With a stop in Hong Kong along the way. Day 6 of my trip consisted of a morning departure from Da Nang, an early afternoon landing in HK, and then taking the express train downtown and exploring on foot for a couple of hours. Once again, I’ll let the photos do the talking:
The view from my departure gate at Da Nang airport (DAD). I’m not sure of the origin of those Quonset huts on the other side of the runway, but they resemble American military structures.
Landed safely in the Sky City section of Hong Kong and checked into the Marriott hotel. Our flight out today doesn’t depart until 6 p.m., but the Marriott folks graciously accommodated my request for a late checkout at two.
A view from my room……and another. Yes, there is some rain in those clouds.
The front desk clerk told me we could walk to the train station at the Asia Expo Convention Center and take the express train to downtown Hong Kong. And that’s just what we did.
The station was eerily deserted, as was the convention center.I’ll be what I am, a solitary man…We had the train almost all to ourselves until we hit the airport station.The night before, I’m cruising the Han River, and then the next day, I’m riding the train into the big city. It felt like being in Seoul again.It rained during our train ride, but luckily stopped before we reached our destination.This also reminded me of the Seoul subway maps. I didn’t bother trying to figure out where to transfer; we just went to the end of the line and started walking.There were only four stops on our train.Off the train, out of the station, and into the marketplace.Hello, Hong Kong City!Compared to Da Nang, the traffic was sane. Sidewalks and elevated walkways made being a pedestrian safe and almost carefree.
Frequent commenter Brian had made some suggestions of things to see and do on the mainland of Hong Kong. Given the time of day (late afternoon), we opted to visit Hollywood Boulevard. We put the name into Google Maps and followed the course it suggested.
Wow! Who knew pulled pork was a Chinese delicacy! But we kept going.On-On!Swan falls for the tourist trap.We made it to Hollywood!We came to a nice little park along the way.Thou shalt not pass!Looking out the entrance.A nice pond full of fish and turtles.And a tree I liked.We weren’t in any hurry to visit. Lots of antique shops along this stretch of Hollywood.And many of these interesting-looking pedestrian side streets.An impressive skyscraper.A small temple we didn’t visit.East side, West side All around the town The tots sang ‘Ring-a-Rosie’ ‘London Bridge is falling down! Boys and girls together Me and my girl Swan Tripped the light fantastic On the sidewalks of Hong KongRegretfully, we didn’t stop here. I kept looking for a cozy place where we could eat and drink, but alas, I didn’t find what I was looking for and it was too late to turn back.There ain’t no Circle K store in the Philippines or Vietnam.And the last time I saw a streetcar was in San Francisco.Heading back to the train station. Swan said many of these young ladies were Filipino OFWs. She chatted with a couple of them in Tagalog.Everybody was kung fu fighting. Or whatever it’s called.A view from the train on the way back to Sky City.A view from the Asia Expo train station.A water landing?Does that say her farts don’t stink?I’m almost ashamed to admit we did our dining and drinking at the hotel.While waiting for our food, this driverless vehicle was making the rounds. I’d never seen that before.When dining in Hong Kong, one must partake in a clubhouse sandwich with fries and some chicken tenders.With a Blue Girl beer from Korea, of course.So, I went from spending over a million dong for dinner to “only” $584Hong Kong dollars (about 75 bucks American). Things ain’t cheap here, that’s for sure.
And that’s where Day 6 came to an end. Heading back to the Philippines tonight.
4 thoughts on “Bound for home”
McCrabapples ya crusty old fart good to see you tried one of the most delicious cuisines in the world. Waste of a trip if you didn’t lolzzzzz
Almost no one on that train and very little traffic on the roads… Hong Kong seemed a bit eerie. I hope you enjoyed being imprinted multiple times in the CCP database. And now—back to the familiar. Barretto awaits.
Kev, first time there so nothing really to compare it with. The train loaded up at the airport stop, and there was lots of pedestrian traffic in town. No where near as busy as Da Nang. Great infrastructure in HK. Yeah, I just hope that don’t find any of my anti-CCP posts on the internet.
Mike, what’s the point of being a tourist if you don’t eat like the locals don’t, right? 🙂
McCrabapples ya crusty old fart good to see you tried one of the most delicious cuisines in the world. Waste of a trip if you didn’t lolzzzzz
Almost no one on that train and very little traffic on the roads… Hong Kong seemed a bit eerie. I hope you enjoyed being imprinted multiple times in the CCP database. And now—back to the familiar. Barretto awaits.
Kev, first time there so nothing really to compare it with. The train loaded up at the airport stop, and there was lots of pedestrian traffic in town. No where near as busy as Da Nang. Great infrastructure in HK. Yeah, I just hope that don’t find any of my anti-CCP posts on the internet.
Mike, what’s the point of being a tourist if you don’t eat like the locals don’t, right? 🙂