I always enjoy Hong Kong. I find that there’s always something to do. During my trip there this time, having arrived late (midnight) and after taking a shower and deciding I needed some food, and feeling that HKG$40/hour (approx. CDN$10/hour) for Internet access was expensive, I ventured out of the hotel and on to the streets.
It’s been years since I’ve stayed in Kowloon. I usually stay in Causeway Bay but Cathay’s stopover room as provided (a tiny hole in the wall on the smoking side of the building (which incidentally is not as bad as hanging out in Delhi so I didn’t really mind)) was to the less expensive area in town (Tsim Sha Tsui area) so you do with what you have.
Anyhow, after grabbing dinner (or breakfast, or whatever) at this 24 hour joint and meeting this Indian import-export guy over a 2am breakfast, I ventured on to the street. First, I checked all the hotels which purported to provide WiFi access to guests – I found that none were allowing foreigners bearing laptops to sit in their lobbies to work on the Internet so I hit the streets. I parked myself at the entrance of some bank and cracked the laptop. Instantly, I was provided with 20-odd open access points. Ahh! Free Internet.
Lesson: If you have wireless, never pay for your Internet when in Hong Kong, it’s just lunacy. It does mean you’ll have to venture out of your hotel room, though.
Next time, I’ll have to go find out where to get electricity on the streets since my laptop didn’t last as long as I’d have liked to. (Otherwise the weekly Urban Mixer missive would have been sent from Hong Kong as opposed to Canada when I was back on the ground).
During my work session, the Hong Kong prostitutes couldn’t make out what I was doing. One came over and offered me a massage for HKG$200. She was taken aback when I told her I was working and not looking for a distraction. Also, some drunk partygoers from Singapore insisted on congratulating me, since they’d never seen a dude sitting on the corner, working at 3am in the (relatively deserted) streets of Kowloon.
The next morning, I checked out of my little hole-in-the-wall hotel (The Park Hotel) and had time for breakfast at the Kowloon Hotel. The walk over to the Kowloon Hotel was a bit different in the morning – it featured busy streets and lots of traffic. The bustle is quite intoxicating and enjoyable to watch. Anyhow, back to the hotel… They provide free wireless to guests. At breakfast, I was able to get more work done and the food was good and reasonable. First time I’ve had a decent western breakfast in a while. The WiFi access was also a big bonus since for the first time since India, I had decent, reliable, high-speed access.
The theme of my life as of late. I leave town on my travels only to return for either a Social Empire, Urban Mixer or JSC party. This time, the Social Empire and Urban Mixer had a wonderful Christmas event at Kingston Taphouse and Grille on Richards Street where the old Rose & Thorn used to be. The turnout was great with over 100 people showing up and my Melantonin and Red Bull (the Thai stuff) kept me attentive for the event. Frances and Janie did great at the door and Ron MacGillivray, the Manager of Kingston, really did a great spread, the location (downstairs in the pub) was fabulous and overall the people were great. I really enjoyed meeting new people and first-timers and got a bunch of photos from the event.
The Social Empire and Urban Mixer events have been getting bigger as of late. I’m glad that there’s a venue in this city where you can meet new people in a non-pretentious setting and that at the same time, you get to try out great new restaurants.
