Atlantica - 01.01.2006, Page 20

18 AT L A N T I CA
With USD 30 and 8 hours in Hong Kong, Atlantica correspondent Jonathan Jones tries
to hold on to his purse strings in Asia’s financial hub. Photos by Páll Stefánsson.
It was my first time in Hong Kong. I arrived at 7:30 am feeling restless and
exhausted after a 15-hour flight from Los Angeles. With ten hours to spare
before my connecting flight, I asked a flight attendant, Natalie, what I should
do to occupy myself.
She ran down my options: “Shop, eat and karaoke.”
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. I wasn’t hungry. And I didn’t feel like
singing.
Recognizing that sitting scrunched up in the airport lobby all day would
turn the last leg of my flight into a nightmare, I considered renting a hotel
room for the day. When I learned that it would cost me HKD 906/USD 120 to
rent a room for six hours, I figured there had to a better way to spend my time
and money. Besides, I wanted to see what the city held for someone who was
indifferent to the temptations of a shopper’s paradise.
I caught the hypermodern Airport Express train and headed into town. The
ride takes 24 minutes and cost HKD 100/USD 12.90 each way, but since I was
returning to the airport on the same day, I got a free trip back. Nice. I started
to get a feel for Hong Kong’s famous hi-tech environment as I caught a virtual
tour of the city from the TV monitors embedded in the seats.
An island of nearly 7 million, Hong Kong is known for its hustle and bustle.
But at 8:30 am, much of the city still seemed to be waking up. The city’s
famously crowded streets were empty. As I stepped off the train into Hong
Kong’s central district, I felt dwarfed by the skyscrapers. I headed toward the
THE PRODUCTIVE
LAYOVER: Hong Kong
on the fly
Mid-Levels Escalator, which runs above the city streets from Des Voeux Road
near the harbor.
At 800 meters in length, Hong Kong boasts the world’s largest covered
escalator. Joey Wong, an information guide at the airport, had told me that
the escalator, which takes about 20 minutes to travel the entire length, is a
convenient way to see the city’s shops and restaurants below.
But Joey failed to mention that the escalator only runs one-way – downhill
– from 6 am to 10 am. I had to trudge up the stairs to get to the top. It was
good exercise, but by the halfway point, I was spent. Like any brave American,
I stopped at Starbucks to regroup with a strong cup of coffee for HKD 14.
Always open to Western charms, Hong Kong has seen over thirty Starbucks
start up since the first one opened its doors in 2000. Three new stores started
serving tall lattes and venti mochas in October of this year.
Pepped up from the caffeine, I toured traditional herb shops along
Hollywood Road. The area has been known as an antiques district since the
19th century when sailors and merchants would unload Chinese artifacts and
antiques before heading back to Europe. From there I made my way to Man
Mo Temple, one of the first traditional temples built during the British colonial
era. Inside, the thick smoke from coils and incense lit to carry prayers to the
spirit world wooed me. In a city where everything feels like it’s for sale, I found
the gold altars and red shrines paying homage to Taoist gods reassuring signs
that Asia’s financial hub hasn’t lost all of its historical roots.
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