Same Same But Different

Chungking Mansions

Getting to the hotel was a doddle. Thanks to Nikita's advice I immediately bought an Octopus card (which allows travel on 99% of HK's public transport) and then caught the Airport Express train to Kowloon, and a connecting free shuttle bus to Kimberley Road, just around the corner from the Stanford Hillview hotel - and boy, they weren't kidding about the 'hillview' part, it's a steep one! Check-in time was supposed to be 2pm so I was hoping to dump my bags and come back later, but it was fine, they let me check in straight away - so by 9:30am I was sat in my room drinking jasmine tea and watching the HK equivalent of Match Of The Day.

I spent the afternoon walking around the neighbouring streets off Nathan Road, getting my bearings, although discovering the large HMV store soon distracted me and I must have spent well over an hour looking at all the goodies inside. I made it back to the hotel around 5pm aiming for a little siesta... but the next thing I knew it was 11:30pm, so I sat up and watched the Chelsea vs. Liverpool match and then went back to sleep.

This morning I took full advantage of the hotel's buffet breakfast (orange juice, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, waffles and maple syrup, washed down with endless cups of coffee... mmmm!) and have now discovered a decent internet place in the bowels of the infamous Chungking Mansions.

Now if only they could switch off the distorted rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star that is playing on an endless loop outside the door...