The very minimalist and zen room I stayed in on the first night in a hostel in Wanchai. We were actually supposed to be in a hostel in Causeway Bay, but ended up here instead because of some screw-up.
When we arrived at the hostel in Causeway Bay, we were told that we didn’t have rooms because my friend hadn’t emailed his credit card number as confirmation of his booking. But come on, who would give out one’s credit card number if it wasn’t even asked for in the first place??? But the proprietor seemed to think that it was a given. Duh.
But the entrepeneurial HK spirit prevails, and the two brothers who own the hostel somehow whip out four rooms for eight of us in their Wanchai branch in an hour.
When I entered my room with my roommate, we were shocked to find ourselves in a prison cell (OK fine, it’s just me being dramatic here). Oh man, a squat toilet and the shower head just above it, and a minuscule sink at the left corner of the shower cum toilet. There was a dead baby cockroach in the soap tray. A bed lies next to the shower cum toilet. Another bed, just about 1.7m in length, lies against the other wall. Any taller person would have to bend his/her legs to sleep as the bed wasn’t any longer than that and it was placed from wall to wall. It was THAT cramped.


The view from the lift corridor. Right at ground level, loads of trash are strewn around. It’s not a pretty sight.


An old telephone cable box that is yellow with age. If I had been naughty, I could have unplugged cables and switched the phones line around, resulting in lots of cross lines and calls to the wrong households. Heehee.


This feels like a still from the Wong Kar Wai film “2046”. It was so retro. Our rooms were up on the 15th floor.


Well, I guess a good view follows me wherever I go in HK. In the shared balcony outside the line of rooms, we could see the continuous stream of traffic on the flyovers in Wanchai. The vehicles were all heading towards the cross-harbour tunnel which brings them across to Kowloon.


We also got a fantastic view of the Kowloon side. Speaking of Kowloon, this is the first time that I didn’t even step foot into Kowloon during my time in HK. I kinda missed it actually ‘cos I’m more familiar with Kowloon.
The second and third night, we moved to the hostel in Causeway Bay. I was put in a room with three other teammates. This room was really cramped as well but at least it felt less claustrophobic. But whatever it is, for the amount I paid, I guess I shouldn’t be whingeing so much.
But HK again on a shoestring? I don’t think so!