My last two nights in Nadi were fun. I had a burger, discovered a good Fijian lager, and spent a night drinking kava and listening to some locals sing songs.
My flight went well, especially because I sat in the emergency exit row. I saw "The Adjustment Bureau" with Matt Damon which was good, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick. When I got to the Hong Kong airport, I couldn't find my bag, so I delayed my flight to Turkey by five days because I wanted an excuse to stay in Hong Kong.
The city is very impressive with high rises surrounded by steep hills/mountains and a huge port with cranes lined up and all sorts of ships in the harbor. The building where I'm staying is called Chung King Mansion. It felt like a bazaar on the bottom floor with people trying to get me to buy their stuff, but a nice guy at the bus stop helped me find my way. My room was very clean, if small. It had a TV, computer with Internet, A/C, and my own bathroom and a space of 6' by 10'.
The next morning I moved to a dorm room which doesn't look twice the size and has 4 beds. The manager is very friendly and there's free wi-fi. I'm quite happy with the accommodation because all of Hong Kong is cramped, so I'll gladly pay $18 a night for the place. The Chung King Mansion feels a little bit like a Little India and I've had a surprisingly difficult time finding a good Chinese restaurant in my budget. I thought they would be everywhere, but this area is tourist central so there's a little of everything: Italian, British, McDonald's, Starbucks, Korean, Sushi, French. I found a great one last night though. It was just greasy enough and I managed to use chopsticks for the whole meal! But it is nice that the waitresses offer a fork when they see me pick up the chopsticks.
The Hong Kong Museum of History was great since I didn't know very much to begin with. I went to the harbor at night for a great view of Hong Kong Island because I am staying on the peninsula to the north in Kowloon.
I took a city tour today to explore Hong Kong Island. I took a sampan ride on Aberdeen harbor where a floating restaurant and houses are, wandered around a fancy harbor, visited a jewelry manufacturer, went up Victoria Peak for great views, and heard a lot of good information about the city from the guide. It was mostly about how expensive it is to live here. They also have an illegal immigrant problem with people from mainland China who want a better life in Hong Kong. I've heard the same story from Spain, Australia, and South Africa as well.
I've seen some very expensive cars around. On the street is mostly buses, taxis, and trucks to transport goods. There aren't very many cheap-looking cars. I assume it's expensive to drive and not very fun in the city, but the mountain roads were pretty curvy and steep. I noticed a Maserati, Bentley, Lamborghini, Lotus, and the usual BMWs and Mercedes. I'm going to watch The Hangover Two this evening and watch the light show on the harbor.
So far I'm very pleased with my stopover. I feel very safe on the streets since everything is very well lit with plently of tourists around. It looks like a very prosperous city with lights and shops everywhere on the street, then inside some buildings are huge malls with cinemas and all sorts of shops. It has developed very rapidly since the Second World War. I'd like to go see the largest bronze buddha tomorrow on a different insland.
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