Wednesday 13th December 2006
I waved goodbye to Kunming and China today today as I flew to Guangzhou, took the airport bus to the centre of the city, a taxi to the railway station, a train to HOng Kong, then a Hong Kong taxi to the hostel. Phew! Going through Guangzhou is worth mentioning, if only for its street signs “No Honking in Urban Areas”. Unfortantly I was unable to take a photo of one. I was also very bemused by the Ikea plonked right in the middle of the city. Swedish China – Interesting. I was waiting in anticipation for the scaryness of the hostel as I had heard it looked like a derelict buildling but not to “Judge a book by its cover”. So when the taxi driver dropped me off at this big mansion block right in the middle of Tsim Tsa Tsui in Kowloon I looked up to gaze at my luxurious home for the next few nights. I’ve seen better buildings being demolished than this one, but onwards and upwards I went trying to ignore the touts at the entrance “you want room” “room with shower” “you want guesthouse”. Due to todays technological advances I had booked the hostel on line a few days before so I did not “want guesthouse”. It took me near on 13 attempts of going up to the 13th floor and down to the ground floor then up to the 13th floor again to find my home. Unlucky for some but I did find it eventually thanks to the very friendly security around the building. My room though not quite as high as china standards, was much bigger than i expected for I had also heard rumours of the rooms being as tiny as peas. Apparently some of the rooms were as tiny as peas, I had been lucky, however the bathrooms were as tiny as peas. Best to describe it as a very small toilet with a shower over the toilet and an even tinier basin, imagine a sindy house bathroom. Interesting – but hey this is Hong Kong. Exploring Hong Kong for an hour was plenty for me. Flashing neon signs “sony” “panasonic” “exchange currency” everywhere not to mention the 7 11’s on every corner, a bit like starbucks in new york – and there are plenty of starbucks here too. “Rolex, you want Rolex” “Come and see talor suits, very good price for you today” “hello there you want?” – I want to be left alone. A dizzying introduction to Hong Kong. After a well earned cup of tea (out came the Kettle – see there is a purpose for taking a kettle travelling) I met some girls from Austrlia and New Zealand so we all went wandering down the main street “Nathan Road” or the “Golden Mile” as it is also known to find “ladies market” – Kowloon’s most popular day-long street market apparently devoted to anyone with an eye for anything knick-knacky. It was fun to observe the ways of market dwellers well into the evening. It felt like about 10pm but was actually way passed midnight by the time we headed back. The street was still buzzing like a Saturday afternoon down London’s Oxford Street. Security were on the door of the Mansion building asking for ID as we approached. It made it feel really secure, its amazing how looks can be so deceptive. Never judge a book by its cover.