At the end of October I had the pleasure of going to Hong Kong. While this might not be a big deal to some, many people rarely get to leave the states so I was excited when I found out I would be going on the trip. The reason I was there was that Zotac, a company who works with ThinkComputers was celebrating their 10th Anniversary and they invited select US media over to celebrate and do a factory tour.

Getting to Hong Kong is a LONG flight. I first had to fly to Newark (from Pittsburgh) and then from there 16 hours in the air to Hong Kong International. The flight was not all that bad, I was on a Boeing 777 and if you’ve never been on an international flight you get much more room than on a smaller domestic airline. Each seat has a display in it where you can watch TV or movies, but I actually tried to sleep for a good part of the flight. Were were served two different meals, which were not all that bad.

 It was a bit weird landing in Hong Kong. Typically at these types of events the hosting company will provide ground transportation, but Zotac said to just get a taxi and they will reimburse me. Well never being at the Hong Kong airport before I had to try and find where the taxi’s were, and which taxi line to get in. There were lines for different parts of the city etc. Once I had that figured out I told the driver to take me to my hotel and we were off. The airport is about 35-40 minutes from where I was staying in Hong Kong. Driving into the city I was amazed at how big the buildings were. I’ve been to New York and San Francisco and this was nothing like that. There were just so many massive buildings so close together, it was definitely something to see. I arrived at night so there was not all that much to do by the time I go checked into my hotel. I did head out for a little bit and walked around, I stuck out like a sore thumb though, I can’t tell you how many people asked me if I wanted to buy suits or watches.

The next day I woke up pretty early to do some exploring. I was staying in Tsim Sha Tsui, so walking down to Victoria Harbour was just a couple of blocks. Victoria Harbour is of course what separates Hong Kong from Hong Kong island and you have that wonderful skyline. Also in the area is the Hong Kong Space Museum, Museum of Art, cultural center, and the Star Ferry. The Star Ferry takes you across to Hong Kong island and back. It has been in operation for over 100 years! I of course had to take the obligatory photo at the Harbour. Across the bay you can see Two International Finance Center which stands 1,352 ft tall!

I spent most of the rest of the day exploring the area. It was really cool just seeing all the buildings and how dense everything is. According to Wikipedia Tsim Sha Tsui is a major tourist hub in metropolitan Hong Kong, with many high-end shops and restaurants that cater to tourists and I would have to agree with that. It was mostly restaurants and shops. It was funny that I saw quite a few McDonald’s, KFC’s, and 7-Eleven’s.

 I also came across Kowloon Park. This park sits sort of right in the middle of the Tsim Sha Tsui area and actually sits right across the street from my hotel. I came into the park at a set of stairs that was painted, they were beautiful and a great entrance into the park. The park is very beautiful and great to see in the middle of a massive city like Hong Kong. At the time they were celebrating cartoons and animation and had statues of some very famous characters. These also was really cool to see! The park is quite big at 33 acres, there is a lot to too, there is a bird lake, aviary, maze garden, a swimming pool, fitness center, and more.

 So that was my first two days in Hong Kong! It was really awesome being able to explore such an interesting city! Stay tuned for more posts from this trip!