Sojourn to Hong Kong

This week I decided to go back through my archives and revisit one of my travel adventures.  Still one of my favourite cities and one Judy and I are going to visit this coming Christmas & New Year.

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The familiar smell of Asia filled my nostrils as I stepped from the flight late Sunday afternoon…

That unmistakable aroma that has defined all of my experiences in Asia was there to greet me like a long-lost friend.

After living in the tropics for many years prior to moving to Canada it’s hard to describe, but I think it’s the mix of humidity, dampness and mould to meld together to form this irrepressible smell.

Having quickly gone through Customs and retrieving my backpack I found myself in the large and airy expanse of the Hong Kong International Airport.

I was trying to decide which method of transportation was best to get to my hotel on Hong Kong island.

I decided on the express train that leaves every ten minutes, so after acquiring an Octopus card I was on my way.

The beauty of the re-loadable Octopus card is you can use it on almost any form of transportation in Hong Kong.

In the blink of an eye, (25 minutes) I found myself alighting the train at Central station.

I’d chosen to stay at the Courtyard Marriott in the western district of the Island so took the hotel shuttle which has just arrived, now that is serendipitous!

This clean, ultra-modern hotel is situated on Connaught Road West and only minutes from the hip and cool Central and Admiralty districts.

The best part is that it’s walking distance to the Star Ferry terminus and a perfect location for exploring Hong Kong.

Getting to my room after a warm welcome I felt pampered with a king room and a harbour view no less.

I felt energized and so decided to take the Peak Tram up Victoria Peak to get a view of the city.

Surprisingly, it was a clear night, which made the viewing sensational, and thus was able to see the New Territories from the peak.

This is a rarity given that its summer and usually quite hazy…

By the time I got back to the hotel I realized that I have been on the go since I left Toronto some 24 hours earlier.

I showered and fell into a deep sleep, waking at 7:30 am and feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead.

On the plane to Hong Kong, I had broadly planned my first day wanting to take the Star Ferry across the harbor to Kowloon and explore.

However, like usual I took a rather circuitous route to the Star Ferry terminus as I wandered…

Exploring a new city by walking and getting off the beaten track is my favourite things to do.

The beauty of this approach is that you often discover things that you definitely wouldn’t have come across on a guided tour or following a guidebook.

By the time I arrived at the Star Ferry terminal it was almost 10:30 am and the sun was getting rather hot under clear blue skies.

It was hot and humid which is normal for this time of year. I was drenched in sweat with it dripping off me and onto my camera… not so good!

The ride across the harbour was only 8 minutes, but with the volume of traffic on this incredibly busy waterway my ferry (Twinkling Star) was constantly being buffeted by the wakes of all manner of craft as we plied our way across the harbour toward Kowloon.

After exiting the terminus, I made my way east toward the Peninsula Hotel.

This famous hotel is the equivalent to the Waldorf Astoria in New York, or the Raffles hotel in Singapore and truly one of the grand hotels of our era.

This living legend if you will, built in 1928 and considered the Pearl of the Orient when it came to luxury hotels.

When the Peninsula was originally built it had an unobstructed view of the harbour with easy access to the numerous cruise liners that docked in Victoria Harbour.

However, today it has both the Hong Kong Space Museum and Hong Kong Museum of Art, between it and the harbour after the significant land reclamation activities in the ensuing years.

As always there was a row of Rolls Royce’s parked out front for the sole purpose of chauffeuring the clientele from place to place during their stay.

Since I first wrote this essay back in 2014, I’ve taken my daughter Sam to stay at the Peninsula albeit for a night during another of my trips to Hong Kong.

As expected, it was more luxurious and even better than I could have imagined.

I would highly recommend it along with the High Tea served daily – this is a true treat!

Next, I made my way over to Nathan Road, which is Hong Kong’s main thoroughfare and is often referred to as Hong Kong’s “Golden Mile”.

Nathan Road you could easily be mistaken for thinking you were in New York, Los Angeles or London given the high-end stores and brands.

It’s not until your reach Austin Road that things become interesting, and definitely more “local”.

As I turned left onto Austin Road West and began making my way through the back streets of Kowloon, I had two places that were on my list of things to see and experience.

Firstly, the Jade Market, which turned out to be rather disappointing and overly commercialized.

Next was the Flower Market which more than made up for it.  It’s located on Flower Market Road and adjacent to Prince Edward Road W.

The flower market was awesome!

The smell of Jasmine and pungent lilies filled the air as I slowly meandered my way through the market.

As you know fresh cut flowers are my weekly treat to myself so was in heaven…

It was my first day and I’d already I’d been bombarded with the sights and sounds, and frenetic pace of Hong Kong.

So much to see and do in this incredible city!

As I ambled, through these exotic streets I felt invigorated to be finally here with nothing but my camera and a sense of adventure ahead of me.

Now that’s what I call living…

Until next week

Ciao!