Well it is time to say ありがとう to Japan for our stay, and it is off to the airport! Our last train ride of Japan. The JR Rail Pass has been excellent, and we highly, highly recommend it to any visitor! So convenient!
Now it is time to stand in line and wait for our train to actually arrive. The train stops exactly in front of this line. If not, it is not your train!
Pretty neat that at the Narita airport they actually have a place for you to go outside and enjoy the sun while watching planes take off. They even have small holes in the fence for you to take pictures of the planes if you wish.
But, it is time for our last “stereotypical Japanese” picture before boarding our plane out of Japan.
And now we will reveal where we are going next (if you didn’t clue in from the title):
Although my partner’s father is headed home, we decided that we wanted to spend the night in Hong Kong. Why not, right? We’re already in the area, hehe. So we boarded our plane and after a short flight (5 hours), it was onto another train.
It almost seems like there is a theme on this trip… if you see a train, hop on it. (A round trip to Hong Kong station cost us 205 HK dollars and the return trip must be used within 30 days, without a stipulated date).
But here we are, in Hong Kong. As you can see it is pretty late. We landed at 8 pm. We leave tomorrow morning at 7:40 am. If you thought that 25 hours in Riga was short… try 12 in Hong Kong. Not much time at all. We tried to get to our hotel as quickly as possible… which is not that quickly when you are weighed down by luggage, you are going uphill, it is hot, and very, very humid. But we got there. We don’t normally show our hotel rooms, but this was too good.
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. As such, living space is at an extreme premium. So, our room is the bed and the bathroom without any additional space for any unnecessary business. The picture above is taken in the doorway. A single step backwards and we are in the hallway. It’s important to note that this is by no means a small living space for Hong Kong standards. We have seen tons of footage showing “coffin homes” that are literally smaller than Western parking spaces and all of a person’s belongings must fit inside with them. When your population density is so high and real estate prices are some of the highest in the world, you have to adapt!
It is now about 9:30 pm… we should really sleep… but what’s the point if we are here for such a short period of time? Off we go!
We left our hotel and walked back towards Hong Kong Station through Duddell Street. Of course, when people think of Hong Kong they think of the large neon signs everywhere, but it was not always the case. Street lights were lit by gas before neon, and these steps have the last gas lit street light of Hong Kong.
Getting closer and closer to Hong Kong Station the city just seems to come alive. Raised walkways, sky scrapers, and a lot of people/cars for being so late.
A little further along the walkway, as you approach the bay, definitely turn around and take a look at one of the most iconic skylines in the world.
We add this picture in because it both shows the density of Hong Kong, but because it gives us a perfect segue to fengshui. Hong Kong is obsessed with fengshui. The basics, as we understand them, is that there is good luck/energy around everyone and if you set up your environment just right, you can funnel some of that good luck/energy for yourself. At the same time, you must not cut the fengshui or the energy of a place because it will bring bad luck. In Hong Kong this is taken to the next level. Many buildings have holes (dragon gates) in them or their main floors are raised off of the ground to allow the dragons to venture from the mountains to the sea. None are visible in this picture. What is visible though, almost right in the middle, is a building with a lot of sharp edges. Very non-fengshui.
The Bank of China Tower, the one with all the triangles in the picture, is cutting the good luck/energy. This is said to bring bad luck to all of the surrounding areas. This is a good time to point out that it was built directly beside an HSBC, the bank of Hong Kong. After the Bank of China Tower was completed, bad things started happening in the neighbourhood. A neighbouring building has been plagued by bankruptcy and corporate collapse while the Governor of Hong Kong died a year after the building was completed. His house was in the shadow of the Bank of China Tower. So, what do you do when someone attacks your good luck? Well, attack back, of course. The HSBC building set up cranes pointed at the Bank of China Tower. Why? Because they look like cannons, of course. If you zoom in to the picture A LOT you can see them. Not in great detail since it is far and dark, but they are there, trust us. (The building is two to the right of the Bank of China Tower).
But let’s keep walking. Down to the Bay of Hong Kong. Another place that is pretty famous in all kinds of shows and movies. We couldn’t grab a ferry across, so we suppose we will have to come back some other time.
Now, what we have been waiting for, the Central to Mid-Levels Escalator System. We know, we know, it doesn’t sound that exciting. Maybe it was the time of night (it was almost midnight now) but we actually went looking for this escalator system. It is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. (Know before you go: the escalator works in the downhill direction between 6 am and 10 am while uphill is from 10:20 am to midnight).
Up we go. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the end of the system. Pretty cool! The only thing we did not really consider is that this was taking us further and further away from the hotel… and that you have to then walk all the way back… But, worth it! At the top it seems much more residential than the glitz and glamour of the high-end stores in the downtown area.
And then it was back down.
The walk was nice, and it went through some happening neighbourhoods with bars and cafes that were absolutely packed. We walked back along Hollywood boulevard until reaching our hotel. We got back around 1:30 am from our little adventure. Now we need to get some sleep, and quickly. Our alarm is set for 5:10 am. Goodnight from Hong Kong!