Week 29 - Asia - Hong Kong via Bangkok & back to Australia

The flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong was not the best, I had some old Chinese man gagging every time he swallowed his food. Nice. In the Hong Kong airport Taiwan and Chinese film stars were arriving to attend the Asian Film Festival which was being held at the weekend. The locals were going crazy, the paparazzi were all over them, girls were falling over - we didn't have a clue who they were! Nevertheless I still went over and had my video camera in their face!!

The currency was 10 Hong Kong dollars to the pound. Hong Kong is made up of 3 islands. The airport is in Lantau Island, we then caught a bus which took us to Kowloon Peninsula after speaking to Andrew Li, a University friend who said the hostels were cheap there. The other island is Hong Kong Island, good for nights out and shopping. On arrival to Kowloon, a group of Indians and Pakistani's spotted us with our rucksacks - while still on the bus! They made a bee-line for us and sprinted after the bus, as soon as the doors opened they were on us! Personal space - what personal space? They were in our faces and grabbing our bags so that we would stay at their hostel. 'You only have to look if you don't like you don't have to pay' was shouted aggressively in my face, I wanted to get out my Thai boxing gloves and give him a good hiding. Inevitably through persistence, we checked out one of their hostels as we didn't know where we going. The place was an absolute dive in possibly the dirtiest part of Hong Kong (so we were later told}, but we had our own room, an en suite, our own beds not bunk beds, it was very cheap - and we had little to no money left! I used my own pillow at night as the sheets were dirty, you couldn't swing a cat in the bathroom, you get the idea.... Hard times.

Take 2

Walking around Hong Kong reminded me of New York, very busy with sky scrapers and colourful lights. The shopping centres here are amazing. Designer shops one after the other in modern spacious centres. Jackie Chang is plastered on bill boards everywhere you look, not to mention his hi-tech gym which we investigated. David Beckhams face pops up a lot as well sporting his new array of tattoos.

By this time I had decided I was going to go back to Australia and seek work in the TV/film industry in Sydney. With the flight and visa paid for my bank balance was miserable. Stu was in the same boat so we had near to nothing to rub together. On the Hong Kong Island I wanted to see the longest elevator in the World, the Peak Tram which takes you to the highest point in Hong Kong ascending at a 45 degree angle, and a meal at the Jumbo Kingdom which is the largest floating restaurant in the world decorated as a chinese imperial palace, serving exquisite seafood and visited by many celebrities - but we were broke!

We spent four long nights in the worlds worst hostel. We could not get in or out of the room without being offered a suit, a rolex, a massage or some hash. I needed some pepper spray or insect repellent to keep them away from me. You would be asked by the same bloke ten times a day. The area was very multi cultural and as we were the minority we were always approached.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, The Avenue Of The Stars was a highlight, a cleaner more attractive Hollywood having the Asian stars on the ground with hand prints. This was a nice walk running along the Victoria Harbour. Jackie Chang and Bruce Lee were among the names we recognised, and then we saw the ultimate! A Bruce Lee statue which we had to get a photo of! Stu's tenth camera had broken in Laos - shock! So we were down to a disposable half crushed, broken flash, on its last legs camera, which I hope worked?! I haven't had chance to get it developed yet - but will be distraught if it didn't!

Bruce

Jackie

Stu Lee

Wasn't this foggy
(camera was struggling after a battering in Laos)

Everynight at 8pm there is a light show which lasts for 13 minutes! It holds the Guinness World Record for the longest running light show. Despite many complaints of it being bad for the environment it is still running. We were told they were not going to have the show on the 28th to do their bit for the environment! That really will make a big difference! The first night we saw it it wasn't very good as it was too foggy. But the second night was much better with multi coloured beams spraying, and buildings alighting. It is a fantastic view which we shared with many other wowed Chinese tourists.

The Hong Kong Sevens (rugby) competition was occurring a couple of days after we were due to leave. We desperately wanted to see it, but it was sold out and we couldn't have afforded it. We did however see some of the players out and about around HK. French, Argentines, and Samoans were tracked down. We got a picture with the Samoans and wished them luck as they were one of the favourites.

We hit up a couple of markets looking for very cheap items. I wanted a couple of Manchester United shirts, which were few and far between. The markets had shades of Bangkok without as much agro. For the days we were there we lived off Subways and McDonalds to save money and used our legs to get everywhere saving on transport. We discussed swimming over to the Hong Kong Island but I didn't want to break my Video Camera after all this time!


And back to Australia....

Nearby beach in Tuggerah

Auntie Jess, with cousins Cam and Claire 'The Bear'

Uncle Joe, Cam and The Bear

Our time was up and travelling the world was over. We were back on the plane and on our way back to Australia to get a job! The 9 hour overnight plane journey 'flew' by! I got no sleep having viewed Quantom of Solace, Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - all of which were a good watch. In Sydney I would be crashing at my Uncles until I sorted myself out, and Stu would be sharing a bed with Josh. James Billingham (Jaymo) had heard we were going back to Australia and would be meeting us there. After travelling with us in America it would be great to meet up with him again. I also know a few more of my mates who are making the trip down under in the near future so know I wont be alone! I am excited to be going back to Australia to find work in one of the five financial powers of the World and hope I can break into the Media Industry. I have loved travelling, I have done things many people will never get to do or see in their lifetime, and I've met some incredible people and friends for life. The future - Sydney, LA, London, Devon, more travelling?? Who knows....


Blog - done.


P.s. 'Do good things, and good things will happen to you, Karma'