Hong Kong: Day 1

19 hours on the highest bunk of the sleeper cabin with some really inconsiderate cheena bunkmates below, was not the start of a trip I was anticipating. Sighs!

Once we were off the train, the trip got better. Hong Kong is a city island with sky scrapers and overwhelming number of Blacks. I am serious. The number of Blacks I passed by within a distance of about 100 meters was close to 5 or 6. And this continued every 100 meters. Indians second the list. There were a significant number of them here compared to back home in Shanghai. There were a whole load of other nationalities as well.

Jan and myself are currently residing in the Tsim sha Tsui area. It is pretty near to the main city centre and the CROWDED Mong Kok area (This Mong Kok arena is the sight that many are greeted to in magazines and travel shows when talking about Hong Kong). This Mong Kok area was full of expatriates and Chinese. You can sense a 60- 40 proportion of either parties respectively. It was the most crowded compared to other locations in Hong Kong. There is a Levis' store in this area that sells the cheapest original Levi's Jeans on the planet it seems. How genuine? I'm gonna find out tomorrow. There is also this really long street where you can find all kinda stuff from clothes to bags to toys to god knows what. It is at this place where one can bargain and get the stuff at a cheaper rate as well. The street, for reasons unknown, is called 'Ladies Street'.

Hong Kong has interesting sights if one is keen in exploring a city and not wander of to search for nature spots.

There is another street; 'Canton Street'. This street however is along the coast of Kow loon facing the awesome view of Hong Kong Island on the other side. ( In this case I ought to mention that the Bigger Hong Kong is devided into Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula.) Hong Kong Island has the awesome night view with the lights from the skyscrapers brightening up the night sky. This Island is also the main Central Business District of the region.

Back to Canton Street, this street lines with boutiques of famous brands. Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and other brands that I have haven't heard of stood guard on both sides of the Street. No, I did not walk to any of them. Firstly I appeared as if I was from the slums of China and secondly I knew that walking in would mean a BIG FAT HOLE in my pocket and I cannot afford that!

Walking along the streets at 11pm was better than walking into any of those stores. Trust me. You can sit along the coast of the river that parts the 2 regions of Hong Kong and admire the view. Or, you can take a city walk along the Britsh style infrastructures. City walks at nights is an awesome activity one should try. It is as good as taking a morning walk along the beach before sunset. And  that was when I spotted this  somewhat look alike of the Big Ben left behind by the British occupation. It was a rather cool 'Made in Hong Kong Big Ben'. An interesting aspect of Hong Kong would be the Bristish old style buildings. The Hong-kees have decided to used these very same buildings for the boutiques and further accessorized it with hotel style lighting. A bit of both the West and the East is what Hong Kong is all about :)

When taking a walk along the river, one is actually walking  along the Star Avenue. I cannot recall the exact name for the walkway but yes stars of Hong Kong have left their palm prints together with their autograph on tiles in the ground. These tiles have the celebrity's name and respective prints on it. There was also a statue of Hong-Kee Bruce Lee. He was a little chubbier as a statue.

Took loads of pictures but sadly Lara (my laptop) refuses to read the memory card. :( Gonna get a memory card reader tomorrow. Hopefully that helps :)

Today was a pretty long post, tomorrow the pictures will do the talking. Nights!