Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a crazy place to visit. Definitely a contrast to the cozy little beach town of Byron Bay. It is hard not to be blown away by how crazy the skyline looks here at night. It's pretty impressive.
Feels awesome to be back in Asia. Only took me about 1 day to adjust back to the asian culture. For those of you who don't know, I had my first experience in Asia a couple of years ago when I did a trip to Thailand.....that kind of took care of that initial culture shock of being in these countries. The first night, I headed out to the crazy Temple Street night market, grabbed some chopsticks, some chinese cuisine (fried pork on rice), a local beer, and sat out on the street to take it all in. The sense of adventure is definitely back.
Honk Kong is pretty expensive compared to the rest of the Asian countries, but relatively cheap compared to Auz and NZ. My first night I ended up staying at the YMCA down by the waterfront. Price tag was a little expensive though ($40 for a dorm bed) so I ended up moving to Mirador Mansions up on the main drag (Nathan Road). This place is basically a pretty run down building with shady characters running around everywhere. It was perfect. I spent my first night in a closet with a bed that failed the great 3 Wall test (3 Wall Test: can touch 3 walls at once). I have since upgraded to a room with a bigger bed, a littel TV, and some sort of opening to the outside (I think she called it a window)......all for the price tag of $20/night. Sitting waiting for the elevator is a wild experience everytime. I have NEVER been to a place that has so many crazy cultures all squished in to one building. Guys from all over Africa, Arabian women, Indians wearing their authentic garments, other guys with big long white gowns. Is still funny getting in the elevators here, as I absolutely tower over everybody else in there. Almost kind of ackward.
I also got to go check out Hong Kong Island which is pretty cool. Spent a day up on the Peak which is basically a cool little mountain on the island that is actually formally called 'The Peak'. Got some pretty good views from up there. HK also has the largest permanent light show in the world. Every night at 8:00, the whole sky gets lit up and all the giant buildings go crazy with lights. Pretty cool sight to see every night, although I wouldn't want to know what it costs.
The people here are pretty funny in that they aren't very fond of other cultures (ie. racist as hell)......that includes the people from mainland China who HK people tend to think are bums. There also doesn't seem to be much of a queing system (line-ups). I go pretty out of my way to ensure that I am in the proper line up when I'm visiting these countries but here, it seems to be every man for himself.
Had a little trouble meeting people when I first rolled in here, given that there aren't really any hostels around. I had to go back to the old trusted strategy of just heading to a random bar, grabbing a beer, and seeing who I could meet. As is with every city in the world, I found the local Irish pub called Murphy's. As I was walking in, I noticed streamers everywhere, and that everyone was wearing green hats. Yup, that's right. I strolled into an Irish pub on St. Patties day and didn't even know it. Got to meet a big group of expats who were living here going to school. Ended up partying with them all night on HK Island.
I spent about a week in total in HK. Tried to get a bunch of rest as I was actually fighting off a cold (probably the result of a hard week of partying with Aldy). Now I'm heading off to Indonesia.....have been pretty excited about this country for a while.
Here are some pics that I stole from my new found friend's cameras. Not much, but best I could do. Tried to buy a camera in HK, but the guy tried to screw me at the last minute, so I politely told him to go #### himself.....you're not going to screw over this old weary traveller. In the end however, I am left camera-less, so maybe I did lose in the end.
Bye for now.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8ab2nqp.5i8irpz9&x=1&y=-l8boca
Feels awesome to be back in Asia. Only took me about 1 day to adjust back to the asian culture. For those of you who don't know, I had my first experience in Asia a couple of years ago when I did a trip to Thailand.....that kind of took care of that initial culture shock of being in these countries. The first night, I headed out to the crazy Temple Street night market, grabbed some chopsticks, some chinese cuisine (fried pork on rice), a local beer, and sat out on the street to take it all in. The sense of adventure is definitely back.
Honk Kong is pretty expensive compared to the rest of the Asian countries, but relatively cheap compared to Auz and NZ. My first night I ended up staying at the YMCA down by the waterfront. Price tag was a little expensive though ($40 for a dorm bed) so I ended up moving to Mirador Mansions up on the main drag (Nathan Road). This place is basically a pretty run down building with shady characters running around everywhere. It was perfect. I spent my first night in a closet with a bed that failed the great 3 Wall test (3 Wall Test: can touch 3 walls at once). I have since upgraded to a room with a bigger bed, a littel TV, and some sort of opening to the outside (I think she called it a window)......all for the price tag of $20/night. Sitting waiting for the elevator is a wild experience everytime. I have NEVER been to a place that has so many crazy cultures all squished in to one building. Guys from all over Africa, Arabian women, Indians wearing their authentic garments, other guys with big long white gowns. Is still funny getting in the elevators here, as I absolutely tower over everybody else in there. Almost kind of ackward.
I also got to go check out Hong Kong Island which is pretty cool. Spent a day up on the Peak which is basically a cool little mountain on the island that is actually formally called 'The Peak'. Got some pretty good views from up there. HK also has the largest permanent light show in the world. Every night at 8:00, the whole sky gets lit up and all the giant buildings go crazy with lights. Pretty cool sight to see every night, although I wouldn't want to know what it costs.
The people here are pretty funny in that they aren't very fond of other cultures (ie. racist as hell)......that includes the people from mainland China who HK people tend to think are bums. There also doesn't seem to be much of a queing system (line-ups). I go pretty out of my way to ensure that I am in the proper line up when I'm visiting these countries but here, it seems to be every man for himself.
Had a little trouble meeting people when I first rolled in here, given that there aren't really any hostels around. I had to go back to the old trusted strategy of just heading to a random bar, grabbing a beer, and seeing who I could meet. As is with every city in the world, I found the local Irish pub called Murphy's. As I was walking in, I noticed streamers everywhere, and that everyone was wearing green hats. Yup, that's right. I strolled into an Irish pub on St. Patties day and didn't even know it. Got to meet a big group of expats who were living here going to school. Ended up partying with them all night on HK Island.
I spent about a week in total in HK. Tried to get a bunch of rest as I was actually fighting off a cold (probably the result of a hard week of partying with Aldy). Now I'm heading off to Indonesia.....have been pretty excited about this country for a while.
Here are some pics that I stole from my new found friend's cameras. Not much, but best I could do. Tried to buy a camera in HK, but the guy tried to screw me at the last minute, so I politely told him to go #### himself.....you're not going to screw over this old weary traveller. In the end however, I am left camera-less, so maybe I did lose in the end.
Bye for now.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8ab2nqp.5i8irpz9&x=1&y=-l8boca
posted by Ryan D. MacIntyre | 1:16 PM
4 Comments:
Alright did I see a little red poop scoop hanging above your bed?? Whats that all about? I'd be wearing sandles around there if i were you....or maybe they call them 'thongs' (twongs?) i dunno :0 Anywho, looks pretty neat, say hi to jackie Chan and the triads for me....do you do your own stunts now?
ttyl
sly
Ryno,
Thanks for the pics of the Dutch girl - helps with my visualization technique...
Stinch
亀乯乕云亜亵
乔丛临主举争
上丆临丧丫中久也乢
丑且丗丗丟东 丵乚乗
Ryno,
I have dig your blog. I am glad to see that you have ventured on such a great voyage. I think you have a future in journalism on your hands...This blog is a resume in itself.
Stew
Post a Comment
<< Home