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HONG KONG, SUNDAY APRIL 9TH
Just arrived in HK 3 hours ago! What an amazing city!! First of all, the weather is really nice here (28c) - and all buildings are high and higher! People look different again then in Japan - it looks cheaper here as well. That is, I only pay about $7 for the hostel here, where I paid $35 average in japan. It's a sunday afternoon and people are enjoying there day off. At the moment I'm in a Swatch shop using there iMac (yep, for free). Have to hurry to the station now though. The hostel mini bus will pick me up at 19:00. I will write more in the days to come - I plan to leave for Vietnam (through China) on friday. Hope all is well in your countries! Enjoy your sunday & have a fabulous start of the new week!
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Hong Kong, Friday April 14th
Wow, this week passed really quick. It was sunday when I just arrived in Hong Kong that I last updated the site. So let's see, what has happened this week. Lot's of things I guess -- first of all, the weather didn't stay the way I would have liked it to stay. That means that the last couple of days it has been raining quit a lot. Even so, I have been able to see quit a lot from this amazing place Hong Kong. You really can't believe how bussy it get's here during weekdays. especially during lunchtime (12-13) it is almost impossible to walk the streets of Hong Kong Island. The thing is, Hong Kong is really a pretty big region (Administrative region as it is called since the UK gave Hong Kong back to China). But even so, they only use a very little part of the whole region for building. The financial district is packed away on Hong Kong island. Opposite of Hong Kong island is Kowloon where you'll find the most bussy shopping streets of Hong Kong (and maybe Asia?). Don't go into the shops though and try to buy a camera - I must say that the people are not very friendly in the shops (as opposed to Japan) but don't get me wrong, this doesn't go for all people in Hong Kong.
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Almost all people in Hong Kong come from China (Canton, in the south-east part of China). This means that Cantonese is spoken here as opposed to the Manderin in most of China. As well you can still see many british & expats hanging around here. Unfortunetely I only met one real "Hong Kongnese" but quit a lot of other different people. For a start I met up with Louis and his brother. They are priests and run the catholic congregation of which my cousin, Anima Cristi in Rome is part as well. They showed me around Hong Kong and took me to some great places to eat. Thanks a lot guys, I owe you one!dutch guy of the trip, Marten. He just arrived in Hong Kong after cycling for 9 months from Arnhem to here. Crossing Italy, Turkey, Greece, Iran, India, Nepal, Vietnam, China etc. This is a really great thing - just give me the busses and I'm fine. Marten just left for San Francisco for the last part of his trip. Then I also went around town with Jimmy, a really nice Malaysian guy, actually living in Singapore. Yep, and so the days passed.
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Macau
Decided to go to Macau yesterday. This is only a one hour boat trip in the hovercraft. Having been a Portugese settlement, you still find loads of Portugese influences here. It's a really great place and I actually liked it more then Hong Kong (well, it probably isn't fair comparing the two). But if ever in Hong Kong you definately have to go to Macau - walk around the small streets, have some Portugese food and take a look at the old colonial houses. It's a pitty many of the old houses have become wrecks (well, they do make great photos!). The pace of life is a lot more relaxed then in Hong Kong (must be the mediteranian influences).
In 2 hours I'm off to China. Say goodbye to the civelized world for a couple of weeks untill I arrive in Thailand I guess. It was quit a hassle to get the Chinese and Vietnamese visa's arranged (costs a lot of money as well!!). I will stay in China untill coming wednesday, when I'll go into Vietnam over land. That means that my next update will probably be from Hanoi.
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I'm really excited about going to China. This will definately be something different. Gotto take a 14 hour train from Guangzhou to Guilin tonight. This morning I first take a 3 hour train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. Wish me luck.
Take care everyone - we'll be in contact soon again. Greetings from Hong Kong. Floris
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