A small town South African boy wondering the streets of Hong Kong and loving it.

in #hive-1555302 years ago


One of many shopfronts in Hong Kong airport.

It is already Thursday in South Africa but I hope it is still Wednesday somewhere in the world as I wanted to do this Wednesday walk post.....yip, sneaky :)

My eldest sister, her husband and their three very young kids (at the time) emigrated to New Zealand from South Africa 28 years ago. Five years ago I was blessed to be able to do a month long trip to visit them and I regard it as the trip of my life (I will do a seperate blog on the New Zealand part soon.)

My flight route from South Africa to New Zealand was via Hong Kong where I had a 14 hour daytime stopover.

I am no seasoned international traveller (this is the sadly the only one I have done for many reasons) besides having a total gypsy heart around South Africa travels & a couple of neighbouring countries. In the towns & areas I go to I always want to explore to see as much as possible......Hong Kong was no different and I wasn't going to miss this opportunity by catching up on needed sleep on an airport bench.
.
Before leaving home and just after landing I did google searches of ideas of where to go or what to see. Many ideas were shown that looked beautiful and interesting.......about half an hour after landing, my normal mantra of wanting to see the "real life" of a place as opposed to the fancy "touristy" spots kicked my butt and madam google was tossed out the window.


The first view that I had out the airport window was the above photo.
To cast some idea of the "small oceanside town boy" seeing the big wide world for the first time.......my mind was already blown when just after disembarking the plane........ I had climbed on an underground train that had whisked me to another station within the confines of the airport.......what the hamburger patty is going on I had thought lol.......so as I blinked my eyes to make sure I was seeing the above view correctly it dawned on me........I was looking at the most sedan vehicle taxis I have ever seen in my life & they were all together in one group.....wowzer!!!! (the photo doesn't actually do it justice as they stretched around the corner. )


Electric trams travelling down a busy road

Eventually I finally managed find my way out of the airport building/s (embarrassingly I did do a long repeated loop about three times before I clicked that something was wrong hehehe....the place was like a city on it's own to me.)

I then found a bus terminal that had about 15 - 20 immaculate, shiny red double decker busses in it. Each one was going to a different destination around Hong Kong.
Without a clue of where in the world it was headed, I selected one and jumped on.
The trip & sights en-route were amazing and I seem to remember it lasting about forty minutes.


I ended up in a place called North Point. Here I ambled around the streets seeing shops, markets, day to day living including backstreets with dodgy looking panel beater shops behind zinc iron sheet fences etc......

I was in my element with the experiences although I later got told that I am "not normal in the head" for what I did....."normal" is boring to me hehe.


Locals fishing off North Point pier

I eventually found myself at the North Point "jetty/harbor terminal"


Here I witnessed one of the most moving & beautiful ceremonies/ rituals that I have ever seen.
A group of about twenty elderly locals were dancing with one at a time singing/ humming a beautiful song over a karaoke type setup that I presume was in Chinese while a few took successive turns doing something on the waters edge next to large plastic containers.
I must have stood watching for about half an hour in awe & enjoyment, a respecting distance away & did take this one photo but didn't take more like a papparzi out of respect & love of what I was experiencing, till an elderly lady, who had been glancing at me every so often, ambled over, took me by the hand and led me back into the middle of the group.
Thankfully she could speak some broken English and explained what was going on .....taking turns on the waters edge they were putting piles of live fish back into the sea. They believe that they can possibly return in an afterlife as a fish and they were doing the ceremony to honour their ancestors.
After about an hour I left feeling incredibly humbled & honoured that I had been led into the group & had this experience. (Note.....it was day to day humans and not at all a display for tourist attraction......there were no other visible tourists or bystanders.....it was day to day life.)



I then climbed on the daily commute public service ferry at the pier as opposed to the "tourist" ferries a couple of hundred metres away that are pictured above . Another great " real" experience and I climbed off on the other side in a place called Kowloon City.


Sights from the ferry crossings

I did the same wandering around the streets of Kowloon for a couple of hours and then returned to the airport via the same route & manner.

This has been a long one and thanks if you made it this far & hope you enjoyed my walk.

Always keep it real

This is my post for this week's #wednesdaywalk challenge amazingly hosted by @tattoodjay in collaboration with #makemesmile hosted by @elizacheng.....thanks so much to both of you.

All photos used were taken by myself.
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Great work! That's HK ticked off!!! Next!!!

Seriously though, those high rises look very tall and thin.

Hahaha......cheers @mypathtofire although I wouldn't mind spending a longer period there to experience/ see more. A big difference between SA and HK is the vast open land that we have here that doesn't force living into continual "huge" skinny apartment blocks on the island.

The ones in my photos were the more modern & uptown type ones as opposed to the "downtown just as tall scary" ones I saw.....I would lose my sanity in a month living like that & be dead if I forgot my keys at home without the elevator working & living at the top hehehe.

Amazing people though :)

Cool Steve! Thanks for sharing man!

It's a pleasure and cheers for that )

Hi Steve!
What a great ride. You've made the most of those few hours. And I enjoyed reading about your adventure. When I visit somewhere, I also like to mingle with the locals and get off the touristic track and get the real feeling of the place.
And I would love to visit Hong Kong someday. Thanks for sharing!

Hi @coquicoin,

Ah, thanks so much and it is definately the best way to experience things :)

I was in my element with the experiences although I later got told that I am "not normal in the head" for what I did....."normal" is boring to me hehe.

That is totally normal to me and what I have always done, but fair play to you, you had a blast. Priceless is the apt word, when you do something like this.

Those skinny apartments tho!
Not a chance I would live high up in them,with my luck the lifts would keep breaking!
Great post Steve:)

Ah thanks so much and great to know that there are more real people in the world hehe.

Couldn’t do it either and would have the same luck..,.lids would be broken and I would get to the bottom and realise I had left my car keys on the top floor 🥴😅

hehe yeah you gotta be real!
Damn imagine if you did that, talk about being pissed off🤣🤣🤣

😂😂😂

Incredible shots! Wow! Thank you for taking us traveling with you!

Ahhh, thanks so much @clairemobey and it is a total pleasure 😊

There are more new buildings nowadays than 5 years ago hehe..

I can believe it but it is a scary thought hehe.

I had a couple of friends who came to visit us in Jakarta. They had never been to any of the South East Asian countries before. During their first week in Jakarta, they got frightened when they were in the car. They got dizzy from just looking at the traffics especially the number of motorcycles and the way we drive. It must have been an experience for you to land in bustling Hongkong, but alas only for a short layover. You were very brave, without a clue you selected one and jumped on a bus! I could picture you must have gone through the process of eeny, meeny, miny, moe when selecting your bus!😀

It was very much eeny meenie with a confused look on my face 🤷‍♂️😅
Somehow I would love to see Indonesia some day and have heard of some people being nervous of Jakarta “steet racing”…………hopefully I would think it is fun 😅

One of my nephews is currently in Bali. He went for a month and came back for a week. We have had a cold and wet winter and after being home for a week he decided he had had enough of winter and has returned to Bali for two months.

He has done well for himself with an online business so can basically operate from anywhere.

I am mighty jealous and don’t think I want to talk to him. 😅

Hahaha... you jeaolus man! Come whenever you have the opportunity. I will be happy to show you around. 😃

Ah, that would be amazing……thanks so much :) I just need to win the lotto and will be on the next flight hehehe.

I think my nephew is off this years Xmas card list 😅

Just found this in time ...

Glad I did!

Keep shining Steve 😊

Ahhh, thanks a lot Nics 😊

hi! hehehehe

i'm here for just a moment!!! but i'll be back later! cuz - oh. my. gosh. I have been spinning and juggling and wheeeeeeeeeee lately LOL

but i miss you! and just wanted to say that RIGHT NOW. and then i'm gnna read this post and then i'm gonna run to PYPT hehehe

and then i'll leave you a proper message later LOL

Wooooowzer......yeeeah "happy dance"....you are back :)))....I thought you had disapeared into baking powder land forever and ever cookie crumbles "sob" hehehe.

Spin, juggle and toss me to PYPT sista hehehe.

Oh my! Those high-rise buildings are soooo skinny! I just couldn't!

My nan lived in a high-rise when I was a wee one. I think she was on the 14th floor or something like that, so a small high-rise in comparison to the ones in your pictures. I still remember the times when the lifts weren't working. I only had little legs at the time so I'm sure that made it the more memorable.

We used to wave at my dad (a train driver), as my nan's flat looked out over the rails. He'd wave his white hanky up at us and we'd do the same 14 floors up. Hehe!

I'm just imagining you rn, Mouse, looking up and up and up! Who needs "normal", hey?!

Hehehe,

So with you on that. I doubt I am normal but living in one of those would make me sane within a week....no, just no....neither is ever going to happen, ever ever ....like dinkum serious never ever .....I would need your white hankey to go to the potty hehehe.

You make me laugh so much. I can feel my eyes crinkling in delight each time I read you. Hehe!

Hehehe.....It makes my crazy heart warm to hear things like that....thanks :)

I am just about to post a blog that might make your eyes crinkle more hehehe.

I'll pop along soon. Just put the kettle on first and make myself a brew. 😉

Now there's the thing.....one can not survive without one's brew, no matter what the government says....ever never, hell no!

Good plan and think I will do the same here before going to make up with my bed again hehehe.

Enjoy :)

i was thinking the same, Jules... crazy! right? and you know they make their own scaffolding in China and Hongkong... made out of bamboo sticks and bamboo twine and rope. I've seen them setting them up and up and up lol.... quite high...and they are so quick at it...but geez... nope I could not climb their scaffolding and use it like they do.... utter madness. But some skill they have!!! Love your little reminiscing about your nan's place 💕 !ALIVE !LUV

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The highrises themselves were terrifying in my imagination and now you've added a new layer to the madness.

You know what, I'm going to block out all the images that are trying to force themselves in front of my mind's eye, and stand firm, hand outstretched in front of me and say "No!" Hehe.

Crikey! It didn't work! I can see little people up and up and up! I'm staring at them from my concrete surface below. Feet firmly on the ground.

Neck hurt, much?! Eek!

hahahahaha... yep it was pretty freaky!

sam.jpg

Awesome logo @samsmith1971 :)

hey Steve, your post was shared in PYPT by Dreem... I scanned it quickly and upvoted before the voting period closed but still have it open to read properly and comment !LOLZ ...just got too tired yesterday. I will be back later hehe

Ello Sam :)
Hehehe, I wondered if your reply had gone missing but hope you managed some good rest.

Thanks so much for that :)

What does a painter do when he gets cold?
He puts on another coat

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Hahahaha......thanks a lot @samsmith1971 and @lolzbot :)

hehehe just finished -had to read it now :)

oh Mouse!!! this is the story you told me about!!!!!!!! heheheh i love it!!!!! loved that you got at least one picture there with that ceremony. And I cracked up laughing where you said you took that bus 3 times in a row cuz you didn't know you were going in circles LOL

seriously - i want to go on an adventure with you. but i'm terrified to go on an adventure with you LOLOLOLOLO

I think the experience would be SO much fun - but only AFTER i arrived home safely could I actually process it!!! cuz i'd be scared out of my wits along the way!!!!! hehehehehehe

loved this!!!!! i'll have to share it at the PYPT show today hehehe

Hehehehe.....awww c'mon,it will be a wild ride & adventure that you will never forget or stop smiling about and I guarantee that you will get home safely. No warranty given on your post adventure sanity though.....normal is boring and share away hehehehe.

Oh wow...yeah this was a fun post and really took me back in time too!

my normal mantra of wanting to see the "real life" of a place as opposed to the fancy "touristy" spots kicked my butt and madam google was tossed out the window.

My hubby and I do this too... we like to go hang with the locals... choose the backstreets over the grand avenues, choose the working class street cafes over the touristy restaurants... immerse ourselves in local life.

When we were in Paris one year... we couldn't find anything vegetarian to eat... and the restaurants well hell pricey with no promise that anything other than escargot and frogs legs were on the menu.... so we looked at each other and were like... you know what... who do you see when you look around here.... TOURISTS. ONLY TOURISTS... but where do the locals eat then??? hahaha so we walked off the Champs Elysees and back a few streets and there we found an awesome working class diner/cafe...and we got this massive plate of food to eat... like here it would be called a sharing plate lol.... and it was like 5 euro at the time... which compared to the 18 euros minimum being asked on the Avenue, was a steal!

Another time we chose to stay away from the hustle and bustle in Montmartre...just a short walk from the Sacre Coeur... we had a little bakery on the corner and grabbed breakfast there and in the evening we went for a walk and found ourselves sat a little bar/cafe opposite the Moulin Rouge and drank G&T's til 2 am watching the windmill go round and round and the people go by... It was so chill.

So I am glad you ditched google on this occasion!!! May you ditch it forever more... as I am certain you will get a chance to travel again someday. That bus trip looked fascinating... some awesome pics of local living ❣️And it looks like you had a fabulous day in HK and Kowloon and so special to get to witness that personal ceremony up close and have the locals interact with you like that.

embarrassingly I did do a long repeated loop about three times before I clicked that something was wrong hehe... the place was like a city on it's own to me

haha, tell me about it... we had to switch check-in areas twice for one trip leaving Hong Kong and it felt like we were trekking to the other side of the world!😂

I spent some time in Hong Kong myself in the early 2000's... my hubby contracted in China from 2000 - 2007. I spent the first 4 months staying with him in a development town about 2 hours from Hong Kong by Catamaran, up the Pearl river delta (about an hour by bus into Guangzhou). But we used to go to HK once a month for me to renew my visitor's visa... and then we would spend the weekend there... for me it was always PIZZAHUT that I looked forward to hahaha... and I am now vegan !LOLZ ... but eating just Chinese style food every single day... I would crave something Western... We used to stay at the big gold glass hotel overlooking the Kowloon harbour (where the ferries would come in). Surprisingly quiet reasonably priced! On one such trip to HK we decided to go out for drinks... and found ourselves in Planet Hollywood... and there were these American Navy blokes eating there too. They caught our attention as they were loud and were clearly having a great time. Then they left... we carried on for a bit and then decided to move on to Hard Rock Cafe. When we got there and went to the bar, lo and behold who should be there but the same guys haha... Anyway we ordered our drinks and sat down at a table nearby and we were just chatting.... next thing they call us over and they've bought us drinks... drinks arrive... we all get chatting and numerous rounds later we are like best mates ROFLLLLLL... they all signed my t-shirt with marker pen .... one even drew a pic of their ship on it 🤣and they invited us on a tour of their ship too... sadly when we got to the port the next day, they had received orders to ship out so it was only a quick cheers and they were on their way... but it was a super fun time had in HK. I'm glad you got to experience it on your way to NZ.

And now I cannot wait for your NZ posts!!! I have never been there but we have friends who live there...so you never know...maybe one day!

!LUV !ALIVE

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Wow, thanks so much @samsmith1971 and @youarealive 🤗

👍🙏

Hehehe……..definately sounds like we operate the same way and love the sounds of the adventures that you & your hubby have had with good laughs about Hong Kong lol.

I have heard that food prices are crazy in central Paris and would also go in search of the locals…..sounds like you scored big time by doing so.

My mind likes playing mind games with me about weird types of food and snails & frogs are definately not food bleeeeegh hehehe!

I got quite hungry when wandering around North Point and Kowloon and at one stage I passed through a live fish/ seafood market where I saw some the weirdest, never seen creatures swimming in buckets for sale….quickly gave that a miss hehe. Later I walked past a local/ non franchise takeaways shop that was full of locals (In my one photo.) There was rotisserie/warmer in the window full of bright yellow things that resembled roast chickens along with cooked dark brown small animals that I had no clue of what they were and gave that one a miss too lol.

I eventually waited till I got back to the airport and bought a cheese & tomatoe sandwich from an American franchise coffee shop there hehehe!

A great post and fun to read
I can relate to your feelings when first arriving there
I was a small town Kiwi boy when I arrived in Singapore I got exactly the same feelings

Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :), I truly enjoy exploring the world virtually each Wednesday seeing walks from all around the globe and feeling I am there and experiencing it all myself, such as I did in your post just now :)

Thanks so much @tattoodjay and can totally understand it after my beautiful NZ trips around an incredible number of areas on both Islands in one short month.....loved the country, people and experience.

If you don't mind me asking.....which towns/area did you grow up in?

I grew up in Hawkes Bay in the North Island in a town between Napier and Hastings

That is awesome.

I just saw that 2 hive came through.....wow, thanks a lot for that @tattoodjay 😊

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