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Arriving from Bangkok on October 13th, we checked in at the Kowloon Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, which was a superior first class hotel but was picked for the location in the heart of the night life area. The view was not of the harbor but that was only a 2 block walk away. A half a day city tour helped us get our bearings and was pretty good. We ascended to the top of the tallest hill on Hong Kong Island and the view was one to remember. You could see about all of Hong Kong Harbor and almost all of Kowloon. We also did some shopping at a Chinese Stall Market and passed a very old Chinese Pagoda. We returned through the not so old Harbor Tunnel and visited the New World Center on the Kowloon waterfront. Since an upscale mall was located next to the center, we took the opportunity to pick up a couple of souvenirs. After a long day, we retired to the Hotel Lounge for a drink and listened to some Phillippino singers doing American Pop.
Nathan Road is the main street in Kowloon and it contains major shopping and entertainment business. You can spend a few hours exploring the shops within a 1 mile stretch. We found only clothing to be a great buy and that is due to the cheap labor. Of course, you must have some time left after the fitting if you plan on tailored clothes. A City Park exists along Nathan Road and is really quiet nice. Seems rather out of place compared to the density of business and people nearby. It was the only place in Kowloon that we saw with space to move your arms freely. Two small children provided us with some great photo opportunities.
We took a Harbor Cruise on a Chinese Junk from the Kowloon Wharf and it was the only way you could view scenes like the Boat People. These people usually spend their life on boats that are docked in clusters at Kowloon. They throw any thing and every thing into the harbor. [Don't drink the Water]! Upon leaving the boat people, the Junk skirted Hong Kong and gave us a view of the density in which they work and live. Government housing is built with each apartment having an occupancy level, and if your family does not meet this level, they will move enough people in with you to meet this level. We were told that the newer ones have bath rooms, however, we saw some that obviously did not! They call a single room an apartment. Hong Kong was definitely a place of have and have nots. We did see some very pretty and obviously expensive homes on hill sides outside of the cities. One home was furnished with all gold bath fixtures, but we were told that most of the population do not own bath fixtures of any type. October 16th arrives and so does Northwest Airlines to take us back to the big Circle K. |
