The Burmuda Triangle of Hong Kong

You can't get in or out of the triangle, La Prabelle - my last abode is in the triangle. If you are approaching the triangle from a distance it makes more sense because you can see the fly overs and orientate yourself better, but inside the triangle there are several flyovers and roads that look the same in all directions and as there are tall buildings all around, there is nothing else to orientate to as you might using a waterway or a hill or a bridge and so forth. It's also foggy and raining and at this close up level GPS is useless and also gets lost in the triangle. The only way to find the Prince Edward MTR is to head in one direction, this will be the wrong direction even though it looks correct on the map but you have to start somewhere, then try the opposite direction, this is also incorrect and then try going in circles and by chance an MTR entrance may make itself available so you can escape into, it was by this method I transported myself to Kowloon. I wasn't going far afield today as I had spent the morning checking buses to the airport that are of course in the triangle and then sorting out some flight issues because the travel agent had made a number of errors which I had to sort out if I wanted to actually get on the flight and so passed the morning until around 1pm.

Once in Kowloon everything was normal again navigation wise, I had a look around the posh areas, first The Peninsula hotel with a queue of middle aged Westerners waiting to have their expensive hi tea in Colonial style surroundings. Then a look down the fancy arcades inside selling jewels and watches, I looked at the watches in the window, most had lots of stones surrounding the face in gold or silver with a leather strap, there were no price tags but I'm guessing thousands. I preferred my watch, its has lots of stones surrounding an oval gold face and a slim black leather strap, its small and elegant and I bought it at Heathrow airport for 20 quid. I had my Audrey Hepburn trench coat on and a scarf with black trousers so I could pretend to be a posh rich person.

From there I walked down to the waterfront and along to where the Star Ferry goes and somehow I was consumed into a massive mall from which I couldn't escape as the options were up or down and not out, eventually I found an exit and crossed the road into a place called 1881 Heritage, a Raffles style splendid colonial building. Probably the prettiest building in Hong Kong, at least it has some real style, something which Hong Kong has precious little of.

 
 
 

Todays walk in Kowloon. It wasn't quite that bad in the mall it just felt like that because I was hungry and needed to get out away from all the silly pointless shops selling sparkly things and shiny bits and eat lunch somewhere reasonably priced.

The ground floor of 1881 Heritage had more expensive shops and Rolex watches, the upper bit in the building itself housed an expensive restaurant, where an appetiser cost $250HKD which is $50NZD or 22 pounds, of course if you actually want to feel like you've eaten something to dine there would probably cost $1000HKD which is stupid unless you have a silly amount of money and then its still stupid. I was hungry so I went to one of the cheap local eateries and got lunch for $40HKD about 3 pound 60/ $7NZD, that's better and I was actually full afterwards. I was still looking for a flipping adapter plug and found one just opposite the eatery.

I had a walk through Kowloon Park and then back on the MTR to Prince Edward MTR where once again I exited to the wrong exit and got lost in the triangle, it was pouring with rain, after eventually finding La Prabelle and after studying the map hard I decided to go find the nearest Starbucks in a mall nearby for a takeaway coffee, again I got lost and much circling around there and back I managed to acquire the coffee, whilst in the mall I saw every shop of which there were hundreds sold adapters and electronic bits and bobs. Come on now!

This is the most confusing area, I think even Bear Grylls and Ray Mears may struggle with navigation here, they would probably have to team up, they can't exactly use the stars as its fog all the time. I would advise anyone staying here to buy lots of buckets of paint and carry around one for each journey, and spill the paint on the ground like bread crumbs to mark your way back, although this will just end up as paint everywhere and will just add to the confusion. There is a market for a local guide for short walks, who will show you the way and then you can give them a few dollars and then they could wait for you and show you the way back, that would be excellent.



Trying to get back from MTR B2 exit, the GPS not accurate at this level and shows in various places so as represented by the yellow dots here. In this instance I thought I was at exit C2 and went left but I was one left to early which caused the confusion and trying to work out ones direction is very hard in the Triangle.

The Triangle. Here is a journey to Starbucks in a mall.

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Captains Log. Supplemental

After Tim finished work we met up for dinner and walked to a local eatery, there were no napkins and some of the dishes were hard to eat with just chop sticks, when we asked for a napkin they said they were $2 each. Wow. Another Gordon Ramsey moment, I could do a whole post on Gordon Ramsey moments which may be post trip digest blogs, it was so absurd we laughed but for goodness sake.
After dinner we went to a local supermarket of which everything is borderline actual food, most of it dried, coloured, in packets, the healthiest thing in a packet was probably the chocolate digestives I bought and there were at least some bananas so I got those for breakfast as the one biscuit and sugary drink 'grab and go' breakfast offered by the hotel isn't really a sustaining way to start the day. Most of the bars will be full of people smoking we took some Guinness to enjoy back at the hotel room and savour the view from the 24th floor. There was a lightning storm, we caught up on anything else we hadn't covered during the week covering the last 2 years since we saw each other. You can't beat a good long chat with an old friend, so glad I made this stopover.

I think I can say given the option I would prefer not to eat Chinese food, I used to love it as a kid as a treat but that was probably more out of novelty value. There are precious few vegetables involved, and if you do order something green which will be a Bok Choy sort of leafy green, it will be covered in a rich soy sauce anyway with some dubious sprinkled meat detracting any freshness you were hoping to gain from the greens. Everything is highly processed, in packets, dried, made on street corners next to fuming vehicles and spitting locals, a long way from the fresh produce of Australia. It's a high meat and carb diet, a popular cheap fast food place offers a long menu of mostly the same thing which is either pork and/or chicken on rice or noodles. I wonder how this limited diet affects the population long term, perhaps they get scurvy.