In Seoul airport the clerk at Jeju airlines told me that I need an onwards ticket to board the aircraft - I had none. I said that I didn't think I did need one, and I get 180 days to stay. After already waiting for ages behind hundreds of people who all seemed to have 20 suitcases each she made me wait longer while she checked with her Hong Kong connection. Finally she said it was OK (yes I knew!) and I could go through. Security was packed - it took an age. I made it with minutes to spare - I was literally the last person on the plane, through no fault of my own. But after this I vow to arrive at airports THREE hours before the flight leaves - I can't be doing with the stress of running about
I love Hong Kong! It's got all elements of almost everywhere I've been so far, plus a welcome Englishness in the buses, the traffic lights, the police, the signs - I even saw a black cab! I felt quite at home immediately. I stayed at the Hong Kong hostel in Causeway. The not-so-friendly staff put me in the "welcome mansion" - another building over the road. It was like having my own apartment as there was no-one else there, apart from a Russian guy who spoke pretty much no English. I have no idea why he was there. although he did say "shops" to me and he was out from 11am to 11pm, every day! He insisted on having the windows closed and locked (despite being on the 8th floor with bars on the window), and the room door closed (despite being behind 5 levels of security), meaning the room was ridiculously hot - I moved to the sofa most nights, which was comfortable and cool.
I didn't do much high-up sight-seeing as most of the time was rain and fog. I did go to the peak, you have to when In HK! The view was zero; it was paying to go to an extremely expensive, high shopping mall. Most of my time I enjoyed walking about, soaking up the busy streets, dipping into Chinese cafe's and galleries. I caught up with my good Russian friend from Malaysia, who now lives there, and we celebrated Halloween with some friends from his Uni - arriving home at 7am - I've not had a blow out like that in a long time!
I love Hong Kong! It's got all elements of almost everywhere I've been so far, plus a welcome Englishness in the buses, the traffic lights, the police, the signs - I even saw a black cab! I felt quite at home immediately. I stayed at the Hong Kong hostel in Causeway. The not-so-friendly staff put me in the "welcome mansion" - another building over the road. It was like having my own apartment as there was no-one else there, apart from a Russian guy who spoke pretty much no English. I have no idea why he was there. although he did say "shops" to me and he was out from 11am to 11pm, every day! He insisted on having the windows closed and locked (despite being on the 8th floor with bars on the window), and the room door closed (despite being behind 5 levels of security), meaning the room was ridiculously hot - I moved to the sofa most nights, which was comfortable and cool.
I didn't do much high-up sight-seeing as most of the time was rain and fog. I did go to the peak, you have to when In HK! The view was zero; it was paying to go to an extremely expensive, high shopping mall. Most of my time I enjoyed walking about, soaking up the busy streets, dipping into Chinese cafe's and galleries. I caught up with my good Russian friend from Malaysia, who now lives there, and we celebrated Halloween with some friends from his Uni - arriving home at 7am - I've not had a blow out like that in a long time!
