When planning to go to Hong Kong, you could kind of say, I didn’t plan it. The idea came into my head when one of my flights stopped over in Shanghai and so I thought to myself why don’t I just stop here and explore it. Turned out that you needed a visa to go here and so a travel agent suggested Hong Kong to be an easier port of entry instead of mainland China. Looking back Im glad I made this decision. It seemed like fate that when in Rishikesh, I met Nuno from Portugal who had recently moved to Hong Kong, Ilana from the U.S who lived there and Doroty who was from Hong Kong. I had planned to visit all of them once I had arrived, and It wasn’t until I was in Bali that I met another person associated to H.K- Joe. His sister lived there and he would be visiting the same time as me. I was excited to reunite with everyone! My first night in H.K didn’t go according to plan, and ultimately left me wanting to leave straight away, due to experience, not the place itself. I stayed in Yesinn Hostel at Causeway Bay which ended up costing over €25 per night.I was lucky I had just booked one night, because at 1am, I found a bedbug beside me, to my disgust I caught it and brought it to reception where I obviously complained and demanded to be moved. After they ‘generously’ moved me out of my rip of 21 bed dorm, to a more ‘private’ 9 bed dorm, I still couldn’t sleep. The following morning, after checking out, I demanded a refund from the manager who in an overly nice ‘we are trying to help you’ tone of voice told me that this was a rare occasion and they would see about refunding me. This was before she put and Ipad in front of me and ordered me to write a good comment about them, being generous to me. Of course, I declined and said I would do that In my own time, not when it is forced upon me, to her shock. $250HKD richer, I left the hostel and hopped on the metro to TST where I checked into a cheaper hostel in Chung King Mansions. My second day was not so bad, and after I checked into my clean 4 bed dorm, I went back to Causeway Bay to meet Nuno for lunch. After our reunion, I headed off on my own walking tour, up the mid-levels escalators (famous in H.K) and checked out the bars of SoHo along the way. Afterwards I headed to Victoria Harbour to watch the Symphony of Lights, before carrying on home to a well-deserved quiet room where I chilled out with a face mask and dye in my hair. It wasn’t long before I was interrupted by a Chinese man and later on two other men, who took over the room with their snoring and typical ‘manisms’. Nevertheless, It was better than Yesinn Hostel that’s for sure. The next day I met Dorothy at Star Ferry where we took the famous tram up the very steep Victoria peek for amazing views. We then headed to the ladies market in Mong Kok where I explored the rows and rows of cheap accessories and things. We had a lovely reunion meal- Indian of course-, In Miss India restaurant which was so yummy. Dorothy was so lovely and helpful and It was great to see her again and reminisce about Rishikesh times. The following day I took a day trip around Hong Kong with Big Bus Tours, which was amazing. I started with the tour of Kowloon, followed by tour of Stanley/Aberdeen where I took a boat trip around the fishing village and then later on a tour around Hong Kong Island. The whole day was super tiring but I got to see so many things in Hong Kong. That evening, Joe and I met up and went to the races in Sha Tin, where we had no luck, but enjoyed the experience and hanging out. On my last full day, I bought an Ipad mini and an Iphone 5c from Nuno at the enormous Apple Store. I was amazed at the savings compared to home, because of the lack of sales tax in Hong Kong. I was never the kind of person to spend so much on technology but after having my first IPhone stolen, I realised I wasn’t human again until I was reunited with a new one. Those purchases made me so happy that day and evening that I pretty much spent my Halloween downloading apps, transferring pictures/music and playing with my new toys. I was in heaven. My last day in Hong Kong, started with an amazing treat from Dorothy who met me at Chung King Mansions and took me to a local vegetarian restaurant for breakfast Dim Sum. We ordered heaps of things which I absolutely loved and was so happy to be finishing my trip to H.K with a typical Chinese meal. After saying a huge thank you and goodbye to Dorothy, she waved me off at the airport bus stop as I set off to go to Japan. Once in the airport I collected my beloved yoga mat which had been lost from my previous flight, and checked in for my flight to Osaka early. My plan was to head to the Big Buddha by local bus and be back on time for my flight… And I was, just about. The queues for the Big Buddha were crazy but with a few prayers and miracles on my side, I made it back on time to board my plane. I said goodbye to Hong Kong and hello to Shanghai where I would stay for 12 hours before going to my next port of call- Osaka. H.K was great and was a lot more than I expected it to be, there is no doubt I will go back and explore whatever I have missed, and visit my friends once again!
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