2 Days and 1 Night in Hong Kong

It was around 4am and we were scrambling to get ready to leave for the airport. Outside, a huge thunderstorm raged lashing down heavy rain and causing minor flooding in the streets. I would call it flooding, locals would likely just call it rain. There were a few cm of rain on my front street running down the hill.

We were travelling very light. We decided that as we were only staying for one night, we would only take carry on luggage. When we got off in Hong Kong, we could simply walk straight through without having to wait for our luggage.

The cab sped along the streets, I gripped to my seat as he took sharp corners at speed in heavy rain with standing water. Finally, we arrived at the airport and had a quick smoke before going into the airport.

Once inside, we checked in, headed for a coffee and then found a smoking area which was actually a small coffee shop / bar at the gate next to the one we were departing from. We sat down and had another drink while we smoked, waiting for our flight to start boarding.

Our flight started boarding and we got on board. By now, it was getting light and the rain was much lighter. Due to the heat here in the Philippines, the air conditioning on the plane causes white smoke like vapor puffs as the plane is cooled. I have never seen this anywhere else such as spain or the uk. At the time it was around 6am and 35C.

The flight was smooth, as smooth as you can get on an A319. These small airbus planes always feel like toys to me, not a real plane. I sat back, tried to relax and looked out the window. Flights are always boring between taking off and landing.

Before long we lined up for landing and made a smooth landing followed by a few minutes of sat on the taxiway as we waited for a gate to be assigned. Once parked in the gate, we were off the plane and heading towards the exit to get into Hong Kong.

We bought an Octopus card which allows us to travel on the trains and we headed for the closest exit to have a smoke. We found ourselves at the taxi rank and decided to get a taxi after we had a smoke instead of getting the train. I just wanted to get to the hotel, dump our stuff there and go out into Hong Kong.

We arrived at the hotel and checked into our room. The view was fantastic and I had to take a few snaps of it before we headed out into Hong Kong.

We headed into the mall behind the hotel to get something to eat. I have never eaten genuine Chinese food, only English style Chinese food. We found a nice resterant and sat down to eat. I ordered chicken which came in a bowl full of chilli peppers.

After this lovely meal, we headed into Hong Kong and saw some of the sights.

Walking around Hong Kong, I noticed that all the shops have their front doors open. In the Philippines, almost all the shops close their doors so that the airconditioning can run lower, but here in Hong Kong, they had the air conditioning on full and the front doors wide open. We would walk past shop fronts in the high heat and humidity and suddently get a blast of freezing cold air from the shop. The temerature difference from inside shops and malls to outside temperature, when we walked outside, our sunglasses and cameras had condensation on them!

After walking around Hong Kong, we headed back to the hotel, had a few drinks and went to bed.

The next morning, we got up bright and early, took all our bags and jumped on the light rail to the main train station and then into Hong Kong on the underground.

After walking around for what seemed like forever, we finally found the mall we were looking for. We headed inside looking for a toy shop so that we could get the toys that the kids wanted. We finally found the toy shop and got everything we needed. We sat down at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat.

When we left the mall, we were just in time to see a traditional chinese ship sailing past.

Walking around, we got a number of lovely photos of the surrounding area.

We stoped at another mall and grabbed a drink in a japanese restaurant. It was surreal. It was a Japanese restaurant playing french music in a mall in Hong Kong!

Back out into Hong Kongs back streets, we went shopping for some final presents.

After getting the last of the presents, we were ready to head to the airport for our return flight. I really did not want to get the train to the airport. It was a long way to go and the trains were usually full. We had been on our feet all day, so I suggested that we get a cab. I was getting really fucking sick of the people on this street. Every shop we walked past, there was someone lurking on the pavement saying things like “We have high quality suits at lowest prices” or “you want to buy fake rolex?”. After going up and down the street about 3 times, I was ready to punch the next fucker that blocked my path trying to sell me shit I don’t need. As I was waiting for Ian to come out of a shop, I had told one of the watch sellers who came up to me “look, we’ve been up and down this street a few times today, I have been asked hundreds of times if I want to buy a bloody watch and I still don’t want to buy a bloody watch”.

We flagged down a cab and jumped in. Cabs in Hong Kong have automatic doors. When they pull up, the door opens for you and when you get out at the other end, it does the same.

We arrived at Hong Kong airport, spent the last of our Train card credit in the 7 eleven, took our cards back to get the deposit back and headed straight to the checkin desk.

We got to the front of the checkin queue and handed over our details, but there was a problem. They would not let me board the flight unless I had a flight out of the philippines. They explained that immigration in the Philippines would not grant me a visa unless I had a pre booked flight out of the Philippines within my visa period which would be 21 days.

My heart dropped to the floor. I thought I was fucked. We hurried back to the other terminal where we looked for the airline counter, but it was closed. The only one we could find that was open was too expensive. The airport had wifi, so we got out the laptop and found a cheap flight to Malasia. Ian called the airline, booked the flight and asked if we could show the checkin staff the e-mail on the laptop as confirmation as it was impossible to print out the confirmation. “You should be able to” was their reply. After speaking to a supervisor, they confirmed that we would be able to show it to them and they would accept it. We took their name and rushed to the checkin desk. When we were first at the checkin desk, it was just opening. Now, almost 3 hours later, it was about to close. We made it through the checkin desk with just 5 minutes to spare.

We were processed through security and as I waited for my bag to come out the scanner, I saw the operator stop the conveyor belt and rescan my bag. He scanned it three times and then waved over one of his work mates, who proceeded to examine the item he was pointing at on the screen. “Oh fuck what now” I thought. What the hell did I pack in there? My mind ran through everything as a member of staff aproached me. “Did you pack this bag yourself” he asked. “Yes I did, is there a problem?” I asked. “Do you have any liquids in your bag” he asked. On thank fuck thats all it was. “yes, theyre all bagged up, let me get them out for you” I replied. I pulled out the two cosmetic bags we had and he checked them and thanked me. We proceeded straight for the smoking area close to our gate.

After a smoke, I went to the toilet and Ian headed towards the gate. When I got out of the toilet and made it to the gate Ian was nowhere to be found. I panicked wondering if she had got on the plane fogetting that she had my passport. That only lasted for a few seconds as she came running up behind me having stopped in a shop on the way to the gate. Phew!

As soon as the plane was in the air, I ordered two beers with two glasses of ice. I was in the air heading home. Its a horrible thought that you may not be able to get to the place you call home. I have a temporary residents immigration card which really only acts as an ID card, I still need to extend my visa and leave the country every 3 months. I was so pleased to be heading home. By now, it was dark. We sat back and waited for the plane to decend in the Philippines.

We landed smoothly, as smoothly as you can in a toy plane. The captain came over the tannoy and announced “The temperature is currently 39C”. I looked over at ian and said “thirty fucking nine?”. Damn, it was almost midnight and it was THIRTY NINE degrees celcius!

We made our way through customs and immigration before walking into the Philippine climate. It is like walking into a sauna when it is this hot at night. As soon as we got out of the airport, I took a pic of us both before getting into a cab.

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