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Another adventure has indeed begun
Our first stop – not counting a few airports – has been Hong Kong.
It was Penelope's first time in Hong Kong. She found it fascinating. We landed late at night after a 10 hour flight. The bus ride to our hotel in Kowloon was impressive. The airport is on adjacent Lantau island. The bus crosses a long, illuminated suspension bridge over the sea to reach the mainland. Even I think it looks cool. The bus is a double decker and we sat upstairs in the front seats to get a good view of the area.
The bus pulled into Nathan Road - Kowloon's main drag - at about midnight and P couldn't get over how the streets were still packed with people and open stores. I was just exhausted. I had spent the flight from Australia next to an expert in nuclear waste disposal who felt it necessary to educate me on methods of waste crystallization. In depth. Interesting? Oh yes. But had it not been for the in-flight entertainment, he would have gone on lecturing for our 9 hours together, Now I wanted to check into the hotel and get some shut-eye. Penelope had enjoyed a good rest on the plane while I had watched some garbage movies. (I sometimes wish they would show old boring movies on the plane so that one does not feel compelled to watch as many movies as possible to get his money's worth).
The hotel was just as I had remembered it - adequate, boring and expensive. No matter; this is just a temporary jump off point to mainland China.
Next morning Penelope was rearing to go bright and early. The hotel internet service was down, so I insisted we look for an internet café. We couldn't find one. We did discover, however, that Hong Kong is totally wireless. For a small fee I purchased an internet pass that allowed my laptop to go online near most public phone booths.
P and I took over a table at Starbucks and went online. It was rather spiffy, chatting with people around the world from a cafe in downtown Kowloon. "Let me ! I want a go !" squealed Penelope, stopping me from having a normal conversation. Finally I relented and stuffed the earpiece into her ear.
I looked out of the store window onto the street. Millions of people. Hot, tropical weather. Deafening noise. And by Asian standards, everything is expensive. Why put up with all this?
So while P chatted happily with her mates on Skype, I began to plan our escape across the border into China.
Stay tuned
Our first stop – not counting a few airports – has been Hong Kong.
It was Penelope's first time in Hong Kong. She found it fascinating. We landed late at night after a 10 hour flight. The bus ride to our hotel in Kowloon was impressive. The airport is on adjacent Lantau island. The bus crosses a long, illuminated suspension bridge over the sea to reach the mainland. Even I think it looks cool. The bus is a double decker and we sat upstairs in the front seats to get a good view of the area.
The bus pulled into Nathan Road - Kowloon's main drag - at about midnight and P couldn't get over how the streets were still packed with people and open stores. I was just exhausted. I had spent the flight from Australia next to an expert in nuclear waste disposal who felt it necessary to educate me on methods of waste crystallization. In depth. Interesting? Oh yes. But had it not been for the in-flight entertainment, he would have gone on lecturing for our 9 hours together, Now I wanted to check into the hotel and get some shut-eye. Penelope had enjoyed a good rest on the plane while I had watched some garbage movies. (I sometimes wish they would show old boring movies on the plane so that one does not feel compelled to watch as many movies as possible to get his money's worth).
The hotel was just as I had remembered it - adequate, boring and expensive. No matter; this is just a temporary jump off point to mainland China.
Next morning Penelope was rearing to go bright and early. The hotel internet service was down, so I insisted we look for an internet café. We couldn't find one. We did discover, however, that Hong Kong is totally wireless. For a small fee I purchased an internet pass that allowed my laptop to go online near most public phone booths.
P and I took over a table at Starbucks and went online. It was rather spiffy, chatting with people around the world from a cafe in downtown Kowloon. "Let me ! I want a go !" squealed Penelope, stopping me from having a normal conversation. Finally I relented and stuffed the earpiece into her ear.
I looked out of the store window onto the street. Millions of people. Hot, tropical weather. Deafening noise. And by Asian standards, everything is expensive. Why put up with all this?
So while P chatted happily with her mates on Skype, I began to plan our escape across the border into China.
Stay tuned
1 comment:
So glad you still have a sensahuma about fellow travelers.
looking forward to hearing more adventures.
j.
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