either uphill or downhill...tiring. I'd be in great shape just walking to class. There is nothing else on the TV, other than Cantonese children's cartoons, and AlJazeera...haha, at least I get my world news from AlJazeera.
While my dad went to give a seminar for professors about his research, my mom, my sister and I went to the Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong to get some more HK dollars. Coolest thing ever: Hong Kong has a new 10 dollar bill, which is not made of paper. Rather, it's plastic and "washable." Man, these guys think of everything. Now people who are forgetful and put money through the wash can rest easy that their 10 dollar bills won't be phased what-so-ever by the wrath of their washing machines.
I tried contacting Jessica and Liz since they were both in Hong Kong at the time, but only Liz replied, and due to a dead cell phone that doesn't work in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan, I'm stranded. Bah, so close and yet so far.
We'll continue to explore Hong Kong tomorrow.
As expected, picture time!
CUHK Campus: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/40thanniversary/1024x768.jpg
CUHK Cafeteria: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ow6S8PmFACM/SWtEhUfOsnI/AAAAAAAAAFY/ZPkEmoqODUk/DSC00016.JPG
Roasted Duck + Rice: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/monophoto/leap%20day/2pm.jpg
Washable Money: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GZ0htXDae4lLsiuYWEOhu4iXlxT_e1w0HTxEJg4ZoIr6_tbWfM8ZON8ZqDEbRYU7vM9ZA64gq088DTGtHTtWkxzFD6sOQQThNgIUyzLJgOZMUBPzkjS-xIsFuyUUVTqieFrOe9nF8Mw9/s320/hk-money.jpg
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