vetlongwalks wanders

line and i were itching to go to macau that we couldn’t wait to get out of the airport. after talking with a gracious filipina ofw, who attempted to help us by trying to hook us up with another group of filipinos who are headed for macau, line and i decided to brave the hong kong streets and leave the airport. when the clock hit 2:45 a.m., we lugged our bags and headed to the airport bus terminal.

bus terminal outside the airport

we boarded the N21 bus to take us to tsim sha tsui or tst. tst is located at the tip of kowloon peninsula. according to a website, tst is the heart and soul of hong kong. it is where the hostel we’ve booked online is found. it’s also near the harbor/the avenue of stars. FROM the airport, which is located in lantau island, TO tst in the south of kowloon peninsula[practically the other point of HK], the fare is HK$23 each.

line and i on board an N21 citybus  [if i'm not mistaken N stands for Night. they ply the streets of hong kong as soon as the clock hits 12 midnight. fare for Nnumbered buses is HK$10 cheaper than the Anumbered buses.]

we are seated at the very first seat on the right. we would have wanted to sit on the bus’s upper deck, but we couldn’t do so because of our big bags. additionally, the moment the bus’s door closed, the driver hit on the gas. we were barely on our seats when the bus began to move. we had to really grab the pole and hold it for dear life. we later found out that the seat we’ve taken were reserved for senior citizens. so it didn’t come as a surprise when one old lady gave us an evil look when she boarded the bus.

the whole bus ride was uneventful. during the ride, line and i discussed how we would know our BUS STOP. from what i read before, the travel time from the airport to tst would take around 40 to 90 minutes depending on the traffic. since it was dawn, i figured that the ride would only take about 40 minutes. when 45 minutes passed, line and i got off the bus.

as soon as we got off the bus, we checked on the posters at the bus stop. there, we learned that our destination was still far. [each bus stop in HK has posters showing each bus's route and corresponding fare.]

waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh: WRONG BUS STOP.

next plan of action: walk until we reach Nathan Road. take some pix and have a grand tour of hong kong – LOL! anyway, we had a few hours to kill since we initially decided to leave for macau at seven in the morning.

@ 3:52 a.m. [my bag was too heavy that i suggested placing my bag on top of her luggage. her luggage was the stroller-kind, thus it was a bit easier to use the stroller in lugging the bags.

@3:53 [building construction on going]

@4:08

@4:12 +

@4:13

lost…

which way to go???

pose lang sa…

line sad…

@4:18

@4:21 …

@4:30 [murag colon!]

mural

@4:42 … where is nathan road???

@nam cheong sitting out area

@4:45 … the beauty of timers

 one more time

@4:55

@ 4:56

@5:08

@5:12 … look, there’s jude law [hehe...poster ra!]

@5:35

@5:38

at this point, line and i reached nathan road. but, it’s such a long stretch and the location of the hostel we’ve booked was still far away. thus, we decided to give our legs a rest and hopped on a taxi. we thought then that we needed to rest our bodies so we’d still have energy left to enjoy macau – our first destination.

the flag down rate of hk taxi is pegged at HK$15.  from 620-6?? nathan road TO 36-44 nathan road, we paid around HK$25. we reached the chungking mansions a little past six in the morning. we went straight to li’s hostel on the 3rd floor of the building’s block A. when we reached the 3rd floor, we were only greeted with a weird-looking fat cat. we couldn’t see any reception desk bearing the hostel’s name. instead, what we saw was a reception for taiwan hostel. at this time, line and i felt a little weird especially that prior to going up on the third floor, we were greeted by a man of indian/pakistani descent who kept on asking us if we’ve accommodations. he kept telling us that he had a room at his hostel available. we dismissed the guy but he insisted on leaving his calling card with us. we felt a little uncomfortable and was relieved when he left us alone. line and i decided to wait for seven o’clock and see if there’d be people who would come out from the many rooms on the third floor. in the one hour we waited we only saw cleaners of the building. thus, we decided to leave chungking mansions and headed straight to china ferry terminal. the taxi driver who took us to the terminal knew a little bit of english. he directed us where we could buy tickets for macau. from chungking mansion to china ferry terminal, we paid HK$20 as taxi fare.

[photos are courtesy of line]

[next: journey to macau]