Stepping into a new continent – a week in Hong Kong COMPLETED - Page 5 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Hong Kong does look a bit like new york....the hotel looks nice but has that modern feel to it. Glad you guys arrived safely with no issues to ruin the start of your vacation Cant wait to hear more and see more pics!
Your room looks a little narrower than I'm used to, but is well appointed. How interesting that you were served shrimp with their heads on, I've only ever had headless shrimp.
Glad you arrived safely!! Great photos of Hong Kong at night!!! Your room looks great, but I know what you mean about being small. The food seemed good too!!
I've always thought it was odd that the spa treatments are included in the lounge price but not guaranteed. I guess you just have to arrive super early to get one! The new PE seats on the plane looked very nice.
Lovely photos as usual - they really help to tell the story.
Hong Kong looks interesting. Your room looks a little small and what's with no clock? The food looks good except for the shrimp heads. You pictures are wonderful, as usual.
Liz
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Saturday 16 February – part one: what’s that smell?
As usual, jetlag hit us on our first night and, after four hours sleep until 1.30am, we must’ve lain there for a couple of hours before I at last got some more sleep. It’s a different experience to when we visit the States, as usually we’re desperately trying to stay awake when we get there, but with this, we had such a short day yesterday that obviously my body felt that it didn’t need much sleep.
Eventually, we surfaced just before 6am and as the sun rose, we could see the extent of the building outside and also how many people were taking part in Tai Chi. I had heard about this, but the last thing I expected to see was them outside our window, yet here they were. Cool.
We headed down for our breakfast, which was included in the price of our stay. It was all fairly conventional food this morning and again a good range and quality of food on offer. Once we were full, we headed back to the room and got ready to go out.
As soon as we left the hotel, we could see that it really was right in the real Hong Kong. I loved the way that the hotel was surrounded by shops and homes. Yes, it was a little gritty, but my goodness, it was real. You were definitely in the suburbs of a vibrant city.
The first thing that hits you when you’re out in Hong Kong is the pollution. It’s everywhere and worse than anything I’ve ever come across before, including London or Los Angeles. Coupled with that is the smell. It’s a combination of traffic fumes, drains and some Chinese food smell, which doesn’t do much for you. It’s quite gut wrenching at times, although you do get used to it very quickly. By day two, I hardly noticed it.
We made it to the MTR station (their subway system) easily enough and got ourselves Octopus cards. Those allow you to travel on the subway, buses, trams and the Peak tram. It’s the same system that we’re used to in London, you just add money to your card, then swipe in at the start of your journey through the pads on the turnstiles and then swipe out at the end of your journey in exactly the same way. Then it automatically deducts the right charge from your card.
We got off a couple of stops further up, so I could go to the Hong Kong Tourist Service (HKTS) to get tickets for a ride on the last Chinese junk working in the harbour today. Unfortunately they were sold out for today’s trips, but I managed to get tickets for Thursday (the only other day of the week they operate), so at least we’ll be able to enjoy it while we’re here.
From there, we walked around Causeway Bay, which used to be spanned by a causeway, before it all became land during a major land reclamation project in the 1950’s – something that is still going on today. We just wandered, taking photos and taking in the atmosphere of the place. The whole place is a real eye opener and especially the stairs and escalators that take you up to walkways that run over the roads below. It’s like a whole new city up there and you get some great views from there.
One of Hong Kong’s famous trams that have run here since 1902 You can see one of the walkways in blue towards the bottom of this photo
We made our way towards the harbour front and walked along the road, which turned out to be the mecca for car dealerships:
I love the way all signs are in English and Cantonese here
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Cant wait to hear more and see more pics!
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. I guess you just have to arrive super early to get one! The new PE seats on the plane looked very nice. 
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