20 minutes by taxi from Causeway Bay, we were away from the usual noisy Hong Kong. The taxi transported us to a clean air, quiet and luxurious green space known as Wan Chai Gap. It was a park and a hiking trail nestled in the middle level of Hong Kong. The Police Museum was just next to the entrance to the park. Of course, some exclusive wealthies lived there too. The trail overlooked the southern side of Hong Kong island; you could see the Ocean Park as well as the Aberdeen running track.
Even though it was 645am in the morning, the humidity and the warm temperature made your body started to sweat immediately. But the fresh air your lungs sucked in ignore these uncomfortable factors. Bring lots of water.
Take a taxi up. If you were to walk up from Queens road, you better have good set of legs. The trail leading up to the Wan Chai Gap is very steep; only uphill with an incline of about 45 degree for a LONNNGGGG time. Who cares about Stairmaster. After walking up, your legs would feel like jello.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
HSBC Hong Kong May 25, 2007
Visited the HSBC main branch today located at Central. It was a nice building. Going up via the escalator to the main lobby felt like entering an alien mother ship in a Sci-Fi movie. Unless you know the "behind the scene" technologies, a building is a building.
When exchanging some US$ to HK$, the bank attempted to charge me HK$100 (CAD$13.85 to be precise). The reason: I did not (still not) have an account with the bank. I refused, of course. Ridiculous. I absolutely refused subsidizing the bank losses in the sub-prime mortgage market. As I asked for my US$ cash back, the clerk was kind enough waiving the surcharge.
Opening an account is kinda different than in Regina. The HSBC bank requires original/existing statements of another banks or utility bills to prove that you are who you are. So for foreigners, please make sure you bring your current resident's bank statements or utility bills. After the bank account is opened, you can change the address. Umm.... This type of info is quite common for Macau banks as well.
When exchanging some US$ to HK$, the bank attempted to charge me HK$100 (CAD$13.85 to be precise). The reason: I did not (still not) have an account with the bank. I refused, of course. Ridiculous. I absolutely refused subsidizing the bank losses in the sub-prime mortgage market. As I asked for my US$ cash back, the clerk was kind enough waiving the surcharge.
Opening an account is kinda different than in Regina. The HSBC bank requires original/existing statements of another banks or utility bills to prove that you are who you are. So for foreigners, please make sure you bring your current resident's bank statements or utility bills. After the bank account is opened, you can change the address. Umm.... This type of info is quite common for Macau banks as well.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Excelsior Hotel, Hong Kong
Check out this view from our hotel room at the Excelsior. This is the Victoria Harbour. You are looking over the water to the Kowloon side. At the lower right corner is the first undersea tunnel connecting Hong Kong island to Kowloon.
The tennis courts at the bottom of the screen are from the Hong Kong Yacht Club I believe.
Nice huh?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Our Lhasa hotel
Brrr...... Cold shower in the morning was GREAT! We were all refreshed and alert. Our hotel used solar panels for hot water. Obviously, the day before was a bit cloudy. Or the other guests ran their showers too long.
Our room had two double beds, TV, and the usual regular items any western hotels would have except hot water. It was an "option". Hee hee. We had two days of hot water at night. The rest of the stay, water was cold to luke warm. To most locals, the room was considered as luxury. Yes, Kenny G was playing at our end of the street every morning from 730am on. Needless to say, we still experience occasional bouts of Kenny G in our heads right now.
One morning within a minute, I managed to pull the door knob off the bathroom door when closing it as well as push the flush button off the toilet water tank when attempting to flush. Close examination concluded that I was innocent. I did not have enough weight lifting sessions nor I was come from planet Krypton. The door knob was not screwed in properly. The flushing mechanism was missing the proper coupling holding it in place. Well, that was China for you. Fortunately, we were not charged for the "damages".
Breakfast time at the restaurant had to book each day. Otherwise, it did not open until whenever someone requested a time. We had the traditional Chinese breakfast. Pickled veggies, two kinds of congee, boiled eggs, two types of stir-fried vegetables, cake and fried eggs.
Staff was friendly and very cooperative. During the two-day training course there, the staff provided top rate service. There were two types of teas everyday - the sweet tea and the Tibetan Yak butter tea. The sweet tea used yak butter and sugar. The latter used yak butter and salt. Yes, SALT. Not my cup of tea though.
Overall, the hotel was great. Its name was Hotel Norpel Ling locating on No 6 Hong Qi Road. Tel: 0891-6712222.
Our room had two double beds, TV, and the usual regular items any western hotels would have except hot water. It was an "option". Hee hee. We had two days of hot water at night. The rest of the stay, water was cold to luke warm. To most locals, the room was considered as luxury. Yes, Kenny G was playing at our end of the street every morning from 730am on. Needless to say, we still experience occasional bouts of Kenny G in our heads right now.
One morning within a minute, I managed to pull the door knob off the bathroom door when closing it as well as push the flush button off the toilet water tank when attempting to flush. Close examination concluded that I was innocent. I did not have enough weight lifting sessions nor I was come from planet Krypton. The door knob was not screwed in properly. The flushing mechanism was missing the proper coupling holding it in place. Well, that was China for you. Fortunately, we were not charged for the "damages".
Breakfast time at the restaurant had to book each day. Otherwise, it did not open until whenever someone requested a time. We had the traditional Chinese breakfast. Pickled veggies, two kinds of congee, boiled eggs, two types of stir-fried vegetables, cake and fried eggs.
Staff was friendly and very cooperative. During the two-day training course there, the staff provided top rate service. There were two types of teas everyday - the sweet tea and the Tibetan Yak butter tea. The sweet tea used yak butter and sugar. The latter used yak butter and salt. Yes, SALT. Not my cup of tea though.
Overall, the hotel was great. Its name was Hotel Norpel Ling locating on No 6 Hong Qi Road. Tel: 0891-6712222.
Leaving Lhasa
After a six-day "roughing" it at Lhasa, we are leaving for Hong Kong. The pictures are taken from the plane as it climbed above the cloud to Chengdu, our stopover to Hong Kong. Take a look at the pictures below.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Welcome to Lhasa, Tibet
4:30pm Friday afternoon, we arrived at Lhasa. The air was a bit thin; both of us had felt it. As we disembarked from the plane, everyone was walking slowly. This was to avoid taxing our lungs and body at about 3650m (approx 11,975 ft) above sea level. For the first time in China, no one attempted racing down an airport corridor reaching the Arrival area. What a sight! And a break from the "rat race".
When we left the airport, the sun was bright; the sky was BLUE. I meant absolutely blue! And you felt the dryness in the air too. Water, water, wherever you are.... Yes, one needed to drink lots of water during the first few days for your body to adjust to this altitude.
When we arrived at the hotel, we slept most of the afternoon and drank lots of water. Slight high altitude issues: Audrey experienced some shortness of breath. Me, a slight headache. But not sure if my headache was due to the high altitude or lack of caffeine. Hee hee.
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