Hong Kong | Day 1 & 2

After chilling out on the Philippines and - finally - catching a terrible cold, I flew off to Hong Kong via Manila where I had plenty of layover time to kill, so I left the airport (never done that before, I'm one of those who arrive to the airport four hours prior taking off) and caught a cab to the nearest mall: the SM Mall of Asia, which is a pretty cool place. Unfortunately I was thirty minutes too early and waited at Starbucks for the mall to open. I went to Watsons right away and got a ton of flu medicine and Asian surgical masks, which was a terrible idea because everyone who enters Hong Kong is scanned by one of those scanners that recognizes sick people and makes you get pulled aside if you're only one degree above normal temperature. Luckily, my cold wasn't in full bloom yet, so I hopped on the next train to go from the airport (which is located on Lantau) to Central Station (on Hong Kong island) to Causeway Bay, where I stayed in an apartment, right by Victoria Park.

I was all sweaty and greasy from the transfer, but didn't wanna waste a single minute in Hong Kong, so I left the apartment with an about to die-charged phone and some cash and took a walk through Victoria Park, with no map on hand whatsoever. I then found out I lived right by all the fancy Hong Kong malls in Causeway Bay, which - in my opinion - is one of the ugliest places because all the malls look alike and I couldn't really tell the difference between the Sasas anymore which were everywhere and always crowded, no matter no matter the time. I had a hard time finding a place to eat because most of the restaurants are located in the buildings, somewhere on the 9th or 10th floor, which looked like residential apartments to me. Thank god there's waiters outside promoting their taverns and so I ended up eating at a really nice, elegant and quiet Japanese sushi bar - Hakkaisan on Lockhardt Rd., where I had the best sashimi of my entire life. Of course I was the only non-Asian there and immediately was given all the attention, which I was already used to by then, the waitress was incredibly nice and I communicated in Japanese with her, which made ordering really easy because I would notice one major thing during my time in Hong Kong: Barely anyone speaks or understands English. Sure, they do have bi-lingual menus everywhere, but waiters or shop staff had a really hard time communicating with me. Quite frankly, I was shocked by that.

Once again, I had packed my sightseeing schedule tightly with a thousand attractions I wanted to check out. First of all, I got an octopus and took a train to the Kowloon side, Diamond Hill station, to check out the Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden recreational area. It was a typical hot, humid and misty day and Hong Kong is quite noisy, but as soon as I entered the botanical garden - which is free of charge - it was tranquil and peaceful and they had traditional Asian music playing in the background in the entire area. I can highly recommend checking out the beautiful buildings and neatly arranged nearby park if you need a brief break from Hong Kong's hustle and bustle.

Afterwards I followed the typical Kowloon tourist track, walked down the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, visited the 1881 Heritage, checked out Harbour City, DFS Galleria and a couple other famous Hong Kong malls and got a foot massage at a weird 8th floor backalley spa salon with loudly chattering masseuses and a Korean drama on TV. I didn't care - I had wi-fi and a place to just chill out for a bit because the walking definitely took its toll on me. I love walking, I don't mind walking long distances, but I've never seen as many people on the street as in Hong Kong. Not even in New York City or Tokyo, it was insane and made me really aggravated every time I had to deal with it.

I went back to the apartment, recharged my phone and camera, took a shower and went right back to Kowloon to watch the famous Symphony of Lights show at Tsim Sha Tsui promenade. I was pretty late for it and the good spots were already taken by a bunch of people, but I somehow managed to conquer a phenomenal seat on the harbour barrier for myself and enjoyed the light show, which isn't really spectacular, but it's a must-do for tourists, so there I was. Afterwards, I went to Mong Kok and instantly regretted it. Once I fought my way into the moving crowd, I couldn't get out of it anymore. The people there were one big mass, which no single element could leave easily. I didn't even have to walk myself anymore, I was just pushed forward and literally pegged to the nearest traffic sign pole I could find and took a train back to Causeway Bay, where I went late-night shopping, got take-out and ate at Victoria Park, which provides free wi-fi. In fact, a lot of public spaces in Hong Kong have free, accessible wi-fi. So, I sat there, minding my own business, skyping with my mom in the middle of the night somewhere in Hong Kong. You know, casual.