I slept like a baby last night, the massage really did wonders and I woke up really fresh. After packing quickly, Johan and I headed towards the airport. The idea was to take the taxi to Maglev Train station and then take that to the airport. Johan purchased a First Class ticket on the train to go the airport which was very nice of him. I thanked him for the great time in Shanghai and we said our goodbyes and made sure that he visited me in San Francisco so that I could reciprocate the hospitality. Anyway for those folks who don’t know, Maglev is the magnetic train which runs from the airport to just outside of Shanghai downtown. It is a must to experience when visiting Shanghai. There are only two magnetic trains that run commercially in the world one in Germany and one here in Shanghai. There are now plans to have one run between Shanghai to Beijing, hopefully that will be completed before the Olympics in China. Coming back to my train, it takes literally 7 min’s at top speed of 431 KM/h to get to the airport. I mean we are so used to flying in planes at that speed, but actually sitting in a train and looking outside at such high speed is an experience on its own. I glad that I took the train, though I was the only one in First Class. I made a good movie clip and as soon as I figure out how to upload it on this blog I will add it.
After quick check in I waited for my flight to Hong Kong which was delayed due the bad weather in Shanghai. As soon as I reached the airport it started to pour as the thunderstorm which was predicted for the day had finally arrived. It was a short flight to Hong Kong on Dragon Air, as this was the only sector that I had to purchase outside Star Alliance, as none of the carrier’s fly directly from Shanghai to Hong Kong. I opted to sleep on the flight rather then to watch Joey and other sitcoms. As this was my first time to Hong Kong, I wanted to be awake to see the skyline as we descended into the city. Having seen many times in movies how challenging it is to land in Hong Kong over the sky skrappers I was looking forward to the experience. To much disappointment I did not get such an experience cause as we landed in Hong Kong all I saw was open land and clear views, I quickly checked with the person sitting next to me on what happened to the Sky Scrappers. He laughed and told me that was the old airport which was closed about 4 years ago when the new airport opened. Oh well you learn something new everyday.
Chinese people from the mainland don’t really respect any laws as they land in Hong Kong and the first taste of that experience was when most of these guys were standing in the immigration line. I mean they were shouting loudly just because the lines were too long. Maybe it was an isolated incident that is what I thought initially till one of the passengers told me that he see’s this quite often. Apparently no one from airport security came to stop them at all and they eventually shut up when the lines did not move any faster. I did not have an experience with the immigration officer as I did in Shanghai and he gladly stamped the page that I told him which had space on it. The best thing about Hong Kong airport is there is a great train service which takes you right into either Kwoloon or Hong Kong Island and from there a shuttle bus drops you to your airport. It took about 20 min to get to the Kwoloon Island and from there a quick shuttle ride to my hotel. I stayed at Marriott Kwoloon (New World), which was quite centrally located in the shopping district and only 10 min ride on the Ferry from Hong Kong Island. After quick check in and shower I called the tailor’s (Ashok Narwani) to see if he could make some suits for me while I was in Hong Kong. He came highly recommended by Mary Lou and her friends in Japan. With my appointment set for the morning I made my way down to the concierge and asked him about the tours and stuff to do around in Hong Kong. He suggested visiting The Peak and checking out the laser show at the harbor for the evening, as all other things required more time and they were better seen in sunlight. So with information I was off to the harbor. It was very sticky outside, I mean the temperature was bearable but the humidity was just out of the world and especially being next to the water you felt it a lot more. I just made it in time to the place to catch the ferry, when the laser show across from the Honk Kong and Kwoloon Island started. It is a sight to watch at night for folks on both side to view the spectacular show. The sky scrapers come alive at night and it was something I had seen for the first time. After spending some time on Kwoloon side enjoying the show I decided to get on the ferry and experience the rest from the water. Once on the Hong Kong Island it was quick bus ride to the Tram station to go the peak. This tram has been running over 100 years taking folks on the island to the peak and surrounding areas. The ride on the tram takes a few minutes but you really feel the pressure on the tram as you go up to the highest point in Hong Kong. Once on the top I was really curious to know why it was such a big deal to come up here and was worth it? Man!! as you can see from the picture in the slide show it was just breathtaking and it was such a lovely night that you really got a great view of the Island from up here. Your regular digital camera’s don’t do the job here, so I opted to get a picture taken with one of the professionals up there who had power lenses and flash to do justice to the photo. The half an hour was spent walking around at the peak and visiting the temple over there.
It was almost 11 pm and I decided to make my way back to the hotel and call it a night, as I was going to spend watching the game between France vs. Spain later on in the morning, plus the tailor was going to come to size me for my suits.
No comments:
Post a Comment