Hong Kong - 'the old country'

March 8th: 'This is a really old country' is the first impression our four-year-old Ma gives of Hong Kong. We are entering new territory. We are sitting in a taxi and he is looking curiously at everything on the way to the hotel. At this point, we pass through a somewhat rundown area that doesn't look inviting at all. Decaying houses, lots of dirt and garbage, road chaos. My husband also notices that everything looks a bit 'grey' and it's 'hazy' today. He calls it the 'communist' grey. With my Polish roots, I would call it the charm of the Eastern Bloc.

After an 11-hour flight from New Zealand to Hong Kong, we consider taking a taxi directly from the airport to the hotel. But we didn't account for Ma, who would much rather and absolutely wants to take the train (Airport Express). We give in and only take a taxi in the city. The kids also like taxi rides: with the luggage and large stroller, we squeeze five people onto the backseat, with baby Le in the Maxi-Cosi, the adults sitting on the left and right with Ma and Dad on their laps. Just like the Asian style. I would like to mention that we have two booster seats for Ma and Le, but they are not needed in this case. There are also not enough seat belts, but that only catches the attention of us Germans.

When we arrive at the hotel, we are amazed at what we have booked here for accommodation. Unknowingly, we have rented ourselves into the sixth tallest building in Hong Kong, which houses the Nina Hotel. Our room is on the 76th floor and the view is fantastic. To get up so high, you have to change elevators. Ma can't get enough of the container ships that can be seen from here entering the port for loading and unloading. I can't get enough of this view either. The many skyscrapers where thousands of people live. In a limited space.

The hotel room is very clean, so our baby Le finally gets to crawl around and explore. He has become quite mobile in the past few days and wants to 'go' and discover everything. He is already bored when being carried. It's actually not ideal that we are traveling in Asia in the last third of our trip, where hygiene and cleanliness are somewhat challenging. But for now, we will explore Hong Kong, 'the old country'.