My Hong Kong Run

written on April 2nd, 2013 by Miki Villarica

Normally, I wouldn’t ride a plane to travel 1000km away from the Philippines just to run a 10k. But when my avid runner of a mother decided to run in the Hong Kong Standard Charter Marathon, I jumped at the chance. If a 10k was what it took to take a trip, why not?

As soon as we stepped out of the Hong Kong airport, I felt the cold bite through my clothes. For someone who has spent most of her life in the Philippines, saying it was cold would be an understatement. “I’m gonna have to run in this weather?” 

Getting from the airport to our hotel was surprisingly easy. You can buy a train ticket for the airport express that takes you all the way to Kowloon (the airport express also passes by Central and Tsing Yi). From Kowloon, there are shuttle buses that take you to the different hotels. As soon as we got to the shuttle stop, the bus for Marco Polo pulled in. Lucky us. I placed my huge suitcase in the luggage compartment of the bus and made a silent prayer that it would still be there when I got off. I got on the bus and there I was, on the last leg of my transit to a foreign country and the beginning of discovering Hong Kong.

As soon as I checked in my hotel, I went up to my room, washed up, and headed out. Donning two jackets and a scarf, I was ready to brave the cold Hong Kong weather. Living in a country that experiences very hot weather and relies heavily on private transportation, I was excited to be in one wherein the weather was cool and walking was the norm.

As soon as I stepped outside, I realized that Hong Kong is such a beautiful city at night. It was vibrant with people filling the streets. Everyone was so fashionably dressed in their trench coat and boots. Along the road, there were shops everywhere: Armani Exchange, right in front of me, Louis Vitton and Chanel to my right, H&M and Nike down the road. It is no wonder that many people refer to Hong Kong as the shopping hub of Asia.

I walked to the end of Canton road and found myself face to face with Victoria Harbour. Its panoramic view of Hong Kong Island and the ambience it possesses is spectacular. I don’t think anyone can get tired of it.

On the harbour, they set up a colorful display depicting a Chinese New Year Parade. At the entrance of Harbour Square, they set up pink lights and hearts to celebrate the February month of love.

The next day, we set out to Victoria Park to claim our race kits for the marathon. Victoria Park is on the other island, but with the Hong Kong public transportation system, getting there was a breeze. On the morning of the race, the trains even had a special schedule to transport runners to Victoria Park.

The race itself was different from what I expected. Unlike the fiesta-like atmosphere during races here in the Philippines, there were signs everywhere, reminding the racers to maintain silence. There was no music, no emcees, and no warm up routines right before the race. Despite this, I was still able to pump myself up. I think the mere fact that I was running a race in a foreign country was enough to keep me motivated. The 10k route was just as spectacular as the view on Victoria Harbour. It was definitely different from running a race in Manila or Cebu. The lights from the buildings on the other side, reflecting on the body of water were enough to make me forget that I was running 10 kilometers. With the cool weather of Hong Kong, it didn’t even seem to matter that they only had two water stations for a 10k race.

After the race, we headed back to the hotel. Although we had just accomplished what we had come to do in Hong Kong, there were still other things on the agenda – shop.

From Victoria Harbour, we took the cross-harbour ferry to Central Hong Kong. The cross-harbour ferry, otherwise known as the Star Ferry Service began way back in 1888. A historical landmark, it is a must visit for any tourist in Hong Kong. In Central, we went down one of the alley roads where we found some pretty cheap finds. H&M was, of course, a necessary stop over.

Hong Kong is a major tourist destination and I realized why. It has comfortable weather, a welcoming atmosphere, accessible public transportation and shopping galore never fails to entice the curiosity of any type of traveler. Whether it is your first time or your millionth, Hong Kong always invites you to explore. Without much persistence, one finds herself willingly accepting it, in the hopes of discovering Hong Kong.