My title 'Traveller 299' is the total number of days I will be travelling for; I discovered this when I arranged Travel Insurance and I thought '299' had a good ring to it.
I left Melbourne late last night (flight QF029 at 23:55) - finally on my way after all the build up!
I am currently writing from a (tiny) hostel room in Hong Kong. I have a double bed and own bathroom, but it's amazing how they can fit these items into such an inconceivably small space! The shower hangs over the toilet, and the bed is built into the wall - I am glad I forked out extra $ for a window!
I arrived in Hong Kong early this morning, and managed to navigate to the hostel following the very detailed (very green?!) instructions I had written out for myself (Airport bus - Hostel). At 7:30am the room was clearly not ready, so after dumping my pack I spent the next ~ 6 hours wandering around Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. I didn't have much of a plan, and the day was very grey and overcast (quite cold actually), so I basically just walked around, figured out how to use the transport system (Octopus card) and acquainted myself with the 'feel' of the city:
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| A 'requiste Hong Kong street image |
- Kowloon Park is just across the road from the hostel. At 8am this morning it was filled with (mostly older) people doing tai chi: it can be quite a funny thing to watch - all flailing (sp?) arms. There were a few groups that looked to be quite skilled, including a large group of women performing dance-like moves to beautiful Chinese music.
- I realised I was in Asia when I discovered squat toilets in the park (hiking skills put into place here!)
- I had my first 'photo with random stranger (a couple asked me to take a photo, and then he wanted a photo with me - I know its not uncommon, but I still think its odd to want a photo of someone you don't know!)
- The city definitely doesn't come alive until late. A lot of shops seemed to only start opening around 10am, and the streets were very quiet until lunch time.- There are signs (Chinese & English) and maps EVERYWHERE! It's great... every corner has a map with 'you are here'.
- Being a tourist in Hong Kong just feels like fitting in: there are people taking photos everywhere (mostly Chinese) and groups of (white, English speaking) tourists on every corner.
- The only places I have been approached ("do you need a hostel / tour bus / cheap watch"?) are outside this hostel on Nathan Rd (main st) and outside the ferry terminal. Everywhere else, I just felt I could wander around in anonymity.
During my wandering, I came across a tiny cafe that had a magazine article pasted in the window "Hong Kong's 20 best coffee spots". I was in fact on my way to another cafe I had read about... but I decided I couldn't pass up the chance to test this one out. I went in, and ordered a small latte: which came in a decent sized mug! The latte art was impressive (and the coffee wasn't too bad either):
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| Latte Art at 'Soft Aroma' Cafe |
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