Blog du Wren

A conversation with Hong Kong

HK: Welcome to Hong Kong.
me: You speak English! I'm so glad to be here. That bus ride was a bear. Those beds were not made for 6' Westerners. It really makes you appreciate train travel.
HK: Technically, you're not there yet. You first must fill out this form and go stand in that line.
me: No problem.
HK: And then this form and that line...and then that line over there.
me: What's the deal with the customs. Aren't you still part of China?
HK: Yes and no. It's complicated.
me: Hmmm....
HK: Oh, and you need different money. My dollar is far superior to the RMB.
me: (yeah, but .01%)
HK: What was that?
me: Nothing. So how much should I get out of the ATM? I'm only here for 2 days. This ought to be more than enough.
HK: Ha!
me: We're not all here to shop for Gucci, you know.
HK: Have it your way. Where are you staying?
me: I was hoping you could help me out with that. Any particular district you recommend?
HK: You mean you don't have a guide book?!? Well, all my districts are nice.
me: Alrighty then. Thanks for the help. I'll just roam around in the heat with my big bag until I find something.
HK: Well, enjoy your stay. (And maybe you should stop by to see one of my many tailors, grubby)

Sunday November 12 2006

File under: China, travel

Toggle Comments (11)

comment?

on Sun 12th Nov, 2006 05:08 am UTC Saxtor said:
Hmmmm, this kind of reminds me of a conversation I had with London...
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on Sun 12th Nov, 2006 03:39 pm UTC trista said:
sounds like you and Hong Kong are getting along just great! Glad to see you are making friends. I bought a ticket to America the other day... well, to Canada at least. Customs shouldn't be that difficult. Let me know if you wanna join me... flying the 21st. December, obviously.
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on Sun 12th Nov, 2006 06:06 pm UTC Jule said:
Watch out for the tailors out there, you may end up wearing the emporers new clothes! Although you would of course look very good in them. Dad agrees and sends his love. I am in Seattle right now. You are missing quite a rainy week, with the flooding and the mudslides and the state of emergency. not the mention the election, which was another type of landslide!
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on Mon 13th Nov, 2006 10:54 pm UTC Kevin Anderson said:
Enjoy the hustle and buslte. I'd stay in Tsim Tsat Tsui, its on the Kowloon peninsula, and it is a district. If you are persistant you can find an inexensive room in a guest house. If you get the hankering you can take a jet boat over to Macau, it is way slower paced and has a great history. It was a Portuguese colony for over 400 years. They have fine wines, good cheese and an economy based mostly on gambling and prostitution. Be wary of the ladies of the night, but check out some fine old world style casinos where they don't let you in without a collared shirt and closed toed shoes (Casino Lisboa). It really is worth it, Macau was like a European oasis in my Asian adventures. And remember to eat some dim sum, especially the chicken feet. Tasty.
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on Mon 13th Nov, 2006 05:04 pm PST Andrew said:
tell Hong Kong i say "whattup?". we are old drinking buddies from college.
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on Mon 13th Nov, 2006 05:33 pm PST Daniel said:
This is my hometown, you better not to say anything bad about it. I missed HK and I planned on visiting some time next year (2007)
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on Mon 13th Nov, 2006 11:32 pm PST Saxtor said:
Andrew, you're confusing Hong Kong with William Hung...
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on Tue 14th Nov, 2006 01:11 pm PST bob said:
i spent 4 days in hong kong, which seemed like about 3 days too many. nice views, but otherwise it's overpriced shopping and chinese food like you find in america (ie not that great). what'd you think wren?
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on Wed 15th Nov, 2006 02:50 pm UTC Wren said:
Bob, I really liked Hong Kong, from the very little I saw of it. I liked the structure of it with a clean subway, English signs around, and availablity of everything. It was a pleasant change from the rest of China. I'm not saying that the rest of China is bad in anyway, but Hong Kong is definitely different in what was a good way for me at the time. It is a town I would like to spend another couple days in to see what else it has to offer besides 2 geocaches.
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on Fri 17th Nov, 2006 11:36 am UTC Kevin Iga said:
Hi, I got to your site through a friend Chris Richard's site--don't know if it's because you know each other. Anyway, I loved this piece! I'm in HK now, as a visiting scholar, and watching over students from Pepperdine University. I'm putting together a guide for students coming to HK next year, and I wanted to include this entry. Can I? Please? Pretty please?
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on Fri 17th Nov, 2006 12:01 pm UTC Kevin Iga said:
Oops--I asked you a question and didn't give a way to respond. You can send me an email at kiga (at) pepperdine.edu. I just wandered over your page and found you're a math guy. Cool! Me too.
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