Atlantica - 01.01.2006, Side 21

AT L A N T I CA 19
8 HOUR BUDGET
Luggage Locker: HKD 50/USD 6.45
Airport Express: HKD 100/USD 12.90
Starbucks: HKD 14/USD 1.80
Bo Kong: HKD 70/USD 9.00
Star Ferry: HKD 2.2/USD 0.30
Total: HKD 236.2/USD 30.45
“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.”
From the temple, I headed down Ladder Street and ventured into one of
the many alleys lined with traditional street stalls. When an elderly woman
attempted to force a jade bracelet on my wrist in the hope that I might be
tempted to buy it, I politely declined and continued walking downhill.
Bo Kong is the city’s most famous vegetarian restaurant, attracting
health conscious locals for their signature “fake meat,” MSG-free dishes. The
restaurant sits atop a few floors of the Times Square shopping complex in
Hong Kong’s youthful district Causeway Bay. Stepping off the building’s
glass elevator at the 12th floor, the restaurant felt very much removed from
the streets. Bo Kong’s dishes range from shark fin soup to pan-fried Peking
dumplings, but with my stomach still recovering from the airline food, I failed
to clean my plate.
After lunch, I hopped back on the metro towards Central, where I caught
a ride on the Star Ferry to Kowloon peninsula, a vibrant and noisy shopping
district that is at the heart of the modern Hong Kong experience.
The 15-minute ride on the nostalgic, open-air ferry provides a spectacular
view of downtown’s modern skyline set in front of lush green mountains.
Onboard, there was nowhere to shop, eat, or karaoke. I could only sit in
the breeze and watch the aquatic harbor traffic from my wooden bench, a
welcome break between the frenetic shopping districts of downtown and
Kowloon. At HKD 2.2/USD 0.30, I christen it the best value in Hong Kong. a
Airmail+OTF ATL106.indd 19 16.12.2005 12:16:27