25.10.2018

25.10.2018 first day in hong kong

Oh boy

This airplane was equipped with movie screens so sadly this meant I couldnt sleep.

After 2 movies and about 2 hours sleep I arrived in hong kong.

I already was a bit used to the massive airport since this was my second time here. But this time I had to get through the immigration.

However that turned out to go rather well and in a short time I got through the security check and found my luggage.

I went to the currency exchange and swapped the around 70 dollars I had left from Australia. I got back around 600 hong kong dollars for it! I asked the women at the counter if that would be enough to stay here for around 2days. She said in pretty bad english that she thought it wasnt nearly enough at all. I was a bit confused for just 2days? So I exchanged some more and was now at 800, by far enough for 2days.

Then I went to buy a bus/train pass for the time. It costed 150$! However I told her that it was for 2days so she propably just charged it with enough money for the entire time.

From the airport I managed to find my way to the airport express, and drove to the next train station that would take me to the city. When I stepped out I was overwhelmed by the amount of people that were walking around here. It was just a giant cloud of people. I followed the signs to the 'Tsuen Wan Line' this one should take me to the 'Tsim sha tsui station' as you can imagine I was a bit lost since the other names for the lines and station were pretty similiar. I kept walking into people, giant crowds that went into the other direction than me and I had to somehow find a way through them.

You know that awkward moment when somebody is walking towards you and you both go into the same direction to avoid each other and it just keeps going like that? That is basically how you walk in hong kong.

I finally reached my train and of course wanted to try out my new travel card. However when I tried to scan it it failed and said 'no value'. Thats weird I thought I just charged it at the airport. So I asked one of the workers there and they told me that the trip from the airport to here costs about 150$. MY ENTIRE VALUE FOR ONE TRIP!

Yes I definitly underestimated hong kong. So I recharged it and made my way to the train. The train was a freaking monster! You could basically run through this train for 1minute thats how long it was.

I got to my station and started to search for my hotel however I had to stop again when I saw all the people and gigantic buidings everywhere. There were so many things going on. It looked great from the mainstreet but when you turned around a corner between 2 buildings you were immediatly in a dark, dirty alleyway with big rusty pipes across the walls, broken and dark black windows and trash everywhere. Next corner you're on the main street again and there are people and lights and life. That felt really weird, like some distopya end future.

Also there were some people just talking and commenting while they were walking. And old man said some things to me in chinese while I walked past him. Some other people just stand around in between all the chaos. A lot of them stopped me and asked in broken english:

'Hey man you good?'

'Dude you need something?'

'Ey buddy whats up?'

But it wasnt in the friendly australian way that I was used to know. The way the said it and acted was a lot more uncomfortable. Some were a lot more direct with their questions.

'You need some hash? What do you need?'

'You could use some marijuana?'

'Want a rolex?

'You need some cash there?'

'Hey buddy are you hungry?'

Like jesus man I just need to not feel like I am being pulled into the local hong kong crime scene all the time, espacially that one guy with the food seemed very shady. But seriously I was getting really nervous with all the people walking around me and these random guys who kept approaching me. I of course just kept walking past them but still.

It took me a long time to find my hotel. It wasnt directly at the street or somehow described. It was in one of the shady alleyways all the way up a dirty, wet, filled with cockroaches staircase to the fourth floor. Here I found the reception. I had booked a double bed room because it was to a special price and lower than a room for one person. The pictures I saw were really nice but of course these were just of the beds not the outside. I showed him my credit card however he said I was only able to pay in cash. And I did not have enough cash to pay for the room.

The room wasnt ready yet anyway so I left my luggage that I was walking around with for the last hour and went out again. I slowly but surely got really hungry, however I first had to find an ATM and a bathroom since the airplane food wasnt very gentle with my stomach. I found a public bathroom and quickly locked the door, the toiletroom was very small and difficult to move in. However I noticed right when I wanted to pull my pants down that there was no toilet paper. And I dont mean it was empty there was no toilet paper. Like not even a holder or something, it was just none there. So I got out again and grabbed some hand drying papers.

I found an atm and returned with the money to the hotel. The room still wasnt ready so I waited until we walked from the reception all the way down again to a different hallway. With the lift we went up to the right floor and I got my keys and my....2...person.....bedroom..... Its about 3meters long and 1.5meters wide. The window was boarded up and difficult to open and when I got it open I immediatly regretted it. There was a wall right on the other side, the gap between the 2 buildings was filled with trash, black sut and leftovers. There was a terrible smell coming from just everywhere. I closed the window.

There was also no toilet or shower, these were out in the hallway and there was a small role of toilet paper on my bed. Do people carry their own toilet paper around in hong kong?

Also the shower and toilet in the hallway are the same. But not in a good way. The showerhead hangs over the toilet. I have not yet figured out how to use it. Do you step on the toilet? Do you just spray the entire room with water while your showering?

Well, always going with the cheapest hotel had to bite me back sometime. Guess it was now.

I got out and started to search for some good food. Because I needed it right now. The airplane food was sparse and still torturing my stomach. I looked around different restaurants but it was all kind of the same. Everything costed over 100$ some even getting to 200$.

I decided to go with some spare ribs, because I deserved it! And they were....pretty good, though probably at that point everything would have tasted good to me.

I started to search for a place of silence. All the people the hotel now with the food, I had to lay down. So I made my way to the park, but of course it was hong kong. So the park was filled with people. It took me a while to find a spot where I could lay down and rest for a while.

Then I kept walking around and searched for attractions I could reach by foot. My main objective is just to return to the hotel as late as possible.

Towards the evening I went to the ferry to get to the other side of the river. Hong kong looked very beautiful now with all the lights. Some buildings even had small light shows on display. I planned to find somewhere to eat there and then make my way back.

I wandered around for a bit until I found a restaurant who had pizza. And mom I did order a salad to start 😉.

I must say eating in a restaurant is far more delicious than just the microwave menus. But I am just burning through my money at the moment.

Back at the hostel I tool one of the weirdest showers of my life. Next to a toilet and of course with just cold water. The entire bathroom was filled with water at the end. This hole thing seems really impractical.

After that I weng to bed for today was a long day.