November 12, 2018

A 3-hour flight from Beijing to our next destination…

HONG KONG! We had to skip out of China for a spell in order to get back in as required by our 144-hour visa status. We didn’t think that we would have to play our FlashPackerz card this soon but OHHHHH we so did! Note to all…

The pictures that foreign countries use to advertise their lodgings may not be as they seem. Beijing was a little rougher around the edges than the picture but nothing compared to our booked room in HK.

F*ck a Peking duck…

What a crime scene. Ever seen the Hangover? They woke up in the hallways of this cesspool.  It was an awful walk upstairs to “check it out.” I didn’t get any more than one pic mainly because I was so shocked that this was what we paid for.

The owner shuffled around to gain access to the cell so we could peek our “mind’s already been made up” heads in and confirm what we knew was going to transpire. A 10×10 room with two beds and a shower squished in. No windows and no A/C. Advertising fail. Once the owner had realized that we were on our way south on this northbound train well she let it all hang out…

Hisses and some sort of “get the eff out” hand gesture was all we needed to seal the deal. Gross…

Making it to the street below unscathed was a true accomplishment. I was sure that we would be met by some fella in a leather coat demanding that we stay even though we have already forfeited our room fee.

Now to find WIFI so we can get a place to stay! Oh, look there’s a McDonalds! A couple of Oreo McFlurrys and 4X the amount we just paid to NOT STAY at “Failure in a Sadness Bowl” and we have a room.

Uptown…

Wayyyyyyyy uptown. 30 minutes on the subway. Not so bad. Wrong turn out the exit and climb more stairs than the Great Wall only to turn back around and descale. Not so bad. Walk our way through downtown Hong Kong with all our gear and plus 27C weather. Holy hot tamales, sista!!

I can feel the sweat running down my… You get the drift! Arriving at The Cozi Oasis, which by the way does not fit into this area whatsoever, the 4-star hotel does not disappoint. REAL mattresses and a shower that doesn’t bleed out the door is all we need to justify this FlashPackerz card that we just played.

The night concludes with the best meal that we have had to date. A small, Tai, hole in the wall joint makes all of our previous stress and sweat disappear. Poof! Until we walk back out and now sweaty undercarriage has set in again…

Good night from Hong Kong. Please pay no never mind to the clothes that we have washed and are now hanging from every knob and handle in the room. WE ARE CANADIAN…

November 13/2018

Awakening from our deep slumber in hotel “bed’s to short” I’m off to grab a cup of joe! There is no take away in the hotel so I proceed to find the closest 7-11 in hopes of striking up another meaningful relationship with the store-keeper. Much to my dismay, there is no “latte hot” here in this SEV. Dang…

Unable to nail down a good cup of coffee, our next best bet is to head out into what I have now deemed as the over populated pits of hell. Are you kidding me? This is like that old self-improvement trick where you put the pin pong balls in the jar until it is full then ask the audience if they think the jar is full and if course the answer is yes. The instructor then proceeds to pour marbles into the jar, they take up the available space and again the audience is asked if the jar is full. The answer is an amazed and resounding YES! The instructor then takes a bag of sand and fills the remaining space with sand…

Yes, Hong Kong is like this except the Ping-Pong balls, marbles and sand are all HUMAN BEINGS and the jar is a frickin tea cup. Overflowing and on the verge of exploding, I believed that this city had the most people per square inch of any other city in the world. I say square inch because there is like 14 bodies crammed within every inch here. Insane. Looking up its actual population density (6300/km2), boy am I wrong. We have a couple of the top cities in overall population density to visit yet on our trip and they are 3-4 times as populated… Excitement sandwich!!

Enough about the less than positive aspects of Hong Kong and focus on what we DID ENJOY!

I pause…

Oh!

Nope…

Today is our only real “exploring” day. A must see in Hong Kong is the Peak Tram rail system that has been around since like forever. This tram has been taking both passengers and residents up the mountain for over 130 years! The Peak Tram takes you on a 27 degree ride up to the highest observation point in the city for a fantastic view of the mainland and the Island. I have to admit that this was a great view. Good pictures and video but extremely pricey if you wanted to eat or drink anything. A state-of-the-art facility that sees you go down a hallway that resembles an underground tunnel system from WW2 in order to go to the toilet. Definitely out of place.

Satisfied with our footage, we proceeded to head down and brave the crowds once more. Luckily it was LUNCHTIME in Hong Kong so we got waaaaaaayyyy more than we bargained for! Yay!! The only thing on our minds now was to get to the water to regenerate our souls. Step by step we managed to squeeze our way back and forth through the system of human bumper cars and land in a good old KFC for lunch. I didn’t care where we ate at this moment, only that I put SOMETHING in my stomach. The kids of course loved the idea. So, it was.

After a finger lickin’ good meal, we head off to continue our search of water. As we reach the bay, we notice an extremely high number of FIT humans here. This was a treat! The smell of the ocean and the feeling of some sort of freedom, being out of the ant-pile… we sit.

The Star Ferry is also a must see while visiting Hong Kong. In fact, I believe that’s pretty much the only other must see. Maybe the big Buddha but we didn’t have time. The ferry didn’t leave for 6 hours so we had some time to waste. A traveling family that had lived in Hong Kong had mentioned to head down to Stanley Market if we had time and well, we did, so off we go. I wanted to avoid taking taxis whenever possible mainly because of cost but also for safety reasons. Our options were limited so we looked for the most unintimidating driver that we could and jumped in.

“Gei do cen Stanley Market me goi!?” Or something like that. I am not fluent in Cantonese yet.

“$110 HK dollars please.” He says back in almost perfect English.

Hmmmmm…

“Ok that sounds reasonable.” I say back in almost perfect English and we are off!

He takes the time to point out several different buildings all of which we had no time to capture on film because he made mention after we passed them but no matter, the thought was there…

Upon arriving at Stanley market about 30 mins later, he drops us off at the shopping area but we immediately proceed to the beach. Unaware until now, Hong Kong had endured a the most devastating Typhoon in 17 years here on the south east corner of the island. I started to now clue in to why there was so much bamboo scaffolding set up everywhere (absolutely amazing in itself… see pictures) and so much construction. As we turned the corner to go to the beach, the sign reads:

“Due to urgent clearance work after the typhoon and maintenance of shark prevention net, the beach is temporarily closed until further notice. Red flag has been hoisted at the beach. Beach-goers are advised not to swim.”

SHARK PREVENTION NET??!!

Cool…

We enjoyed a nice time at the beach. Hahahaha… WE ARE CANADIAN!

Anxious to check out the shopping at Stanley Market, we dry of our feet and most of Lela and head off to check out all of the wares that this market has to offer.

I was let down…

Again.

The prices were crazy! Everything was way overpriced but I suppose that was to be expected beings a tourist trap. I tried to barter on a couple fridge magnets but the store keep would have nothing of it and commanded me to put them back. LOL.

That was it for me. The kids got a cool overpriced magnetic bead cube each and Patty and I actually purchased each a beaded bracelet on our way out. This guy actually bartered a bit so I left with less of a sour taste in my mouth.

Running out of time, we have to find a cab and head back to Pier 6 to catch the Star Ferry. I quite enjoyed this cab ride back. The cabbie was very pleasant, spoke perfect English and enlightened us on a couple of things we were wondering about. How much does it cost to buy a Ferrari here? What does the average person make in Hong Kong per month and how much does it cost for an average apartment?

Here were his answers:

$450,000 CDN for a Ferrari… WHAAAAATTT?? Ok then. How much for this little shitty Toyota that you drive us around in? $45,000 CDN. Holy shit…

He goes on to tell us that a cab licence costs only a little less than a 360 square foot apartment. Right around the $850,000 CDN mark.

Well suck me sideways…

That will definitely limit your ability to make a good living here. That’s for sure. The average student right out of college can expect to make around $2500/month CDN. The math doesn’t add up. Brutal.

Check mark on my list of places not to live.

We wish our cabbie all the best with his new family and rush off for the ferry…

The Star Ferry runs at night and takes you on a nice, romantic, hour long tour of Victoria Harbour where you can soak up the lights of Hong Kong at night! This was also very enjoyable and the fact that we once again scored in the “nobody really around” category, made it even that much more pleasing to the senses. The over Christmas-ing of the buildings already was a little crazy but beautiful nonetheless. A must see if you, for some reason, after reading this blog still drag your ass to this place.

The subway ride back was a bitch. Everyone works until 7 or 8 at night and that’s the exact time we decided to catch a ride back. After waiting for our shuttle that apparently didn’t run at this very time we grabbed a cab and headed for the hotel. Worn out and totally spent, Patty and I enjoy a nice glass of wine, get the blog updated and get some shut eye. Another big day of traveling tomorrow.

Destination…

Wait and see!