T&A

We arrived in San Francisco late in the evening, and the first taste of North America we received was the customs official yelling at people to fill the immigration lines. There was no please, or thank-you, and he was harsh and loud. We quickly figured out how to take the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and took it to downtown. The BART system was much older, louder and dirtier than what we were used to. It was also run by an actual person, and not by a computer. At one point the conductor came on the loudspeaker and started yelling at someone standing in the doorway of one of the cars. This was a big contrast to the ultra modern system in Hong Kong or Singapore, where everything was fully automated, smooth, silent, and which also used the wind generated from movement for ventilation. The San Francisco subway lines were stuffy and hot.

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Well, it’s been a while since we’ve been back, but we never actually finished the story. Here are the last two entries.

Hong Kong is a city composed of many islands, mainly Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon Island. It is a financial and architectural metropolis located just off the East cost of mainland China. We left Singapore early in the afternoon, and arrived in Hong Kong in the evening, just after dusk. As soon as we arrived at the airport, we picked up our bags, and purchased an airport express ticket and an “octopus” card. The octopus card is a multi-purpose card that can be used for almost all forms of public transport including the ultra modern MTR subway, buses, tram cars, as well as at stores such as 7-11 and KFC. It only cost 7HKD (1 USD) with a 50 HKD refundable deposit. If more money was put on the card and not used before returning the card, there is a full refund issued. The airport express ticket was good for a single trip into the city on a modern subway/train with few stops.

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