There's walking. There's swimming. Then there's all the rest.
I am entering my third week of living in Hong Kong,
like most of the exchange students here, I keep forgetting that I'm not here
for a rather long holiday, but to actually study as well.
Plus side: I am actually enjoying
my classes thus far.
Of course it always helps when you have an
interesting course, or you have friends in the same class, but it can be
daunting when you're the only 'foreigner' in your class, so you don't know
anyone nor do you have much of an idea of what to expect from the class.
Not only did I manage to get lucky with my courses
by getting the ones I want, I also get Friday off, and the classes are
interesting enough, that if they were difficult, I wouldn't mind too much (by
the way, my classes aren't actually too difficult!). So it's all worked out
quite nicely for me. Not so much for some of the other exchange students
though.
Anyway back to last weeks
"adventures"
A Night in Mong Kok
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One thing you don't really think about, is the
actual size of countries until you're trying to get to a specific location, or
are just walking around randomly. I experienced both occasions last week.
China is massive. But Hong Kong is not.
The university that I am staying at is based in
Kowloon, which is one of the nicer districts of Hong Kong. It is located about
20minutes walk away from Mong Kok, which just happens to be one of the more
popular areas for young people, as it has a larger variety of shops as well as
plenty of options to eat and drink.
For most people, you would catch the MTR (the
train) from Kowloon Tong to Mong Kok, however on a lazy evening I chose to go
for a walk, where I ended up in Mong Kok. Walking through these areas with the
aim of losing oneself in the streets, actually makes it more interesting and
you end up seeing things you didn't even know existed. Like I saw the still
bustling flower market street, then walked onto the longest street of aquarium
stores, and basically staring at the walls of fish already in bags, waiting to
be purchased. You really can not get bored when walking through all the market
streets, admiring the lives people live here, and how I for one, would never be
able to live in such conditions. And it is amazing to see that a few days
later, I ventured into Central (its actual name!), and as I walked around,
noticed how different it was from Mong Kok. Although the buildings may have
been similar, as well as some of the shops, but the feel, look and the terrain
were all very different. Each district may have the same shops, markets, and
food places, but each are designed out differently with certain characteristics
and attractions, making them new and original to the observant tourist.
Queen's Road Central
|
Out of my ventures last week,
they were the better ones.
Since I moved to Hong Kong, I have been
swimming 4 times. Twice at the local public pool. Once at Shek O Beach (a place
I will be returning too). And sunday's swim was at Sai Wan in Sai Kung.
As it turns out, Sai Wan is a very popular beach,
both with the locals and with tourists. However it is not just popular because
of the beach, which is reasonable clean for HK, but rather the factors that
make it slightly different from other beaches. That being it takes you about an
hour just to walk to the beach via quite a steep paved path. So if you have any
kind of injury or suffer from a slightly bad knee like I do, it's probably best
to wait until it has healed a bit. But the steep climb back up to Sai Wan
pavilion, does attract many hikers and walkers (probably because it does
wonders for your legs), and although I was tired, in a bit of pain and
sweating, the surroundings did make it more bearable, as every now and then,
you might see a small waterfall or spot the small river passing by through the
dense forest.
A lot of people who went to this beach on the
weekend, really enjoyed the cliff diving spot, or just jumping off a cliff into
the fresh water. I will admit that with the excuse of flip flops and a bad
knee, I did not brave the rocky climb to the diving spot like everyone else,
but I did get to see the area from a distance, and it did look beautiful.
Now onto the beach itself. Sai Wan, is one of four
beaches along the Tai Long Wan pennisula. And to be honest, after all that
walking and the day I had had, I was disappointed. I do make far too many
comparisions to the beaches in Western Australia though. But here the beaches
are not clean, and some are worse than others, and like at Sai Wan, I managed
to walk into a large piece of plastic wrap in the water. But other than the few
pieces of rubbish in the water, it was nice to swim in the sea again, especially
when there were some very high waves, which made diving into them more
fun.
It is definitely more popular as a surfing spot, as
in the small Sai Wan village, they do hire out surf boards. I don't recommend
going swimming there, unless you are a strong swimmer. As the waves were very
big, it meant that the current was also extremely strong, and even I, a strong
swimmer, struggled a bit to get back in after I noticed I was quite a distance
out.
There was more disappointment, when I noticed that
there were no showers, and the public toilets were disgusting. Walking back, up
hill, covered in salt and sand, is not fun nor comfortable. And to make matters
worse, there is only one small bus that comes every 15 minutes to take you from
the pavilion, stopping at 6.30pm. It was 6.00pm. So with a large group of
people waiting for the bus (we figured there would be about two or three more
buses), and no signal to call a taxi, we starting walking back.
We should have waited.
Not only did more buses arrive, but lots of taxis
did as well, and eventually we got a lift back to the main bus station. The
group of people I was with, were all exhausted, hungry and sore. So all in all,
as long as the trip to and from Sai Wan works well, you will probably have an
enjoyable time. I just did not, and I do not plan on going back. For me, it
isn't worth it.
But with plans to go to Ocean
Park this week, hopefully it will be as fun and as exciting as I've heard!
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