Weekend Getaway to 香港 Asia's World City (Part I)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to Hong Kong over the weekend to avoid getting kicked out of Taiwan so that I could be in Taiwan for another 90 days visa-exempt. Unfortunately the weekend passed by way too quickly and I can't believe that I'm back in Taichung already. I had a blast in Hong Kong though and as promised, I am doing a post on my time in Hong Kong. First things first however, I shall be updating you on the status of my (now ex-)alien residency.

As I have said, my ARC expired on July 31st, which was the very day that we were flying out of Taiwan. When I checked in at the airport, the check-in agent asked for my ARC along with my passport and asked me if I was coming back, to which I told him that I would be in Taiwan for another two weeks after Hong Kong (it's actually three--oops). I think it was just customary for them to ask and make sure but it was funny because my roommate thought that I would not be allowed to return to Taiwan, which the check-in agent assured her was not the case. Likewise when I was checking in at Hong Kong International Airport to return to Taiwan, the check-in agents asked if I'd be returning. I was confused because I thought they meant returning to Hong Kong, which I (sadly) would not be. Turns out they meant to the States and they even asked how long I would be staying in Taiwan and whether I had bought my return ticket home yet. I'm not sure why they in Hong Kong would have to make sure I wasn't overstaying my visit in Taiwan but I guess they were just obligated to make sure I knew the laws. Again it was no issue as I assured them I'd only be in Taiwan for another two weeks (three) and that I had already bought my ticket back home. Getting through immigration at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was no issue either and I got my Visa-exempt stamp allowing me to stay for another 90 days. Also I got to keep my ARC which I didn't get to keep when I left South Korea, so I'm pretty pleased by that. Hopefully it wasn't a mistake and they won't be asking for it back when I leave Taiwan for real. Anyways, onto my weekend in Hong Kong!

My two little stowaways enjoying the view on the High Speed Rail from Taichung to Taipei

Like I said, I was a little nervous about going to Hong Kong on account of my lack of Cantonese fluency, but I need not have had worried--Hong Kong is after all, deemed Asia's World City, and for good reason. We took Hong Kong Airlines and the flight attendants all spoke Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, no problem. Still though I tried to use as much Cantonese as possible--I stumbled and stuttered a bit here and there but I think I did alright, or was comprehensible at the very least. 

Hong Kong International Airport--some sort of miniature art exhibit

Another little exhibit at the airport on Cantonese opera I believe it was

Hong Kong International Airport was pretty easy to navigate and while I was there I managed to pick up a lot of free Hong Kong guides, brochures, and maps. There were also people standing in the immigration area wearing these Hong Kong Summer Fun t-shirts handing out envelopes for free gifts, which you can collect out in the arrival area and I managed to pick up one of those too.

Turns out Hong Kong Summer Fun is an initiative by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to attract more tourists to Hong Kong. You can check out their English website here for more information. But basically we received coupons and maps for various shops and different tourist attractions as well as a VIP card that you could present to participating stores for special discounts and deals, and most importantly, a card for a free 7-day wifi! We couldn't seem to get connected however so we went to the 1010 store in the airport and since we were only going to be there for the weekend, a store employee ended up giving us a card for a 3-day version. Unfortunately I couldn't seem to get it to work  on my android phone but it worked perfectly fine for my roommate who had an iPhone.

Mine also came with a coupon for a glasses store, while my roommate got a coupon for the city tour bus. We also got rubber ducks!

Free guides and brochures! And more coupons they were giving out for the famous Ngong Ping360 attraction.

I'll admit now to a little fear I had of going to Hong Kong (besides the whole language bit)--I was afraid of being disappointed. It might seem like a strange thing to fear, but I had wanted to go to Hong Kong for as long as I could remember and thinking about it, I wasn't even sure why I wanted to go so badly. I think the biggest thing was the language factor, but also for Hong Kong's culture and history, and of course, the food--especially the dim sum! It wasn't that I had any specific ideas on what to expect in Hong Kong, but I couldn't help but wonder, what if I end up not liking Hong Kong? What if, after all those years of wanting to go, I'm disappointed by what I find? Turns out, I needn't have worried--I got my first glimpse of Hong Kong beyond the airport--and I fell in love.

Getting excited and trying to capture the scenery while inside the moving train

This shot turned out a lot better--we're in Hong Kong!

A very nice thing about Hong Kong International Airport is that it is very easy to get from the airport to any of the other islands via the MTR (the Hong Kong subway) as you can simply take the airport express train and transfer to any other train. Granted it was a little pricier than we expected at HK $100 (~US $12.90) to get from the airport to Hong Kong Island but in retrospect, considering how fast and convenient the Airport Express was, it was worth the price. However, as the Octopus Card (the Hong Kong metro card) costs HK $150 (HK $50 for the card with a value of HK $100 for riding) we had to refill it after that one use.

Actually I think I started to fall in love when I first laid eyes on the Airport Express train

This nifty little board indicates how far along you are between stations too

The Hong Kong MTR system is actually quite simple and easy to navigate (especially if you're coming from New York City's MTA) and as in Taipei and Seoul was very clean. All the announcements on the trains were in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English (with a British(?) accent) for all the tourists.

Inside of the train

Day 1: First Impressions, Avenue of Stars, Central District

Hong Kong, people say, is a very fast-paced city where everyone is rushing around all the time all over the place. While I wouldn't say it's untrue, it wasn't really something I noticed until my friends pointed it out. Actually being in Hong Kong didn't even feel like I was in a different country--not that it felt like I was still in Taiwan, because it definitely did not, but while I was in a new place, it didn't feel like I was in an unfamiliar place in terms of the overall atmosphere. In a lot of ways, Hong Kong is reminiscent of New York City with its fast pace, busy streets, dense population, and an unexpected (for me anyways) amount of diversity. Despite the similarities though, you could never mistake it for being in New York. For one thing, Hong Kong was definitely cleaner (Asia just seems to be cleaner in general), indoors and out. Hong Kong also felt more modern and fast-paced--some of the MTR stations had computers with internet access for people to use at their disposal and there were moving walkways all over the place--indoors, outdoors, at MTR stations, in the malls (unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures).

Shamelessly fangirling in the MTR station

One thing I did notice was the weather--it was hot. Actually Hong Kong weather was a lot like Taichung weather--bright and sunny and somewhat humid (but not as much so as Taipei); I can't be sure of this but I think Taiwan is hotter than Hong Kong--we were walking around all day with our luggage (which wasn't very much or very heavy, but to carry that around in the sun all day) and while I was definitely sweating it was not to the extent that I felt drenched (or perhaps because it was late afternoon?). Still though it was hot and as such, the air conditioner was on full blast in practically every facility we were in from the MTR to the mall to restaurants--to the point that we felt cold, which of course only made it feel hotter when we were back outside.

As our hostel was all the way in 柴灣 (Chai Wan--the last stop on the Island Line of the MTR) and we were meeting a friend of my roommate's for dinner at 中環 (Central), we decided not to stray too far from that area in the interest of saving time so, as per my suggestion, we decided to hit the famous 星光大道 Avenue of Stars along Victoria Harbour.

A replica of the Hong Kong Film Awards statuette at the Salisbury Garden entrance of the Avenue of Stars

The Aqua Luna or 張保仔 in the Victoria Harbour

It was cool going to the Avenue of Stars and seeing names that I recognized especially names of Hong Kong actor-actresses, singers, and celebrities. There were a lot of statues along the way as well--some of celebrities and some movie-related ones like a cameraman in the middle of filming with a director's chair nearby and everything.

Statue of Cantopop Diva 梅艷芳 Anita Mui

Rolling!
(I have no clue who the woman is, but I just wanted a shot of the statues)

邊個唔知劉德華?

You can't not have Bruce Lee on the Avenue of Stars! 

張栢芝 Cecilia Cheung whose movies and music I grew up watching and listening to--it was like being transported back to my childhood!

The two little stowaways on the Avenue of Stars

The view was amazing too

But the main reason I wanted to go to the Avenue of Stars...

I just wanted a picture with 麥兜 alone, but with all the people, it was either get in the shot or get a shot with random strangers in it

McDull! The famous piggy of Hong Kong. If you don't know who he is, I suggest you look him up. Right now. And while you're at it, go watch some of his shorts on YouTube. I recommend the goldfish one. In fact I don't know if I would have been so interested in the Avenue of Stars had it not been for McDull, haha.

Anyways, as the time was nearing for us to be meeting my roommate's Hong Kong friend, we decided to head over to 中環站 Central Station. She was super nice and took us to the famous 蓮香樓 Lin Heung Tea House for dinner, which is known for its history and traditional style meals and dim sum (with the carts and everything!) in the mornings, which apparently can get quite fierce and competitive. As we were going for dinner however, it was a relatively calm affair.

Afterwards, she took us around Central District, showing us the night life there. There was actually a lot of foreigners there, mostly Caucasians, most of them in business attire or clubbing attire and they were all concentrated in these classy restaurants and bars. It was a little strange to me and I admit, they kind of had that stereotypical rich white vibe about them. Of course there were a fair share of Asians there all dressed up too, but it seemed like the majority of them were white. It was like the flipped version of Chinatown back in New York City--except instead of a community of Chinese people in New York, you had a community of Caucasians in Hong Kong. Is that bad to say?

The area we were in had rather steep slopes--hence a rather extensive moving walkway system

In any case, afterwards we went to the rooftop garden of ifc Mall to relax a little and enjoy Hong Kong's night scenery. Of course there were posh restaurants and classy bars there too, but you were hardly obligated to buy anything. In fact, despite all the rich restaurant patrons, there was actually a good handful of people there just to unwind and take in the view and weather like us--by that time, it was a lot cooler and there was even a nice breeze blowing.

Art atop the roof

We hung around for a little bit before my roommates and I decided to head to our hostel as we were all super tired from waking up early and traveling about all day. It was quite an exciting first day though and my first impressions of Hong Kong were definitely all positive!

Stay tuned for Part II...