4/11/13 - Landing and arrival in Hong Kong

Arriving at the Hong Kong International airport was delightful - it's everything you might imagine from a thriving urban metropolis. The infrastructure is clean, crisp and new. Everything works like clockwork - immigration, customs, baggage claims - it all happens in a blink of an eye with no delays or trouble. People are weirdly nice, in a matter-of-fact kind of way. If something needs correction, they'll clearly tell you what you need to know, and send you on your way. I found my way off the plane and through customs. In less than 30 minutes I was whisked off to city center Hong Kong on a modern, clean and quiet train system. Blasting past huge construction sites, and sky-scrapers as far as the eye can see, I can't help but be reminded of a scene from the last Batman movie. A dense fog had settled throughout the city, and a light drizzle was falling. It made the metropolis Gotham-like; foreboding and intriguing a the same time.

Hong Kong is VERY dense - 7 million people live in an area not much larger than San Francisco-Oakland. The urban-planner in me is astounded at the sheer magnitude of it all, particularly how people go about their day relatively efficiently and smoothly, despite the enormous crowds. It took about 30 minutes to get to KowLoon - the neighborhood where my hostel was supposed to be. I'm not sure what I was expecting - perhaps a nice little single-family home with a friendly old lady to welcome me in? WRONG! The "guest house" area of town are a series of old, run-down looking 20-story high rises. Glancing up, I see literally hundreds of old air-conditioners precariously perched all over the side of the building. Dark rainwater streaks run down the building, bringing my eye to the ground floor. Here a mass of people mill about going from shop-to shop. Across the street are all manner of uber-lux stores - Louis Vittuon, Sacs, Coach, etc. On my side of the street are small vendors, food stalls and shops. One small elevator services the entire building, which means you wait 20+ minutes just to get upstairs. When I finally checked into the "Four Seasons Hostel" I was greeted by a couple nice men who kindly checked me into a double-bed private room due to a booking error. Great! The room is small and simple, but clean and serviceable. It's great to have WIFI, as this is the first time in my adult life that I have not had 24/7 access to my cell phone. I quickly fell into a deep sleep after a LONG 23 hours of daylight.

The next morning I stepped out into the damp, dawn air of Kowloon, and was struck by the quiet. Arriving last night had been a hustle and bustle of people and cars and lights, which in my sleep deprived state had been a bit overwhelming. The introvert in me was not-so-secretly happy to be the first one out on the deserted main drag of Kowloon. Gone were the Arab guys from the night before, with their aggressive, arm-grabbing 'guesthouse' salesmanship. The Times-Square-Esque glitz and glamor of three 5th Avenues had all been tuned down, turned off, and shuttered for the night. All that was left was a heavy fog and light drizzle over the street. As I look above, the graphite skyscrapers vanish into a dull grey sky.

I've noticed its difficult for me to find a happy-medium in urban centers when I travel. The always-on lifestyle of dense urban living is too much for me to appreciate at times, but alternatively I found this morning's deserted street quite lonely. I'll look forward to getting out of the city center this afternoon. A surge of hunger and and an addict's need for caffeine quickly had me searching out any place that would feed me. Unfortunately in this high-end part of town, the only thing open at 6:30am was the Sheridan hotel. I thought I could pull the 'ole "sure i'm a guest," and get down on their free buffet, but I guess that's not a thing in HK. The food was delicious - all you can eat waffles, french toast, bacon, sausage, dim sum, fruit salad bar, ETC. The bill however was not so delightful - $270 HKD ($35USD) for this little happy escape.