Len Estaris' DrunkenMusings: Vibrant Hong Kong (Part 1 of 4)

Vibrant Hong Kong: A Sample Itinerary for First-Time Travelers

Dim sum, smoke rising as you lift off the wooden basket cover. Hot steaming tea. The racy smell of street food frying, with names that do not sound edible but surprisingly taste pleasant, maybe even echoing tastes of your favorite comfort food back home: stinky tofu, fried pig intestine, steamed beef innards, crispy tentacles. The vigorous 24-hour hustle and bustle of neon-lit Mongkok. The delicate balance of nostalgic retro charm and stylish modern living in SoHo. Theme park showdowns in Lantau Island. Breathtaking nature trails in the New Territories. Majestic skyscrapers dotting the main business district or sublime vintage cafes along sleepy side streets, high-end fashion brands inside cutting edge malls or quintessential antique curios sold by locals in their own corner store – all of these make Hong Kong a truly exciting destination showcasing the timeless charm of the old world and the pulsating electrifying energy of the new.

Before leaving your home country, make sure you ask the hotel you’ll be staying at in Hong Kong for the best way to get to their location. The transportation system in Hong Kong is very efficient that it’s usually very easy to follow directions if you choose to take the bus or the train going to your hotel. Do ask them also to email you the name and address of the hotel in Chinese characters. Make sure you print this out whether or not you decide to hire a cab going to your hotel.

Take note that upon arrival, if you are arriving by plane, the Hong Kong International Airport is quite a destination in itself having just won the World’s Best Airport Award (given annually by Skytrax).

The airport is very passenger-friendly, designed to meet the comfort and ease of use a weary traveller needs.

If you are not in a hurry to see the rest of Hong Kong, do walk around and see for yourself why it deserves the title “world’s best airport.”

After sufficient rest, get ready to familiarize yourself with the surrounding area of your hotel. You will find Hong Kong to be a truly lively dynamic city as every street provides you with pleasant discoveries and captivating people-watching opportunities. Walking around Hong Kong is relatively safe, with locals pretty much used to tourists. Just make sure you get out of the way of rushing locals!

Buying an Octopus card for your 3-day Hong Kong stay is highly recommended for tireless travellers like you who plan to really make the most of their stay. You can buy the card from any MTR (Mass Transit Railway) Customer Service Centre for HKD150, with a total of HKD100 stored value and HKD50 as deposit. You can choose to pay for more stored value as your Octopus card can be used not just in all manners of transportation (except taxis and some small public mini-buses) but also in various shops like 7-11, McDonald’s and KFC. For complete details about the use of the Octopus card, do visit their website www.octopus.com.hk/home/en/index.html.

Day 1 Times Square, Causeway Bay and Happy Valley Race Course

Exploring Causeway Bay is like peering inside a kaleidoscope, a different kind of dazzle and gloss every time you shift angles. The moment you step out of Times Square you are greeted with an avalanche of colors, billboards of Hollywood stars, a consonance of sounds springing forth from the varied shops lining the streets, a sea of people, each a different agenda. You see people just hanging around, taking a breather, you see people with lots of shopping bags and still looking around for more things to spend their hard-earned money on, you see people rushing either to get home or to do more business somewhere. It’s an exuberant display of everyday life in one of Hong Kong’s most crowded areas.

If you are lucky, you might even catch an exhibit on Times Square by a Hong Kong world-renowned artist such as Michael Lau.

When you’ve had your fill of Times Square, ride a tram going to the Happy Valley Race Course. You may use your Octopus card both on the tram and for the entrance fee of the track. Even though you are not fond of gambling, you will surely enjoy the raw energy of Happy Valley. The entire stadium is a beautiful structure surrounded by skyscrapers. This is especially more breathtaking at night, when the entire stadium is all lighted up, dazzling against the background of towering skyscrapers and the vast dark night sky.

While waiting for the race to start, watch as the stadium fill up with people from all walks of life sharing one common emotion – unbridled excitement for the race. You may be surprised to find a lot of people actually dressed up like they are going to a party. As you stay longer, you will find that being inside Happy Valley is after all, really like attending one big al fresco party, with beer tents all around and people happily drinking the night away.

Philippines REPRESENT! Our most popular beer here in our home country, boozing up race regulars and tourists alike at the Happy Valley Race Course, Hong Kong.

During the actual race, even though you did not bet on any horse, you might just find yourself cheering as loudly as everybody else. The energy is so raw, so invigorating, so palpable that even though you haven’t had a pint of beer yet, you feel a certain kind of intoxication, a momentary feeling of uninhibited freedom, as if you yourself are riding on that horse, racing against the wind.

After the race and people are no longer loudly cheering and yelling, the energy surprisingly remains, maybe not as raw as during the race but certainly still vibrant and carefree. Stay a little while longer, grab yourself a pint or two, observe quietly or meet new friends – whichever of these you choose to do, your Hong Kong horse racing experience will certainly, just like the stadium name, leave a happy smile on your face.