Hong Kong 2008, Day 2 - Whampoa Garden

 
Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. Hong Kong.

The Harbour Plaza Hong Kong is a gorgeous hotel, one of Fodor’s Top 10 in Hong Kong, in the unusual setting of Whampoa Garden. Surrounded by a few strips malls, high rise apartments and department stores, it gave me the opportunity to find a few things on my list:
(1) A convenience store where I could buy a phone card and communicate instructions to my family who were arriving from the Philippines the next day;
(2) A store where I could get some shampoo, laundry detergent, Kleenex, and other stuff for living out of a suitcase for three weeks.
(3) A good, inexpensive place to have breakfast to avoid the pricey hotel buffets.

I had the whole morning to myself as Billy used the treadmill at the hotel’s exercise facility. Knowing I had to walk around solo in a foreign country, I dialed “0” on the hotel phone for some advice. The lady assured me this was a very safe area to explore by myself, and told me where to find a nearby department store named Jusco which had its own grocery store. I remembered how department stores in the Philippines were one-stop-shops for everything, too, unlike in the US. Must be an Asian thing.

I walked around the block, feeling the cool morning air on my face, anticipating the frequent spring drizzle that we would encounter for the rest of our stay. Whampoa Garden was clean and close enough to several apartments that people would be coming and going at all times of the day and night. I found a place to have breakfast (Café de Coral) that was reasonably priced, and made a long distance call to the Philippines at a nearby 7-11. Down the street there was even a Pacific Coffee Company coffee shop with Internet stations. I loved Whampoa Garden!

I then walked to Jusco and hesitantly entered the doors into their crammed and very pink Girls Clothes section. I took the escalators to the lower level and as promised, found a full service grocery store that even had fresh fruit!

Proud of my solo adventure in a foreign land, I took home my prize purchases and surprised Billy with a few bananas. He didn’t seem to appreciate the big-deal-ness of my morning; I was giddy with excitement and very pleased with myself. I don’t walk around solo in a strange land very often!

We had brunch at the Cafe de Coral and then took the train to see the immense statue of the Tian Tan Buddha.

(To be continued.)