Our first trip to the Far East - Hong Kong Part 1
We left from Toronto on Wednesday evening and were able to use our upgrades to get us a business class seat on our direct Toronto - Hong Kong Flight. It was a very long 15 hour flight; but being in business class made the trip a breeze. We left on a Wednesday morning and arrived quite refreshed on Thursday afternoon. Crossing the dateline meant that we lost an entire day.
On arrival at the airport, we purchased an Octopus Card, which is a refillable plastic card that can be used for all transit in Hong Kong and for many attractions as well. Quite unique and very handy. You just wave it in front of the reader when entering the bus or subway and it automatically deducts whatever value is required for that trip.
We also bought a cheap cell phone at the airport and filled it with enough credits on the Sim Card so that we would be able to stay in touch with the family back home.
We headed for the Airport Express train and bought two tickets to Kowloon which would be our base while in Hong Kong. The trip by train took 24 minutes and we ended up in the Kowloon station; from there, free shuttle busses are provided which take you directly to your hotel. We were pointed in the direction of our shuttle by the station staff and in minutes arrived at the Nikko Hotel in the area called Tsim Sha Tsui.
I must say that we were very impressed by the crispness with which the entire process took place; there were people everywhere who would point you in the right direction and everything just seemed to work efficiently and with a smile.
We checked into our hotel and immediately understood why they say that the level of service in hotels in the Far East is a cut above the level that you experience in North America. It was a beautiful room and they even provided fine cotton robes to wear while relaxing.
We walked down to the promenade that lines the waterway separating Kowloon from the Island and were instantly amazed by the large numbers of people wherever we would turn.
We then headed up Nathan Road, which is the major shopping street in Kowloon. A couple of miles with door to door shoppes of all types; electronics, clothing, cosmetics, shoes and of course souvenirs.
Hong Kong is divided into two main areas. The mainland, which is called Kowloon and the island which is really the financial centre of the city.
Nothing that we read could have prepared us for the number and size of the high rise buildings that make up Hong Kong. There is an amazing concentration of huge complexes that are almost built one on top of the other.
We wanted to experience the famous "Symphony of Lights" display that takes place every night at 8 PM along the promenade. But first we wanted to eat dinner, so we began heading back to the kosher restaurant just up the road from our hotel on Mody Road.
The restaurant, called Mul Yam ("opposite the water"), is part of the Kehillat Zion Heichal Ezra complex run by Rabbi Meoded. It is in an office building/shopping centre complex and has a shul, kollel, and restaurant. There is a daily minyan and on Shabbat the place is packed with tourists and business people who come to daven and partake of the sumptuous feast that is provided for all the guests. It is really an amazing place. More on this later....there is also another community on the island and we will give you details on that as well later in these postings.
This is the shul area; very beautiful and very active.
Before coming here, we were a little concerned about the kosher food situation and so we brought some food along with us; the typical canned tuna and instant soups that come in so handy in the event of an emergency. But after dinner tonight we realized that we had little reason for concern.
We went for dinner to Mul Yam and were very pleased with the quality and service. We had New Zealand Lamb and it was done to perfection. We had heard that the other restaurant in town at the JCC was also very good and so we felt that our eating experience in Hong Kong would be a positive one.
We finished in time to head out to the famous Symphony of Lights. It takes place along the waterfront promenade and people line the promenade and watch the buildings across the way on the island light up in coordination with music that is playing through loudspeakers along the route. Hundreds of people come out every night to watch this spectacle and many more watch from boats in the water and from apartments and hotels that line the waterfront.
The boardwalk itself is known as the Walk of Fame and salutes famous Hong Kong movie stars like Bruce Lee who have their stars and hand prints in concrete along the way.
We also found our way to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a chain of coffee houses (like Starbucks) that features free computers while you have your coffee. It allowed us to download emails and keep in touch with everyone at home.
And so ended a very long two days as we fell asleep at the Hotel Nikko....more tomorrow.
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