hong kong day 1

it was a superbly pleasant start to my trip.

i got a most warm welcome by the crew of the flight and they showered me with attention throughout the journey. was touched by their little gestures including signing off their names, complete with a heart, on a styrofoam cup! so sweet of them. also, during both boarding and disembarkation, the crew lead gave me a really huge and tight hug. hahaha... quite shy to hold up the whole lot of people behind me! so... yeah, it certainly was a very good start to the trip!

once i landed, i headed off to climb the mountain. it was too early to check into the hotel. and i thought it would be a better and more productive use of my time to do some hiking and explore the lantau island. kinda spontaneous but it was good. i had initially wanted to hike section 2 of the trail (the last time i did section 3) but ended up doing section 3 again after missing the bus stop. and since i had missed the bus stop, i thought i'd just do section 3 again, but this time round, starting from ngong ping po lin temple instead (i.e., the reverse direction from the last time). 

the climb was much better as i has prior experience and could manage my energies better. the ascend was much steeper but as the distance was shorter, it was more tolerable. and as it was a clear day,  i was able to appreciate the view as i climbed. and the presence of many other climbers made the climb all the more enjoyable. i chatted with a few fellow climbers as i went along. amongst those i chatted were 2 indian nationals who were taking a break from their work in singapore, as well as a filipino family based in hong kong. 

by the time i ended the whole climb, it was about 6pm and since there was a huge crowd at the bus stop, i decided to do a 4-5km walk-a-jog to the mtr station instead. i was totally dead beat by the time i reached the mtr station! my body was falling apart, my neck and shoulders were aching, my knees were giving way, and my back were at the point of breaking! struggled my way to the hotel and once i entered the room, i simply collapsed onto my bed! heh...

will be taking things slow for the rest of the trip!