Hong Kong is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People’s Republic of China, the other being Macau. It is situated on China’s south coast and, enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea; it is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbor. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populates areas in the world. Hong Kong’s population is 93.6% ethnic Chinese and 6.4% from other groups. Hong Kong’s Cantonese-speaking majority originate mainly from the neighboring Canton (now Guangdong) province, in which many of them fled from China to Hong Kong to escape wars and Communist rule from the 1930’s – 1960’s.
Under the principle of “one country, two systems,” Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China. Hong Kong Basic Law, its constitutional document, which stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a “high degree of autonomy” in all matters except foreign relations and military defense, governs its political system.
As one of the world’s leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterized by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eight most traded currencies in the world. The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern architecture and the world’s most vertical city. The dense space also led to a highly developed transportation network with the public transport travelling rate exceedingly 90 percent, the highest in the world. Hong Kong has numerous high international rankings in various aspects. For instance, its economic freedom, financial and economic competitiveness, quality of life, corruption perception, Human Development Index is all ranked highly. According to estimates from both UN and WHO, Hong Kong had the longest life expectancy of any region on the world in 2012. (www.wikipedia.org)
It was my second leisure trip, and I was even more excited this time as I know what to do or expect in a trip more or less (or so I thought). When we landed in Hong Kong International Airport via Cathay Pacific Airlinesand opened the window, it was raining. I never anticipated this as it was still summer, my excitement suddenly diminished. Even though a little disappointed, after taking our baggage, we took an airport taxi and asked the driver to drop us at Silka Fareast Hotel. We paid HK $206.50 for 26 km ride from airport to the hotel (taxi is expensive, as expected, but we have to take it to save time).
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| Main Entrance of Silka Fareast Hotel |
Silka Fareast Hotel is located in Tsuen Wan, a bustling bay in Hong Kong. The hotel is within walking distance from the Tsuen Wan MTR, City Landmark and other shopping malls, commercial and recreation areas in the district.
We had a reservation for 2 nights (twin room) for HK $1,350+10% service charge. I booked this reservation online using booking.com, same as I did in our trip to Singapore. Although it was the cheaper hotel recommendation in the website at the time of inquiry, it was more expensive than what we had in Singapore. Anyway, we confirmed the booking as one friend also recommended that hotel. When we entered the room, we immediately noticed that the room is smaller compared to the photos in the website and the one we had in Singapore, but it was properly arranged that it looks bigger and it was clean (very important).
After changing clothes, we tried to explore the nearby areas but the rain was heavy that we need to buy an umbrella which cost HK $49 (whoa, what an expensive umbrella), that’s what we call demand (considering that it was the cheaper one on sale). We went inside the City Landmark and found a lot of items to buy, but since it was our first day, we tried to save for the other 2 remaining days. We got hungry and tried some of the food in the area, we went to one restaurant and we were excited to try their food, but no one in the restaurant personnel know how to speak English and even the menu was in Chinese. We were frustrated, but nevertheless we went to a nearby restaurant where there is English translation of the food they serve and know how to speak English. I ordered a noodle soup and refreshment which amounts to HK $27 per order. Personally, there is nothing special about the food (or maybe because of my food preference). After eating, we went for window shopping and explored the place to know how we can reach Hong Kong Disneyland, Nyong Ping Station and The Peak Tram. These are part of our itinerary, so instead of wasting time roaming around we decided to plan our remaining days. We asked the receptionist of the hotel how to get to The Peak Tram (planned destination for our first day), he advised us that the duration of the ride will be for an hour and since it was raining, he discouraged the idea of going there. We will not see anything. Additionally, he told us that the rain will go about for 1 week and Hong Kong Disneyland might close also if the rain continues. Just imagine my shock. As we were walking, I kept on thinking that this trip will be wasted; all our preparation will be in vain. But my sister told me that tomorrow the rain will stop so I don’t have to worry, we just have to pray. So we lift them all to God.
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| Luk Yeung Galleria |
While taking a walk and picture taking, we came to the Tsuen Wan MTR station (which we don’t have a slightest idea that it was just there, we were planning to take taxi going to all the attractions in our itinerary and God is good). We asked the customer service person in the ticketing booth how to get to the places we want to go using the MTR and how much it will cost. When we got all the information, we started to head home to prepare for tomorrow’s adventure. We brought sushi/maki in one of the stalls in MTR station and I think it was cheap; it was around HK $28 each pack (for our dinner and breakfast). There is also an Luk Yeung Galleria (MTR Malls) and “International Store” (upstairs of Tsuen Wan MTR Station), where we bought distilled water which cost HK $6.50 each and I was surprised that I need to buy even a plastic bag priced HK $0.50. Then I noticed most of the people in the supermarket have their own bag. So next time, bring your own bag.J
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| International Store in Tsuen Wan Station |
We rested early to get ready for tomorrow’s adventure.
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