Yesterday we got up late (again!) and checked out just in time, after a quick lunch, we were whisked away to the airport for our final transfer flight, and our last stop, Hong Kong. We arrived in Hong Kong and it was then time for my travel guide (Rosie) to sort us out :). We picked up our Octupus cards and tickets for the Airport Express and headed into Kowloon. After struggling around the complex for a bit, we found a taxi to take us to our hotel. The hotel seemed very nice from the outside, but they had managed to screw everything up and tried charging us a lot more than we agreed to pay, and requested a HK$1000 deposit (about £80). This, however, should be sorted soon because Alex and Mitzi (from Wexas) are on the case.
After the hassle from last night, we decided to get out of the hotel early and hunt for breakfast. We looked at the map and found we were quite a way from the nearest MTR (metro/tube) station so we asked the concierge which was closest, and the easiest way to get there. He informed us that there was an MTR bus service that went from outside the front door all the way to the station. Brilliant! That makes life so much easier. So we hopped on and went into the middle of Kowloon peninsula to Tsim Sha Tsui. The view across to Hong Kong Island was spectacular.
With breakfast out of the way, it was time to have a look around, see what was about. We started by walking along the waterfront to see the view, and to try to see the iconic “junks” that are in every picture you see of Hong Kong. Unfortunately we had no such luck. We then walked along the Avenue of Stars trying to spot names we recognised. We saw Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh and a host of other names we didn’t recognise. There was also a big statue of Bruce Lee in the middle to celebrate his life and his efforts in bringing Chinese/Hong Kong cinema to the world.
Our next stop was a walk through Kowloon park on route to BP International to check out the Hong Kong scouting headquarters, and to check what their discounted rate was for Scouts to stay there. BPI is a massive hotel with four floors dedicated to the Hong Kong Scout Association. It appears that they are a lot more organised here than they are in the home of Scouting. Nevermind. We didn’t get any pictures this time, but when Mark arrives, I’m sure he’ll also want to visit so we’ll take pictures then.
We finished the day off with a visit to the Temple Street night market, and dinner at a Chinese fast food place. Turns out Chinese fast food is just big cheap meals that are served quickly. It was lovely, and well worth the HK$30 we paid for it :).