21 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China

So I rolled the dice and flew United to Hong Kong.  Most everyone I know shares my opinion that United sucks and is to be avoided, but they have direct flights from GEG to SFO which makes them a seemingly good choice for connections to Asia.  Otherwise it’s Delta or Alaska to SEA, then usually another connecting flight somewhere in Asia.  Flying United is a little like a game of Russian Roulette.  The best you can hope for is for it not to end in disaster.

That said, the Economy+ flights to Hong Kong did not absolutely suck.  The 18” wide seats would probably have sucked but I had the isle on one side and an inexplicably empty seat on the other.  Food was mediocre at best.  Still, a 15-hour flight is an endurance event in any class seat.

I had a little trouble finding my dive hotel.  The reviews online said it was within a few hundred feet of the Tsim Sha Tsui Station.  But that’s the local Tsim Sha Tsui station, not the airport train Tsim Sha Tsui station.  Still a very friendly guy at the latter guided me to the former.  Then a small bit of wandering around on surprisingly crowded streets for 9:30 at night on a weekday, I found the tiny door that serves, among other things, InnSight Hotel.  Notice the prominent signage.

Extraordinarily friendly staff led me to the smallest room I’ve ever stayed in.  Microscopic.  About sixty square feet.  The entire bathroom is just barely bigger than a standard tub.  The toilet is in the shower.  I had thought to pack hangers, knowing this was a cheap place, but needn’t have bothered – there is no place to hang anything.  There is but a single outlet in the whole room.

This was not all entirely unexpected, however.  I wanted to stay on the very southern end of Kowloon and this area, Tsim Sha Tsui, is extremely convenient.  And expensive.  What we would consider nice hotels run $300/night and up.  This room was $67.  It is clean, the bed is comfortable enough, and the staff is very accommodating and helpful.

Sleep the first night was, as it had been on the plane, illusory.  Thin walls and noisy neighbors.  I got to thinking there might be actual advantages to a $300/night room.

Before I get to the part of wandering about looking for breakfast, I should mention the shower.  There is a switch near the door to turn on power to the German-made electric water heater.  I turned it on shortly before shaving and it seemed to quickly provide adequate hot water for that purpose.  I then (still standing at the sink and 12” from the toilet), turned on the shower itself.  While at first this worked fine, I quickly became aware that in this place one must strike a balance between heat and flow with the water.  Maybe I just need to be more conservative with flow with this tiny heater, or maybe I need to turn it on 15 minutes early.  Experimentation is in the future.  Blog post updates can be expected.

One of the breakfast options I had read about was the Australian Dairy Company, a place that has a reputation for good food and downright surly service.  Think Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi, only in a Kowloon Breakfast theme.  But there was a closer place that intrigued so I headed out at 7 a.m. to search for it.  Never found it.  Had a nice walk around 1881 Heritage House, though, which was kind of historic.  At least they made it seem that way.  From the outdoor signage, it appears historic things happened there at some point in time.  Not unpleasant anyway, and zero crowds on nice 70 degree morning.

So I walked on, rambling around in any direction, and came across a tiny door behind which was an indoor vegetable market with a sign promising hot food area. I didn’t find any hot food, and even the cold food seemed questionable.

Other signage made me decide to skip the place altogether.

Shortly thereafter I found a small cafe with pictures in the window that promised something breakfast-like and another key quality – they were open.  So I dove in.  Communication with the server was challenging, but I think I ordered a plate that included scrambled eggs, sausage and coffee.  Service was prompt and indeed I got about what I thought I had ordered.  The coffee had cream, though.  Why do non-Americans always automatically put cream in coffee?  Oh, and the scrambled egg (singular) ended up having little strips of a gelatinous substance that at first appeared to be onion (nice touch!), but turned out to be of an ocean provenance.  Who the hell puts fish in eggs???  

I was amused, however, to find Tobasco.  Everything tastes better with Tobasco.  And, in the end, in very expensive Kowloon, breakfast was only HK$40, which is under six bucks.  The day shift dude at the hotel desk has recommended a better place for tomorrow, otherwise I might try one of the pricey breakfast buffets at the many nearby high-end hotels.

On the way back to the room to take care of business, I passed this place half a block away.  I kicked myself for the missed breakfast opportunity.  It’s a little hard to read, but at this one convenient location you can get “spicy fish balls,” “fried intestines,” “fish balls with noodles,” and, my personal favorite, “Leaks, Pig Blood, and Curds with Intestines!”  I’ve simply gotta go back later!

I wandered north and ran into Kowloon Park, a remarkable oasis of peacefulness smack in the middle of bustling city.

Adjacent to it I found the very nice Hong Heritage Discovery Center.  It has a wonderfully well-conserved collection of antiquities with interesting display covering neolithic to modern Hong  History.  It is humbling to an American to see hand-made items possibly 4,000 years old.

The park and Discovery Center had taken up most of the morning and, after an okay Vietnamese lunch, I returned to the room at address lingering jet lag.

I headed out about sundown to find the Temple Street Night Market.  Note to self:  Before asking a local for directions, make sure that local can understand the question.  After much walking I found the market which, while colorful and interesting, held nothing I wanted to buy.  Mostly there for tourists, the ratio of gringo to Asian faces grew the closer I got to it.  Kowloon is a cool place to walk around at night, though.

After more merely okay Vietnamese food for dinner and a quick visit to a local market, I repaired to my luxury digs for the night.  I have one more day of somewhat mindless walking around before I start to look for the bigger attractions.