Hong Kong turned out to be mostly what I expected (although it wasn't as smelly as I remembered it as a kid). There are some nice parts to it, but in general it's a crowded, dirty city filled with tons of cheap shopping gitz. It can be a good experience for a few days, but after three days on the beat, and two more to go, we had felt we had overstayed our welcome. Japan would be a great place for a honeymoon. Hong Kong would not.
We decided to spend the first night in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of the Kowloon peninsula, just north of Hong Kong Island (and close to the airport). As soon as we got off the bus, we were accosted by a woman trying to rent us a room. At first we tried brushing her off, as we had hit many of these at the airport. But she was persistent, and finally we agreed to "just take a look" at the room. She led us into a slightly dilapidated building, through a warren of trinket stands and Indian fast food stalls. As I was comtemplating whether I could find my way back out, we arrived at the elevator. The room looked okay, the price was right (about US$30 for both of us), AND there was a free phone in the lobby! We took it. We ended up staying there (the Chung King Mansions) for the whole time we were in Hong Kong. The view was nothing to write home about, but the room was clean, if small. Plus it had all the amenities: a/c, hot water, and a tv which spoke English on two channels!
As a side note, I was able to get a good net connection most of the time in Hong Kong. Although the phone accepted a standard RJ-11 jack, for some reason the wires were switched. So I ended up tracing the wiring back to the wall and clipping in with my alligator leads. The wiring, especially the electrical system, was a total chop shop fire hazard, and I was glad that there were no major incidents while we were there. Local calls are free in Hong Kong (unlike Japan) so we could pretty much stay on as long as we wanted. The only real downside to the setup was the fact that the phone was in the lobby, so between other guest and the maid, I was constantly sneaking around trying not to advertise my expensive hardware too much.
The first day we walked all around southern Kowloon, from the waterfront, with good views of downtown Hong Kong Island, to Kowloon Park. The best thing in the park was the public swimming complex: a huge (but empty when we were there) outdoor pool, and an equally impressive indoor one.
The best sights to be had on the Island itself were the cool panaramic view from Victoria peak, and the even cooler walk-through aviary in the central park.
We took a side trip to Aberdeen harbor. There was supposedly a whole city of people living on boats, but we didn't see much of anything. We did see the famed floating restaurant complex (with on-board fish exhibit). We decided not to eat there after perusing the menu, and deciding it was about ten-times more expensive than absolutely necessary. The short ferry there and back, however, was free, and offered fine glimpses of the full gaudy spectacle.
On our last day, we checked our bags at the airport and discovered the
Walled City. There were temples and other
interesting stuff around, but the best part was a park right next door.
There even was a great bike path perfect for skating!
