Day 29 - Nathan Road and 'Nostril Nuisances'

Just a street, just because it's Hong Kong.

Day 29 - 22nd July.

'The Dark Knight' building by day.

So the day was raining, again! Seriously, it's following me. Ever the optimist (ha!), I waited for the rain to clear and then headed out to meet my companion and royal brother from Guangzhou, Alex. We met for dinner and discussed our experiences of Hong Kong before he had to shoot off and Skype, sort out his project and escape from me as quickly as he could! I don't blame him!

Ichiban - lipstick for men. Sieko! Any 'Friends' fans will understand.

So I decided to wander again, it was only 7:30 pm. This time convincing myself I could walk from my hostel at something like 24 Nathan Road all the way to the Causeway in the North, near the New Territories. Safe to say, I failed. I walked 350 buildings worth, 750 if you count both sides and decided I was never going to make it. I hadn't even made four stops up on the Metro and there were nine or ten to conquer.

There shooting a movie down there, hence the crowd.

Instead of skulking back, I turned it into a mission to find a rain jacket. Four attempts came my way: one shop wanted me out immediately for asking about colour choices; one laughed when I asked for a discount; another just had a poor selection and the final one I tried on a woman's jacket after the assistant helped me pick it out. Finally, I found a shop, that looked like a camping jobbie. I went inside and two women in their forties helped me. Long and short of it, I eventually found a jacket and it was relatively cheap at 290 HK Dollars (Around £26).

Happy with myself, I indulged my inner child with an Oreo McFlurry. 

When I arrived back, i dodged the onslaught of Indian sellers, tailors and pains in the backside and crashed out pretty much instantaneously. I thought it was going to be a good night's rest but I was so wrong. The Korean girl had checked out and we now had a Chinese guy in her place. And this guy was a snorer! I'm going to nickname them 'Nostril Nuisances' from now on! So this guy could send the Richter Scale into meltdown. I woke up every 15 minutes from his snores. Finally, by 7 am, he was checking out. And I could sleep! 

Day 28 - "Hong Kong? What do you mean Hong Kong?" "Hong Kong, it's in China!"

Hong Kong's neon scene.

Day 28 - 21st July

So an early rise at 5:30 am saw me escaping my dormitory like a scene of a crime. By the time they'd discover the clogged toilet, I'd be long gone! 

I checked out and took the 18 metro stops to the airport. I checked in, no hassle, went through security and the immigration check without a hitch. I even received more money back an I thought on my Chinese Quan to Hong Kong Dollar exchange. The day was looking good. I picked up a gift for my niece on the way through to my gate so I was in high spirits.

When I boarded the plane and sat down, we had ten minutes until our scheduled departure time. I'd be at Chung King Mansion before I knew it. My luck was in, happy days . . . of course it wasn't going to continue. The Aussie pilot comes over the announcement system to tell us that due to weather conditions, only one plane every fifteen minutes would be taking off. That didn't sound too bad. Then he added we were some way down the pecking order. Nuts!

Two and half hours later and we're off. We were given some awesome biscuits and water and with 40 minutes, we were in Hong Kong.

I took the light rail into Kowloon and then a free shuttle bus to The Peninsula Hotel. It looked stunning and I was hoping my £9 a night hostel would follow suit. As soon as I spotted it, I spotted trouble. A wave of Indian guys accosted me as I entered the 16 floor Chung King Mansion on Nathan Street. "Cheap room, fella?" Yeah, I've got one pal. "Suit? Nice shirt to go with it free!" I'm a backpacker, mate! "Hookah, weed, coke?" Have you got any, Sprite?

If we have an earthquake, I'm buggered!

Where's the health and safety officer when you need one?

It's cosy, I'll give them that.

So I get into the lift, go up to the 16th floor, having to get out at the 13th floor because there are no buttons above that, and check in at The Delta Hostel. It looks OK, before they lead me into my room. It's a box with four beds. To make matters worse, mine is the top bunk with a massive beam going over the top of it, about 18 inches above my head. My roommates were a Dutch guy called John and a Korean guy called Lex. Another Korean girl was in the other top bunk but she was out and about somewhere. The only saving grace was the window next to me that Alex and I shared. From there, I could see a fair amount of Nathan Road and the building in the distant that Batman jumped from in The Dark Knight. Win win I'd say!

This will be fun . . . the three 's' can be done all from the toilet seat.

Then I go to take a shower and find its a wet room, (for those unfamiliar, it's basically a toilet, a sink and a shower head - go nuts!) and its small as hell. Somebody dislikes me!

So I headed down to the streets to wander around, losing myself in the local neighbourhoods. I had a couple of homemade samosas from the finest Chung King establishment, Butt Fast Food Centre for a modest 12 HK dollar (£1.20). Nathan Road and the surrounding areas were crazy; I must have been offered ten suits, five offers of drugs and a two prostitutes, at the same time for 200 HK dollars. Safe to say, I was aware I was in Hong Kong!

I retired early and headed back for sleep. It had been a long day!