SIDE TRIP 9: Hong Kong

I only had five hours to do HK, no thanks to a delayed flight by
Vietnam Airlines that made me miss my connecting flight and,
consequently, missed the chance to stay overnight in the Chinese SAR.

So, what can an ordinary Pinoy do for five hours in HK? Tinatanong pa
ba yun? E di shop like mad, wahehe!

Good that their mass transport system is super efficient. Double-
deckers leave the airport every few minutes. With limited time, I
could only go as far as Kowloon, taking in the beauty of bridges
linking the outer islands from the airport to the city. The airport
itself was built on reclaimed land.

Along the way, tall residential buildings dominated the landscape.
There was no traffic, except for a slight build up when we reached
Nathan Road. Kowloon.

Boom! I truly felt like a foreigner then. Must be all those Chinese
characters in neon signs everywhere. Nakaka-alienate.

Heading to the side streets, I immediately joined the melee at the
night market. Cheap imitations everywhere! Fake Nikes. Fake D&Gs.
Fake Louis Vuittons. Fake anything. Aaaargh! Didn't want those. Guess
the most precious thing I got was a cheap anime doll (sort of like
Polly Pocket but Jap-looking) that my daughter adored and whom she
named Michiko.

All the rest, you can easily get at Tutuban. No need to go to HK.

Zhu ni yi tian guo de yu kuai!

KOWLOON NIGHT MARKET


NATHAN ROAD