Days 15 & 16: Hong Kong


Hong Kong

We were pretty tired when we arrived, having left Shanghai early in the morning, and not getting much sleep. Perhaps sensing this, our guide walked us all the way to check-in. They certainly make sure you get where you’re going…

Last time I was in Hong Kong, the airport was in the middle of the city, and you could look into people’s apartments when you landed. With the aiport having been moved, it’s less nerve-wracking, but far less exciting. Still, we found the hotel easily enough. It was raining when we arrived, a steady drizzle that blurred out the passing skyline, but it didn’t last long.

We had dinner, a couple of drinks, and watched the Tour de F.

The next day, we just walked around. Not far from the hotel, we came upon some fashion thing: lots of models traipsing around on the stage. We watched for a bit – how could we not? – before heading off. Malls, malls, malls. Even for a person who enjoys shopping, it’s slightly overwhelming. And Hong Kong is so compact, it makes everything seem more intense.

We took the monorail up to Victoria Peak, where Stig encountered his nemesis from the flight. “That’s the fucker who kept putting his seat in my lap,” he hissed.

After failing to push said nemesis off of the Peak, we decided to put some distance between him and ourselves instead; we headed down to the dock and grabbed the ferry to out Cowloon. We had no particular plan, and there wasn’t much to see but more stores and counterfeit goods, but the guidebook says you get a good view of the skyline, and you do.

The next day, it’s off home. After checking out of the hotel, we headed to the train terminal; we’d noticed earlier that there was a movie theatre there, so instead of heading to the airport right away, we watched the latest Harry Potter movie first. It helped pass the time that would otherwise have been spent being bored at the airport.

And then, just like that, we were home.