Postcards from Fragrant Harbour (1 of 4)

A hazy sunrise farewell to Mt. Arayat, bastion of Kapampangan communists. We flew an Air Asia A320 on the morning of April 28 and returned to Clark via a similar aircraft four days later. 

To see two Air France 777s in an Asian airport is simply the stuff Hollywood happy endings are made of. Back in 2000, seven-year-old me was so thrilled to finally see an Air France (an ever reliable A340-300), he wished he could just spend the rest of that week in Manila on the elevated road to NAIA's Terminal 2 departures. Silly child had the wispiest concept of "nightmare."       

A third trip to Hong Kong did nothing whatsoever to diminish the grandeur of Tsing Ma Bridge, the world's largest rail-and-road suspension bridge. Photos were taken from the public bus that dropped us off at Wan Chai fire station. 

Living space in Hong Kong is as precious as safe drinking water in Bangalore - or not. Doesn't change the fact, however, that life on a mountainous island ain't easy. The Vela Hotel in Causeway Bay is one of the lesser known yet equally reliable places for tourists on a budget.

The people of Hong Kong (which translates to "Fragrant Harbour") cross the street.

6.
The maddening Sunday afternoon crowd at the Peak Tram station in Central. Push, shove, and occasionally forget there is a line for a more involving experience.


7.
So... this was what we paid for: Almost zero visibility and fog to bathe our faces. Towards the latter half of our visit, it became virtually impossible to see anything (3rd photo). Meanwhile, the Arabs in the second photo, right side, were having quite the time of their lives.


8.
Victoria Peak is also known as Mt. Austin. People live on this mountain. If you own a house hereabouts, you have to be rich - there's a $1.8 billion property along Barker Road, for starters.

9.
Shopping in Central! Right photo shows The Center, fifth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. Neon light bars give this peacock of a building a chameleonic facade.



10.
Nightcap for our first day: a rather slummy alley.