On my way here to Hong Kong I experienced something unusual: personal escort from one plane to the other. I have absolutely no idea why they gave me that. It all took place in Tokyo, where I arrived with the flight from Auckland around 10-15 minutes late. I had nearly 50 min before boarding my next flight, so I was pretty calm when I stepped out of the flight. I got very surprised when there was a young Japanese woman standing there waiting for me (she had a big sign with my name, so it was hard to miss her). She hardly spoke any English and just told me that she would follow me to the next flight. I didn’t know if I should be offended or not. I mean – I know how to change planes (I have done it several hundred times before) and I wasn’t even in a hurry. Anyhow - I got to the next flight with more than 30 min to spare and a big question mark on my face.
When I booked my around the world trip I had a theme for every stop. For Hong Kong it was shopping, but also it was the stop where I shouldn’t have any plans and no activities pre booked. I wanted Hong Kong to be my summary spot and the place where I calmed down from all the previous experiences. Due to this I wanted to stay on a nice hotel, with a gym, SPA and a pool, so I could enjoy my time at the hotel and not feel forced out, as you can feel on bad hotels. But to afford this I had to stay on a hotel outside the city center – in Shatin.
The hotel turned out to be great and has all the things I needed, including a BIG shopping mall just next to it. I’m trying to make a use of it all. I have already taken one 3 hours massage (with body massage, foot massage and a facial) and another one hour Chinese massage. I have also been to the gym every morning at 7. (It hasn’t been difficult to motivate me to go there, since I feel quite fit after the hike so it is fun to exercise.) I have used the pool only once, but I’m planning to do it more. I still haven’t spent any time by the pool sun tanning, but maybe I will find the time to do that later. I have also taken 3 shopping rounds in the mall close by.
The hotel has a free shuttle service downtown so I have been down there as well. One day for shopping and one day for sightseeing and I’m planning to do a couple more trips there.
The only “problem” is the weather. It is quite hot to walk around (more than 35 degrees C), and at the same time the sky is not very clear (so all pictures turn out to be fairly grey). Another thing that is bothering me – I find Hong Kong to be very noisy and crowded. After the tranquility in New Zealand I get tired after only a few hours downtown or in the shopping center. There are just too many people everywhere.
Today I feel a bit sick (have a cold), so I’m not sure if I should force myself out tonight or to stay in and hope to get better tomorrow. Anyhow, I’m starting to feel ready with my vacation…..:-) I can’t take in any more new impressions. Funny – I didn’t think it would get that far.
We have similar SEMCON bear in Berling, so I thought it was funny to meet his "cousine" in Hong Kong.
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