Hong Kong: Day 1 (Arrival)

Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842 when China ceded Hong Kong island (and later the rest of the New Territories) to Britain after the Opium War. In 1997, Hong Kong was handed back to China after more than 150 years of British control.

I was 11 when news broke out about the handover, and I remember finding it strange, that a country could be handed over just like that, as if it were a loaf of bread.

(In hindsight, I shouldn't have found it that strange, really; I mean, at least three foreign hands had dipped into the Philippines' sovereignty over the years.)

Relevant source: Hong Kong profile - Timeline (BBC)

Also learned from Crystal that after the handover, Prince Charles sailed to Manila instead of flying to London straight out of Hong Kong. Since he was no longer seen as a sovereign, he would have to go through the same lines that we mere mortals go through, so he opted to go to the Philippines, where he would still be treated with pomp and circumstance. I may be embellishing (and Crystal and I were just over a decade old when 1997 came around), but I found this more um diplomatic take about the whole sailing thing.

INTRO: Britain's future king has sailed into Manila Bay in heavy rain hoping to reassert a British presence in Asia where for the first time in over 200 years it is without a major colony. 

Prince Charles, who on Monday surrendered Hong Kong to China after 156 years of British rule, arrived in Manila on Thursday (July 3) for a 10 hour stop-over before flying on to London.

Interesting, no?

Now to the present: Hong Kong is a formidable economic power in Asia, with skyrocketing housing prices, a reliable train system, and excellent cuisine. People describe it as a shopper's paradise, but I'd rather go on a food trip than a shopping trip. (I also can't haggle to save my life. I think shopping here will just be a source of stress.)

We flew Cebu Pacific on Friday, August 12. We were scheduled to board at 6:10 in the morning, but by 6 AM we still didn't have a gate. Cebu Pacific described our flight as "temporarily on hold", a worryingly strong wording. It was not just "delayed"; it was put on hold. "Maybe they're just trying to temper expectations," J said. I immediately bought some food, believing we would be waiting there for hours. (Food is my priority, as I've mentioned.)

Turned out we were delayed by just ten minutes! Talk about tempering expectations. Maybe the MRT could take a cue from CebuPac. (But if the MRT says a ride is "temporarily on hold" it usually means "get down on the goddamn tracks and walk".)

We landed safely in rainy Hong Kong and looked for a place to eat.

One Hong Kong dollar is around six Philippine pesos. We had our money changed at Sanry's Money Changer before the trip. This link may help you figure out your budget so you'll know how much HKD to bring.

Here's mine (exclusive of plane fare and hotel). We would learn later that my estimates for meals and water were too low, and those line items ate into my shopping and pasalubong money.

SAMPLE BUDGET
$75 per meal	15 meals	1125
$7 per water bottle	10 water bottles?	70
Octopus card		150
$40 per meal Snacks and coffee	5 meals	200
Shopping		1000
Macau Ferry		350
Pasalubong		500
Wiggle room money		100
		3495	HKD

We ate at Tai Hing, where I got a wrong order because I decided to say the name of the dish instead of just giving the cashier the meal number. I ordered a chicken dish, and they had several chicken dishes, so she punched in the simplest one: Hainanese Chicken over rice.

Photo from the Hong Kong International Airport website

Protip: if the meals are numbered, just give them the number to avoid confusion.

Tai Hing has expanded from a humble barbecue snack shop to one of the most popular chain restaurants in Hong Kong. Today Tai Hing is perceived to be synonymous with comfort food, attracting the public not only for its Chinese-style barbeque meat assortment "siu-mei", but also for its up market "Cha Chan Teng" dishes and award-winning milk tea. Its comfortable environment, value-for-money prices and great service all add to its popularity.

Well, I didn't know the milk tea was award-winning! I had iced milk tea, and it actually was pretty good.

J had beef curry, which I enjoyed more than my chicken.

This is the face of someone internally screaming because everything is more expensive than she thought
and her budget is shot.

If you're eating in a restaurant in Hong Kong, the safer bet is to budget HKD$100 to 120 per meal, drinks included.

At first we couldn't figure out where to buy an Octopus card. Protip: it's right there on the same floor, at the counters where you can buy tickets to take the Airport Express. (The Octopus card costs HKD$150, with 50 as the deposit. You can have the card reimbursed at the same counters.)

I guess I balked at the HKD$100 price tag for the Airport Express (because I was still converting to pesos in my head), so I asked J if we could take the bus instead (which cost only HKD$40), at least for our ride into the city from the airport. (We could take the Express back on our last day; at least then we'd know how much money we have left.)

You should check which mode of transportation is easier for you also, since you'll be most likely carrying bags, or be with children or a large group of people. If we took the Express, we would need to make transfers. The bus would make a stop at a place just a five-minute walk from our hotel.

Relevant link: MTR Train Trip Planner

We could have also taken the taxi, but--

--these rates drove me nuts.

There was a mini-art exhibit on the way to the bus terminal. (You won't get lost walking from the airport to the bus terminal--there are signs everywhere.)

The line to bus A11. (Ask your hotel about the bus route you need to take.)

 

The bus was comfy. The sign showed both Chinese and English names of the bus stops. We were about 17 stops away so we settled back and enjoyed the trip.

   

 Look at the size of this harbor.



Are you excited? we asked each other. Yes, we're excited!

 

Then we missed our stop.

(To be continued.)