Hong Kong

I wasn't completely certain I would be let out of the airport during my 8 hour stop over in Hong Kong, so I was winging it all the way but trying to stay hopeful, airports really aren't that much fun regardless of how highly recommend they come. I filled out a landing card, they let me through and I headed to an ATM. From what I've heard card payment isn't widely used everywhere here, no idea of the currency exchange rate, I just put my card in and withdrew the second lowest amount it offered me, didn't want to waste time looking it up and didn't want to ask a random because I expect that's asking for trouble.

Once I had some cash I headed to the ticket counter and bought a same day return to Kowloon for 105 Hong Kong dollars. This area is basically the image of Hong Kong we see in movies and postcards so it made sense to head here and tick it off. Luckily “feel at home” from my UK network works here so I have access to Google maps. I also met a lovely girl on the plane who gave me tips on where to visit in what order and wrote it all down on a paper bag for me when we were flying over, I actually really lucked out on the seating lottery and had great company on every flight, which is great because I'm not great at sleeping on planes.

Top tip if you want to avoid the little lost tourist stereotype? Don't get one of the free tourist maps from the visitors centre immediately outside arrivals, it's comically big and you have to open it all the way to see past the ads to the map. They fold each section differently and you need to be an origami master to get it back to what it was, totally blew my cover as I fumbled to put it away again on the metro, very awkward- but maybe I was just sleep deprived.

With no time to research properly it is hard not to look like a tourist, Every attempt where I successfully pulled off knowing what I was doing left me very smug but really Hong Kong is very well designed, the metro is easy to follow, you only need a glance at the colour route you're intending to take, and then there's labelling on the floors and above the entrance to each train, although I am pre conditioned to this system by London underground. I also really liked that in the standing section near the doors of the train, instead of having one pole, for all the passengers to hold onto, they have one pole with many sections to it so you don't need to end up holding the pole higher or lower than you'd like depending on who got to it first. I was familiar with a few common courtesies too like moving backpacks to the side when you're in a crowd so you're aware of it's position and don't knock anyone and accepting things with two hands instead of one as well as not pointing with one finger which helped a little as well. I loved the touch screen ticket Maps and found them super useful, and I'm glad I had the savvy to know that that's how you chose your ticket destination because there's no instructions to explain that it's interactive and most of the locals have an octopus card and don't appear to use it. On the metro they make announcements in English (thank goodness!) and I found that a big help too. Before I know it I'm heading to Tsim Sha Tsui in the Kowloon district.

I got off the metro and ended up on a bustling street full of designer stores and high rise buildings, not my scene at all but I pulled out my maps to check out which direction I was supposed to head for the cultural centre (which is where you go to see the free lights show daily from 8) the first thing my maps showed me was that I was opposite Chung King Mansions which made me chuckle because I've read a few travel blogs that paint it to be a very colourful place to say the least. I crossed the road to steal a peek and wasn't overly moved by the place, lots of cheap market stalls with knock off watches and bags and an assortment of Punjabi sweets oddly enough, never one to pass up on a chance to eat Indian sweets I grabbed a bag with one ladoo and three jalebi for ten HKD and made my way back out of there, I constantly had to refuse people asking me if I wanted a room upstairs and I know that it would be a mistake to even step foot in the elevators (not that I needed a room) basically if you were looking for “company” or drugs in Hong Kong then that elevator will lead you to your dreams, if you don't lose your wallet or your kidneys on the way, best to steer clear really.

Carried on up the street and ended up at the star gardens, pretty poor attempt at a garden, very lacking in greenery, but I was only passing through so I might have missed something, got to the cultural centre at twenty to 8 which gave me enough time to secure a good spot on the waterfront and take some photos of the city lit up at night. It's pretty overwhelming to be honest, there are just so many buildings and they're all massive, doesn't feel real at all staring at it across the river. The light show was pretty impressive, more technically than visually, as the lasers essentially repeat the same thing in the sky, but the fact that each building is interacting and doing something different was very cool to see. I was planning to go to the avenue of stars after the light show was over as it had been recommended

but I didn't fully know what that was, turns out it's like a Hollywood stars type deal so a bit of a waste on me as I'm not too familiar with the names of the rich and famous. Turns out it was closed anyway so I moved on to the next thing on my list which was to take the ferry over to the opposite side of the river to put me on route for central station to get the express back to the airport. Riding the ferry was so funny, as soon as they accept people for boarding any hint of an orderly line dissipates as everyone runs to get a window seat, once I caught wind of what was going down I thought I might as well join in so I ran to a window seat too and took in the views for the ten minute ride.

Once I reached the other side of the river I took some more photos as it was also very good for photo opportunities, and a little quieter too. I walked around the fair they had there and enjoyed the lights and music, then made my way back on the express to the airport, again very easy to find, on the ride back I charged my phone on the usb ports provided all along the train which left me in good stead to visit Tokyo next after another flight as they don't have the same level of convenience and this time round I was going to be stuck in the airport.