City of light

Singapore has come and gone, not soon enough if you ask me. So the road was to take us to one of my favorite Asian cities: Hong Kong. A former British colony, now a Chinese Special Administrative Region. Would it remain cool or has it turned to shit?

Upon landing and queuing up in the immigration line I realized that Hong Kong has adopted same duty free rules towards tobacco as Singapore: 1 open pack of cigarettes permitted with no duty free allowance. Shit... and here I am, packing a carton of kretek from Bali and a pack of cigars. Fortunately, no one was the wiser and I squeaked through the customs unchecked. Phew... what a relief. We inquired at the information desk for we were about to check in to Courtyard by Mariott on Hong Kong island and found out there was a direct bus there: we wouldn't have to bother with transfers. Fantastic! After sending the missus out to get some change (exact change everywhere on the buses) we hopped on a double-decker and off we went.

Our little room in Marriott

It was another bit of luxury for us. Hotels are so bloody expensive in HK. Even the shittiest tea house hotels in the middle of nowhere start at around $60 and a proper hotel will run you at least $150. Instead I used the last remaining Marriott points and booked us a proper room in a nice hotel at a good location. Bloody brilliant thing with hotel loyalty points: if you have a chance, collect them any way you can. This room would've run us nearly $300 per night, instead, it was free. Room was quite small, which was a surprise for Marriott, but very nicely furnished with a view of the tallest building in HK and its port. Shower done, I called my friend Ruby for some hints what to do, what to see and to arrange a reunion meeting after 8 years. At around 2PM it was time to hit the town and explore the city a bit.

The recommendation from Ruby was to see Victoria Peak today, maybe even for the sunset. While this seemed like a good idea, the 2 hour queue to get onto the peak tram wasn't so enjoyable. It was the end of the holiday for the students and with bad weather looming around the corner everyone wanted to get a piece of the Peak action. We just saw the line, waved our hands at it and decided to go roam the city a bit.

Double-decker trams, double-decker buses, double-decker ferries... am I seeing double?

Every evening at around 8PM some of the skyscrapers in Hong Kong stage a light show, Light and Sound spectacular show or whatever they call it. The view is best from Kowloon side, so hopping on a traditional ferry and paying the extravagant fare of 2 HKD (about 25 cents US) we went to enjoy the show. Hong Kong ferries are an absolute must for anybody. Cheap, fun, sometimes crowded, they are the best way to travel between Victoria Island and the mainland side. And you can always bring a beer on board. :)

Let the light show begin

Kowloon side was extremely crowded an hour before the show. Tourists, locals, mainlanders, all swarming the pier in hordes. But a cold beer does the trick and the waiting game began. At 8PM sharp, loudspeakers started pounding Chinese and Classical music and the buildings across the bay started blinking and shooting off laser lights all around. It's Christmas! And definitely it is the most fun, free thing, you can do in Hong Kong.

Skyline's still nice after 8 years

Show was over within 15 minutes and it was finally time to get some food. We were starving. Once the ferry got back to star pier we grabbed a cab and headed to LKF for some food. A famous foodie area, which is absolutely swarming with bars. Food wise: it's actually not that great. Rather touristy, expensive and sub standard fare. We walked out a bit into the side streets before finding a nice looking local restaurant. Ma po tofu and ginger beef were on the plate and made us really quite happy. On the way home it was time to experience the 50 year old double-decker tram that runs quite slowly, but covers almost the entire length of the island, and most importantly, stops nearby our hotel. A charming experience not to be missed for sure. Tomorrow it would be the Peak (again) in the morning for another attempt to see Hong Kong from above.

Lan Kwai Fong and entrance to Soho: foodie area