Sunday, September 11, 2011

Saturday in Hong Kong - Night in Kowloon


Keith Lau picked me up at the HK Airport and we caught a bus (after I picked up an Octopus Card - for all transport, trains and busses, like an Oyster Card in the US) that took us directly in about 45 min to the Regal Riverside Hotel along the Shing Mun River in Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. This is the view I found in the morning from my 15th story window. Keith had been quite organized in covering the bases on my 2 days travels here. I high school teacher of Chinese and World History and a native of New Territories, he knew all the short cuts and cheap ways to see the parts of the city, from the Star Ferry, to Peak View Point on Victoria Peak, to Up Scale Shopping and People watching at the tall tower, Two International Finance Center, that is, and then back to Kowloon on the ferry

I got a lesson in conversion as the Hong Kong Dollar has an exchange rate of about 12.83 HK per US Dollar. So this 500 dollar note is worth about 64.13 US dollars. What I find interesting is the HSBC clear writing and the direct affiliation of Hong Kong and Shanghai on the bill. I have seen the HSBC logo all over in my travels, and now knowing it stands for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. The new world economy for sure.

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