So, today, I was finally off on my holiday. I managed to just get my Narita Express train (I was running a bit late) for the hour ride out to the airport. It was surprisingly fast actually. I was supposed to pick up my ticket at 1:30 at the airport, but arrived at 1:00 because I know how crazy the lines are at Christmas. Well, I’m glad I did – after receiving my tickets, the line at the check-in counter was horrible. I haven’t been a line like that in ages... mainly because I arrive as early as possible so I don’t have to.
The last few times I have flown, I’ve been in business class, so going back to cattle class was going to be a shock. Luckily I got an emergency exit seat (ahh, leg room!) – usually they save them for frequent flyers. As I was flying on Dragon Air, which I’ve never flown before, I didn’t think I’d get one.
For some reason I thought the flight to Hong Kong was only 3.5 hours, but it is really 5.5 hours. It goes so much faster in business class, let me tell you. At the 4 hour mark I was getting antsy. The weird thing was, is that Dragon Air doesn’t have movies! There were no movie screens. That would have at least whiled away a couple hours. I just listened to my iPod and had a bit of a nap. I was also sitting beside a man from Brazil. Roger studies engineering in Yokohama, so we chatted for a bit and decided to team up when making our way into downtown HK.
After arriving at the airport, I made it thru immigration fine. There was a bit of a line, but it moved quickly. With no checked baggage, I could just waltz right to the front of the line at customs too. After making a quick trip to the washroom, to take off my sweatshirt and pack my coat into the straps under my backpack (it was a fabulous 23C!) Roger and I made our way to the airport bus, which would drop us off right downtown.
The bus is unbelievably cheap! HK$33, which is like US$4, for a 45 minute ride downtown. And even cooler, it was a double decker! My first ride in a double decker as far as I know. In the bus I had to put my sweatshirt back on, because the a/c was on super power. Once we arrived in the city, we went straight down Nathan Rd., which is the major shopping district in HK. The neon is amazing. I thought Tokyo had lots of neon. HK has signs across the streets! Not just on the buildings, but hanging out over the street like highway direction boards.
It took me a bit to find my hotel… the YMCA! The YMCA Salisbury is right on the waterfront looking over Victoria Harbour. I booked the deluxe room with the full harbour view. I figured I should do it for at least one night. My room had fresh fruit, and HBO and BBC. This is not the YMCA of my imagination (not having stayed at one before). Thewas also really nice. The buildings light up in different colours and do a bit of a light show. Some of them also have Christmas decorations. Quite nice to sit at the window and surf the net (they have wireless – you have to pay for it, but it is very cheap).
To see all my pictures from this day, check out my photoblog!
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