My Hong Kong Experience

January 14-17, 2008

If my recent trip to Singapore was a last minute arrangement, this Hong Kong trip lagilah.. I got only two days to be prepared for this trip which was actually a continuation of the one that we had in Singapore, even the delegation consisted of the same people.

It was not usual for people in my line to be working in Hong Kong, artis2 pun pegi sana for shopping je! Even the flight attendant asked what I am doing there.

Upon my arrival at the new airport, the security inspections included a big brown dog sniffing at my bags (seram tau!), automatic body temperature sensor (they are very cautious since the SAR outbreak) and a long queue at the Immigration.

My room was fantastic! Mine was at the 47th floor, so I got great view of the city especially at night. And even if the Continental-Imperial décor was not really much to my liking, their attention to detail was very impressive. Even if the bed had been made during the day, in the evening they’ll prepared it for bedtime, complete with slippers and mineral water at the bedside. They even tastefully quote a phrase from a famous literature as a good night wish! Talking about pampering for a princess…(and it was addictive too)!

Hong Kong is well known for being a shopping heaven and the people there really love to shop! You can see lots of people everywhere, be it during the day, apatah lagi at night! I read somewhere that shopping is like their national sport!

However, my shopping experience there was so-so. Thanks to globalization, most of the items there could be found in KL as well, and there was not really much different in terms of the price and selection at all.

We went to a few shopping malls, including their very own Time Square which was very huge and filled with high-end boutiques. The escalator itself was very long and steep. We also went to Kowloon-Temple Street and a few other street markets – (think of our own Petaling Street), which were colorful, noisy and of course full with people and stuff.

However, my favorite pick would be the Stanley Road. Even if the journey to get there was quite challenging-the long drive and narrow roads, but it was very worth it. The scenery was magnificent- with green hills, beaches and fresh air. And if you have eyes for details, you’ll find interesting pieces at reasonable and bargain-able price!

Finding halal food was not really a problem there, but the restaurants situated quite far from our hotel. So most of the time, we settled for one real meal per day. Tahan lapar ajelah…dahler cuaca sejuk!

All in all it was a great trip, the meetings were fruitful and we managed to go to a few interesting places despite of this being a working visit.

But it was somewhat amazing (and sad at the same time!) to find that I was confident enough to wander around the city ALL BY SELF, even at night without being wary so much of my safety. My only worry would be the fact that I might get lost in the crowded city, but no real safety issue, like encounter with snatch thief and all. Mean while, back home I would not even dare to go to the nearby shop without being so cautious of my safety, let alone wandering around KL at night - the city that I had been living all my life…it’s ironic, huh?