Solo in Hong Kong, Day 1

I managed to survive my first day alone in Hong Kong, but it didn't exactly go well. Daniel left for China at 6:30am on Wednesday. Normally that would mean I'd be awake from that point on. However, remember me mentioning my friend Benadryl? I had popped awake at 4am with a headache and took an Advil and a Benadryl, thinking that would let me sleep until maybe 9 or 10am. Much to my dismay, I was out cold until after 12:30pm. By the time I showered, got organized, wasted time online, and headed out the door, it was 2pm, and I still hadn't had anything to eat. I was angry with myself for having wasted so much of the day, but determined to at least attempt to do something.

Then I remembered that Wednesday is free museum day in Hong Kong. Why not hit a museum and hang out there for as long as it stays open? Since I'm not paying an entrance fee, there'd be no need to feel like I hadn't gotten my money's worth. A couple of Daniel's friends had recommended the Hong Kong Museum of History. Since it sounded interesting and was relatively close, it seemed like a good choice.

My first order of business, however, was food. I thought that if I could walk to the museum, there had to be some restaurant along the way that had an English menu. That would have worked well if I'd managed to start walking in the right direction. I knew if I walked South on Nathan Road (which I keep calling Nathan Lane in my head), I'd wind up in the area that I wanted to be in. However, I still hadn't gotten my bearings in this neighborhood and wasn't sure which direction was South. When I am in NYC, I try to use the sun to help me navigate. The sun was not much help here - the time of day plus the number of tall buildings made it very difficult to tell where the sun was. With no obvious landmarks, I picked a direction that felt right and started walking. But as the Grail knight in that Indiana Jones movie would say, I chose poorly. I walked for about 15 minutes until I came upon an area that let a little sun in, and realized I'd been heading North when I should have been heading South. Crap.

As luck would have it, I spotted a mall. Mall = Food Court, how much easier could that get, right? Only there was no food court, this mall had restaurants on each floor, fancy ones at that. I wandered around on 3 floors before I found one that wasn't too expensive and didn't think sea horses were edible. It was a Japanese establishment with a lunch menu, with photos of the dishes, and in English, even. Bingo, food problem solved.

With a full belly, I headed back down Nathan Road, in the right direction this time. But it was even later, and I realized I didn't have the time to take a stroll to the museum. I remembered I'd passed a subway stop during my wrong turn, retraced my steps, and took a train to the neighborhood I wanted to get to.

The Hong Kong subway exits are very well marked. Each exit is given a letter, and there are signs that tell you both the direction to head to get to the exit, as well as the popular destinations that can be reached by using that exit. I was easily able to spot the exit recommended for the museum.

Once on the street, though, it wasn't so simple. There were signs, but they weren't always placed in locations that were obviously visible. At least twice I found myself backtracking because I'd missed a sign, realizing this because I'd spot another sign pointing me in the opposite direction. What fun.

I did finally make it to the museum. By this time it was after 4pm. I looked for a sign indicating operating hours, and I swear it said that the museum would be open until 9pm. Perfect, I could spend the evening there. I took my time in the exhibits, strolling and reading and taking photos and resting. I got about halfway through when at 530pm an announcement was made that the museum would be closing at 6. Bummer. I had to rush through what I thought was the more interesting part of the museum, Hong Kong in the 20th Century. Oh well, at least it gives me a reason to return.

It was now dark, and since I'm down near the waterfront, I decided to see what was going on there. Along the way, I stopped in Sogo, a large Japanese department store made up of many smaller brand name stores. I wasn't so interested in shopping as I was eating. Food court. Photo menus. Full belly. Happy Tom.

I arrived at the harbour right before the light show was about to start. Called "A Symphony of Lights," the show uses colorful, animated lighting effects on the tall buildings in the famous Hong Kong skyline. Add a synchronized soundtrack, and you've got an entertaining show. Not exactly Epcot's Illuminations, but it works. By this time, it's 8:15pm and I'm tired, so I take the subway back to Mongkok, grab a mango and coconut milk drink, browse some shops, and then head back to my room.

Not exactly the best vacation day ever, but I'm alone in a foreign country where I don't speak the native language, yet I managed to eat, shop, see a few sights, and lived to tell about it. I'd call that Success.