It smells like Asia!
The thought flashed in my mind as the travelators took us at double-time to immigration.
A certain energy pervades the air. One that I seem to smell each time I step foot in one of the Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan).
Just before immigration, I spotted two prolific Asian brands.
— mannings (aka Guardian in Singapore), a pharmacy/drugstore in which you can fulfil all your toiletry, vitamin, and makeup needs.
— 7-eleven, that ubiquitous convenience store chain that stays open round the clock!
Seeing the brands filled me with a profound sense of familiarity.
We got our bags.
And then headed out to join the bustle of travellers and local visitors mingling in Hong Kong Airport!
Yoohoo!
First stop was the MTR (Hong Kong’s metro system).
We wanted to take the Airport Express line to Kowloon MTR Station, where a shuttle bus takes travellers to a specified list of hotels.
Since we would be spending 5 nights in HK, we decided to buy two Octopus cards. Each card costs HKD 150 and came with a stored value of 100 HKD.
We made our way through the gantry, and found ourselves directly on the train platform. An electronic board read out the estimated time till the next train: 4 min!
The train was a definite notch of luxury higher than the standard metro train. Its doors opened to reveal sturdy racked baggage compartments standing just inside the doors. Beyond that, a row of double cushioned seats lined either side of the carriage.
We sat on the clean seats and watched as the dark whistling tunnel morphed into bright blue skies and clear blue seawater.
Puffy clouds sat on low mountains in the distance. What a rewarding sight for travel-weary eyes!
In 20 minutes, the train delivered us at Kowloon MTR station! We stepped out to see a money changer and 7-eleven again.
It was easy to follow the big signs leading us to our shuttle bus at berth K3.
The shuttle bus ride was probably longer than the previous Airport Express journey. Hotel Icon, our home for the next three nights, was one of the later hotels on the route.
Finally, the bus turned into the Hotel Icon premises!
How do you think the interior of Hotel Icon looks like?
In Part 2, you’ll get to see our home for the next few days! :)