Hong Kong – My Gateway to Asia
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007My trip and arrival in Hong Kong was quite an exciting one. I boarded a Thai Airways flight in Perth for a seven hour flight to Bangkok. I sat next to an Englishman going on a business trip to Mongolia. We talked as the Thai Airways attendants proceeded to liquor us up. Before dinner (which we ordered from menus) I managed to put down two vodka drinks. During dinner which I believe was chicken tarragon I imbided on more vodka and wine. If this wasn’t enough, the flight attendants came through the cabin shortly after dinner providing passengers with a nice port. As this was an international flight, it was all free (or should I say I paid for it in my ticket). Finally the alcohol tray quit coming around and I was able to sleep. I arrived in Bangkok around 10:00 pm for my 10 hour layover. Much to my surprise, all the airport businesses were open and would remain open the entire night. In my wanderings, I came across a massage parlor that gave a 45 minute full body Thai massage for 500 baht (33 bath = 1 US dollar). This is expensive by Thai standards, but absurdly cheap by Australian standards. I had seen advertisements for Thai massages on the plane and was enticed. I couldn’t think of a better way to introduce myself to Asian culture. I was shown into a room and given a pair of cotton pajamas to put on. I then laid down on a mattress and was soon joined by a tiny Asian lady. The massage started out normally enough but soon turned into a contortionist act as she pushed my limbs into various unnatural positions and making my joints pop in places that I didn’t know that I had joints. She also used all four limbs massaging my back with her hands while using her feet on my legs. (Thank goodness she was small.) After this was over, I found a sofa in a lounge to try to get some sleep on. I boarded my flight at 8:00 am and arrived in Hong Kong around noon. During the flight, I was sitting next to an Indian lady (married to a German) who lived in Hong Kong. When I told her where I was staying she looked horrified and told me that she never goes in that area by herself. This of course didn’t give me high hopes about my accomodation choice. She also gave me her number to call her if I got in trouble. [read on]
cjun