If You Only Had an Evening in Hong Kong

The Famous Night Scene of Hong Kong

 Since there was no direct flight from Cambodia to Canada, I needed to stop over in Hong Kong and make a connecting flight to Toronto.

I boarded the DragonAir with Candy and Henry at the Phnom Penh International Airport and after a 2 1/2 hour flight landed in Hong Kong a little after 3:00p.m., local time.

Bilingual Signs are Everywhere - No Worry of Getting Lost

Both Candy and Henry had family members in Hong Kong so we said good bye and parted our way. I was grateful that I had them as my traveling companions and they looked after me really well helping me with everything.


The Hong Kong International Airport is a huge and modern airport with bilingual signs everywhere so foreign travelers with knowledge in English will have no problem navigating their way there.

Looking Out from My Room at the Kowloon Regal Hotel

My husband booked a hotel room for me at the Kowloon Regal Hotel and they ( and a number of hotels) even had their own counter set up right on the Arrival Floor at the airport.

Hong Kong has a very well developed public transit system. Passengers can easily take either the airport/ downtown express bus or subway train that would take the travelers right into the downtown district of Hong Kong at a reasonable cost.

The Regal Hotel has its own shuttle bus, not free, but very inexpensive at HK$ 130.00 ( around US$ 20.00.

 Many Christmas Decorations on the Streets of Hong Kong

The hotel staff kindly informed me that it would be  faster taking the subway as the hotel shuttle bus would be stopping at all the other Regal Hotel stops and dropping off passengers. Since I had no family members or friends in Hong Kong, therefore I was not in a hurry, I decided to take the one and a half  hour scenic route and waited for the shuttle bus.

The shuttle ride was comfortable and it took the passengers through many streets of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong - A City of 7 Million People ; Skyscrapers Everywhere

 Hong Kong is a modern, clean city with many skyscrapers scattered throughout the entire area.

Its population is around seven million and the public transportation system is efficient, accessible and very reasonable in cost.

One can pretty well get to anywhere they want to go with the public transit system.  No wonder it has been voted as the most livable city in the world recently.

Avenue of Stars - A Nice Walk Along the Waterfront

As the bus took us into the city, it passed by mountains and green areas. I did not realize that Hong Kong is so mountainous.

It is also a very busy seaport with many loading stations, huge cranes busy loading and unloading huge containers from numerous cargo ships.

As I observed sitting in the Shuttle bus, the streets were very clean, traffic was busy but very orderly. There was no crazy driving or vehicles going in all directions.When we were near the downtown area, I saw few people walking on the streets. In fact, I was wondering where did all the pedestrians go? Ah, as I looked around, I realized pedestrians used many of the walkaways built and dedicated specially for them high above ground. This way, it is much safer for pedestrians as they do not have to compete with the huge volume of traffic on the road.

Avenue of Stars - A Nice Walk Along the Harbour

I walked around the area, then along the harbour and visited the Avenue of Stars where it explained the movie history of Hong Kong through a series of sculptures and concrete hand prints of famous Hong Kong movie stars.

Honouring Bruce Lee in the  Movie History of Hong Kong

Bruce Lee, one of the most famous stars in the 1970's and was hnonoured by a bronze lifelike sculpture was the most popular spot where people paused, imitated his actions and took pictures.

10p.m by the Harbour - Lots of People Walking Around

                                           
  I strolled and shopped on the streets of Hong Kong for the entire evening and I actually felt quite safe being alone. There were a lot of countries and cities where I visited and did not feel comfortable walking at night even with friends around.

 In Hong Kong I felt  fine walking around by myself at night. It could be I was in a tourist area and there were a lot of people. People looked happy and everywhere I went, it was well lit so that I knew there was nothing lurking behind somewhere.


It was a fun evening enjoying the night scene and the harbour view of this famous city. I found people here were friendly and polite. Even if they could not understand you, they would at least make an effort to help you. It was a very pleasant experience for me indeed.

R.T. Hong Kong,
Dec.1, 2012