マイク＆サム·ヘッド東！- A journey to Hong Kong & Japan - May 2014 - Day 2 - ARRIVING IN HONG KONG

[soarinfan]

Day 2 - Tuesday 6th May 2014 - Arriving in Hong Kong

So we had arrived! We were actually in Hong Kong. Most of the way around the world from home and scarily as good as the width of a planet away from Orlando! (Boggles the mind...!)

The walk from the aircraft to the immigration area was pretty long as seemingly we had parked up at the end of the pier. However the whole immigration process was incredibly quick and smooth. Unfortunately to stamp lovers you no longer receive a stamp in your passport! It's actually very similar to the process in Argo it would seem if anyone has seen the film. You fill out a slip, part 1 is retained by the immigration officer, you keep part 2 and you're given a little sticker. When you leave Hong Kong the immigration officer you first come across will take the slip from you, and the sticker is checked later on just before you get on the plane. If you lose either fear not as I've been reliably informed you can get a replacement free of charge from the airport before you pass through security.

So yes, through immigration, now we had the longest part of all - baggage reclaim! I can only imagine that because the rest of the experience at Hong Kong was so flawless and speedy, we had over taken the bags and had to wait a good 15 minutes before they even began to arrive. As soon as we were through customs we were met straight away on the left hand side with a travel desk, which was incredibly useful as it sold the Hong Kong travel pass, which, for 300HKD, gives you a return trip into Hong Kong on the Airport Express, and also 3 days of unlimited metro use. You can also get a slightly cheaper pass for cheaper but for the length of our stay the 3 day pass was just right.

Coming out of the airside landslide barrier we turned right, crossed the link bridge and were met immediately by the Airport Express, which closed its doors and sped off without us on it. How frustrating! Luckily the next one was only 5 minutes away so after a short sit down we were on the train speeding into Hong Kong itself. There is free WIFI on the train, which sometimes works straight away, but seeming needs a code texted to your phone to work at other times. However on this journey it was working fine on fits own which was great. The journey was only about 20 minutes, and used this time on the wifi to catch up with the world whilst I'd been incommunicado for 13 hours whilst eagerly looking out the window at overcast Hong Kong and the stupidly large amount of sky scrapers literally...everywhere!

Pretty soon we were at Hong Kong station and we needed to transfer over to Central station to get our metro train on the Island line to Fortress Hill. I'd already looked into how to get there above ground, but the MTR authorities have very kindly built a moving walk way underground between the 2 stations which is very handy. The tube train only took about 20 minutes and we were soon at our hotel, the City Garden Hotel. Literally the second we walked through the door some chap (must have been the bell hop!) came up to us and took away our suitcases. Very kind but we had no idea it was coming so maybe a bit full on. After quite a lengthy check in process we were finally shown to the room by the same chap who carried our bags. In the east it seems tipping is discouraged so he departed our room with our thanks and that was that.

The bed


The TV - unfortunately only one English channel and I'm sure you can guess what it was!


Nice bathroom


The view from the top floor - 25!

We had been placed on the 25th floor which was the top floor which was incredibly high! We were overlooking the huge block of apartments opposite, eye level with the lightning conductors on the top of their buildings which was terrifying thinking that storms were going to hit us before we left Friday afternoon! After a quick rest and a little unpacking we headed out with our special metro card and back towards Causeway Bay.

Tonight we were dining at Hard Rock Cafe. We both quite like it there and being that we were absolutely shattered from essentially skipping a nights sleep we thought it best to stay with something we knew.

The Hard Rock Cafe Hong Kong - quite small and with an intimate live music stage

The first language barrier came into effect when my Mountain Dew arrived as Tomato Juice (whoops) but it was soon rectified. Tonight I went for the chicken fajitas with a side of the twisted mac and cheese - divine for only the equivalent of £18.

My Chicken Fajitas with a side of Mac & Cheese - my standard HR meal!


Sam enjoying her Mac & Cheese with no spice...unfortunately that meant I got no spice on mine either!

After a quick picture stop we walked down towards the harbour and jumped on the Star Ferry which is something I have always wanted to do.

Typical Hong Kong scene


Star Ferry over to Kowloon

The view back of Hong Kong as we crossed was amazing and a sight most only dream of seeing. Upon reaching Kowloon on the other side of the bay the sun was well into setting and the view of the sky scrapers once again just got better and better.

Looking back to Hong Kong from the Star Ferry - so many famous names!

We were waiting around for the 8pm showing of Symphony of Lights, which is (and by no means a comparison) Hong Kong City's version of Illuminations. I hate to say it but it was truly awful. You could tell who had been to Disney and who hadn't been by looking around, those who looked like they were enjoying it clearly hadn't been at all!

Just waiting for Symphony of Lights to begin...


Cruise ship leaving the harbour - bet they got a great view!


Now that is Hong Kong in one picture to me!


Symphony of Lights - unfortunately very underwhelming but one of those things which just has to be done!

We took the ferry back across to Hong Kong and the metro back to the hotel in Fortress Hill. We were both pretty shattered. We made a quick stop at the 7Eleven just next to the hotel for a few drinks and snacks and called it a night. We had much sleeping to catch up on, and we'd need it for the next day was a big day trekking around Hong Kong to see some of the sights, and an evening gambling our lives away at the Hong Kong Race Track!

Unfortunately not many photos today or much to tell, being that we only arrived in Hong Kong early afternoon and literally just did what I described above due to being absolutely knackered! Tomorrow brings much more I assure you

Thanks for reading day 2, stay tuned for day 3!

[Guest]

Fab day, not so good view from your room. Tomato juice sounds lovely ;-) Looking forward to reading more! Love your next countdown!

[soarinfan]

Thanks! Yes it was a bit of a dank view but it was incredibly high up that got me. If it was just a few more floors higher we could have had a great view of Hong Kong!

[cartoonp]

Very nice reporting thank you

[florida_noob]

Great TR

absolutely love HK!

prob fav place ever visited (it was on my honeymoon)

we stayed in Central at Mandarin Oriental unbelievable hotel

[beck_loz]

Great pictures

[tracy99]

Really enjoying this report.hong Kong is a place,I would like to visit,so reading with interest.
Tracy x

[MissVincent]

Great day

[Cyclospora]

I loved Hong Kong too and totally agree with you about the Symphony of Lights!

[hross42877]

Great day!