Our last day in Macau was rather low key. We ran into some Nepali guys who were vacationing in China. They were quite friendly, and spoke fairly good English between them all. I exchanged e-mails with one of them, hoping a little insider help could benefit me in [...]

If Kuta in Bali felt like a culture shock at first, then Hong Kong felt like a culture A-bomb. After a day or two, I started to feel comfortable. If you’ve been to a few big cities (NYC, London, Paris, Rome, etc) then it’s not too hard to get the hang of finding [...]

I returned to the Indian consulate Friday morning to pay my Visa fee and drop off my passport. It was brought to my attention that I could only obtain a 3-month (versus 6-month) Visa abroad which went into effect immediately, thus limiting my time in India until May 29. I was offered the [...]

Day 5 in Hong Kong was dedicated to taking the MTR to Lantau Island, home of Po Lin, a Buddhist monastery containing Tian Tan Buddha statue, the world’s largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha (apparently there is a bigger one indoors somewhere).
Adam and I took the MTR to Lantau Island, and then waited in a 2-hour [...]

After our shopping spree the previous day, Adam and I headed to Hong Kong Island for some touristy sightseeing. First on my list was the Mid-Levels Escalator, the world’s longest, transporting people 800 meters uphill past restaurants, bars and shops in the SoHo district.
After 20 minutes of riding the series of escalators, we were [...]

 
Adam had offered to help me find and buy an Asus laptop, so we headed north on Nathan Road in a taxi to The Golden Computer Center, a giant collection of electronics shops.  The lower floor was dedicated to video games, while the upper contained computers and TV’s.
The Center was not the place to go [...]

I pried myself out of bed early to drop off my Visa application at the Indian consulate on Hong Kong Island. The errand afforded me my first trip on the Mass Transit Rail (MTR). I bought an Octopus card which is a renewable debit card for Hong Kong’s public transit system, as well [...]

I awoke the next morning to the comings and goings of those in the hostel room.  The bathroom was very tiny – a square with a toilet, small sink, and hand-held shower head.    You wash yourself standing right next to the toilet.  The setup didn’t bother me to my surprise, maybe because I had gotten [...]

In the early evening, I arrived parched and famished in Hong Kong. After passing immigrations and customs, and collecting my bag, I bit the bullet and grabbed dinner at Burger King in the terminal. If I haven’t mentioned it previously, flying with the discount Australian airline Jetstar (and it’s Asian contingent) has meant [...]