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Jul - Sep 2002: This is a continuation of my China trip, but includes travels to other countries in Asia.

Southeast Asia, month 3

Jennifer Radcliffe
2005-11-12 11:00:20

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at the airport insisted they needed visas just to make a connecting flight at the airport! I've never heard of such a thing! Such is the legendary bureaucratic machine that is communist China. Finally the officials agreed to escort Rani and Natalie to their plane and save them the expense of buying visas. I hope they made it okay; I was late to our meeting point and I'm not sure if they waited and left, or never made it to Hong Kong!

When I finally arrived in Kowloon this evening, I learned that there is a level 8 tropical typhoon warning here! I had to wait in line outside the train station for ages to get a cab; all the cabs were dropping people off and jetting away before new passengers could get in - presumably to seek safety from the storm! It was quite an experience standing outside in an epic queue while the beginnings of a typhoon were swirling around us. I was so relieved when my turn came to take a taxi - it was looking pretty bleak there for a while! I shared a taxi with two English guys I met in the train station and ended up in Kowloon, where I started my journey four and a half months ago.

I was wondering if I would still be smitten with Hong Kong the way I was when I first arrived, and the answer is yes! I am completely taken with this city. I am struck once again by the energetic urban thrall of Hong Kong; my head whirls as I take it all in... the neon-sign lined streets, massive skyscrapers, and the green hills behind them.. the sights and sounds and smells of a buzzing, teeming metropolis. I am charmed by the flawed modernity of this glorious world-class city, and I am glad that I have the opportunity to spend more time here!

More Hong Kong

I spent some more time with my friend Omar who lives here in Hong Kong.... he is close friends with a group of people from his work, who are originally from London, ...