Day 5 (Max)

G'Day!

The focus for Day 5 is the central district on hong kong island. I started by taking their subway system, known as the MTR. The MTR puts any form of public transportation we have in the USA to shame. You can arrive just about any time of the day and be on a train within 5 to 10 minutes. Furthermore, it is very inexpensive (less than $0.50 a trip), extremely clean, safe, fast and spans many different areas. Also, the credit card used for the trains (known as an Octopus card) can also be used for and refilled in many different parts of Hong Kong. A must for locals and tourists alike.

Once arriving at Central, I walked around the areas immediately surrounding my MTR stop. Areas of interest include the HSBC building - according to my guide book, it cost $1 billion US when it was built in 1985 [my guess is that it costs probably around $2 billion in today's dollars/value], making it the most expensive building at that time), the bank of China, and Chater garden. Although relatively small compared to the larger Hong Kong Park nearby (which I didn't have the time to see... yet), the garden still managed to impress me with its diverse tree population and attention to detail.

After Charter Park, I quickly wandered my way onto the suspended pedestrian bridges (I believe they are called "sky ways" but the actual name escapes me at the moment). These bridges are a necessity for two reasons. First, it is not uncommon to see roads that do not allow pedestrian foot traffic - a big plus, btw, if you are taking a bus or taxi anywhere! To get around these roads, a walker can either take a "subway" (it is not our definition of subway - the term refers to an underground walk-way that frequently contains air conditioning, shopping/stores and are very clean to boot) or one of the aforementioned suspended walkways. Second, at the ground level, the air quality can be very uncomfortable due to humidity and air pollution (the air pollution gets so bad that it can cause allergy-like symptoms, creates smog/fog and can make breathing more difficult than normal).

Additional meandering and general tourist inclinations led me to a trolley car attraction known as The Peak Tram. The Peak Tram is a trolley car, suspended at a 45 degree angle to the. It is used to help people go up and down the tallest mountain of Hong Kong island. At the top of the tram, there is a building (devoted to "tourist trapping") but with some interesting perks - namely you can go to the roof where you can see all the way to mainland China. Unfortunately, all I saw (mostly) was white clouds, as the pollution creates a dense fog that usually goes away only after a heavy rain.

On a side note: Hong Kong is another city that has significant elevation changes between a relatively small area (similar to Pittsburgh but on a much larger magnitude). Interestingly enough, people would strive to live at the highest elevations, initially to help avoid malaria and heat of the lower areas. Over time, as air con (as the British here call it) became more prevalent and malaria was managed, this preference for higher altitude living remained, as a symbol of status/success. This can be seen as more expensive hotels and living areas are correlated with higher areas.

Coming down from the building and going to ground level via a second ride on The Peak Tram, I quickly hopped on a tour bus. The bus ride, yet another tourist trap ($200 HK, which is way too much for a normal hong kong native to afford for an hour-long bus ride), also had perks. I discovered some cool facts about the various parts of the city, including significant buildings, what each area of the city did and historical information.

Realizing I was hungry from walking around all day, I decided to search for some decent western food. Sam recommended going to SoHo via the Central-Mid Level escalators. According to my guide book, the escalators cost about $245 million HK and is 2,625 feet long. My sense of curiosity got the better of me, as I convinced myself to put off eating and to travel the entirety of the escalators from bottom to top, to see what it was like! At the top of the Central-Mid Level escalators, curiosity was replaced by anguish. I quickly realized that no downward facing escalators were present and that I would have to traverse the 2,625 feet of stairs/ramps downward without mechanical help.

Half-way down the stairs, my newly formed blisters on my feet allied with my now-revived hunger pains, petitioning me to find somewhere to eat - immediately. I settled on "El Taco Loco". Although humored by the dish named "Nachos Gringos", my focus became eating something not awful, so I ordered the Carnitas Burrito. Hands-down this meal was the most mediocre burrito that I also sincerely enjoyed. In retrospect, I'm just grateful it was edible and that I'm still food-poisoning free. Huzzah!

I headed back home quickly after the meal, eventually meeting up with Sam for dinner. It was a trip back to a mall in TST for Triple-0 burgers. The food was unremarkable, somewhat expensive but fulfilling. Sam explained how this mall rivals the size of the KoP mall - on each floor. It's unreal.

Leaving the burger joint and the accompanying gigantic mall, Sam and I met up with about 10 of his co-workers for poker and beers. The company was excellent, the beer delicious and the night overall very similar to anyone who ever played in a large friendly poker game - specifically, most of us are confused at first, the pacing becomes sluggish, and people quickly lose all their money to the poker shark and/or lucky guy , and everyone talks about their bad hands (or other general topics, once people come to terms with their wins/losses) for the rest of the night. Trust me, guys think this is fun. If nothing else, it gave me an excuse to socialize and interrogate some more people about their lives in Hong Kong, which is all part of my enjoyment.

Tomorrow, I go to school with Saaaaam.

Cheers!

Max