CX252 touched down at 6.24 am on Friday - a whole hour early! After sailing through Immigration and Customs it was straight onto the Airport Express Train which is advertised as doing the long journey to Hong Kong Island in 24 minutes. It did not disappoint and before I knew it we had arrived in the midst of the business district. Unlike the antiquated London Underground system there are no stairs or steps to negotiate on the way out - in fact the taxi rank is on the same level as the platform so it was an easy matter to wheel my two small suitcases across. The taxi driver obviously did not like the chap who was before me in the queue because after the traveller had thrown his suitcase on the back seat and jumped in beside it the driver told him to get out again! I can only presume that he wanted to go to an area that was too far away for the city taxi. So I was quickly ushered into the cab whilst the driver put my cases in the boot. Now comes the fun part - would he understand where I wanted to go? "Wong Chuk Hang, Police School please". There was a moments hesitation and then a broad beaming smile accompaned the reply " Ahhh - Policeee Schooool, no problem only one entrance" and off we sped into the morning rush hour. My driver turned out to be one of the very friendly traditional taxi drivers that I remember from long ago. He told me how he wished the British had never left and how the Chinese rule with a "rod of iron" - young pro democracy students had rioted a few weeks ago on the Eve of Chinese New Year in defiance of the new leaders. The 20 minute journey to the south side of the island was soon over and I was deposited at the gate of the Police School at the very early hour of 8.30am.
The Duty Officer handed me an envelope which contained the keys to my room and pointed me in the right direction. Thankfully I had been pre-warned that Slevin House is located at the very top of steep flights of steps which is why I had taken the precaution of packing my things into two small suitcases each weighing 10 kg rather than having one large 20 kg case. My reasoning being that if the steps were as steep as I had been led to believe then I could always tackle them in stages with one case at a time - thank goodness I had taken this precaution!!!! I could only manage one case at a time so it was up 12 steps with one case and then back down for the second - this procedure being repeated goodness only knows how many times. When I was about half way up a female Chinese detective appeared and very kindly took one of the cases and whisked it up to the top in no time at all. She asked what room I had been allocated and proceeded to carry said case up the stairs to the second floor - yes, there is no lift in this lovely old building!!! I followed on and have to admit to flagging by the time I reached the first floor - heaven knows how I managed the last flights but thank goodness my fitness levels are at least reasonable otherwise I should never have managed at all.
Room 209 is actually a small suite with sitting room, bedroom and bathroom with a very large walk-in shower. The sitting room comes provided with settee, TV, kettle, fridge, ironing board and iron. There should have been a hair dryer in the bedroom but having searched everywhere I had to report that it was nowhere to be found. Of course the amah did not understand what I was trying to say as she only speaks Cantonese and my knowledge does not extend to words such as hairdryer - SO trusty sign language had to be used with me shaking my hair with my hand whilst making a whooshing noise. That did the trick but did not produce the location of the hair dryer so presumably the lack of said appliance would be reported to her superior. Slevin House is described as being Hostel Accommodation rather than Hotel which is why former employees of the Hong Kong Police have the opportunity to stay here for a very reasonable price. Admittedly the bed is on the hard side but looking on the bright side I tell myself this is very good for my back. Along the corridor from my room is "The Business Suite" where wifi is available - also provided in this room is a huge fridge/freezer plus a microwave so meals during my stay will not be a problem - providing I can find somewhere which sells ready prepared microwaveable meals (they are not commonly found in the supermarkets over here). Next to the "Business Suite" is a laundry room fitted out with washing machine and tumble drier especially for the use of guests. Not that a week of "smalls" will warrant reading through all the instructions necessary for operating these appliances - the sink and a bit of soap will do me fine.
The Duty Officer handed me an envelope which contained the keys to my room and pointed me in the right direction. Thankfully I had been pre-warned that Slevin House is located at the very top of steep flights of steps which is why I had taken the precaution of packing my things into two small suitcases each weighing 10 kg rather than having one large 20 kg case. My reasoning being that if the steps were as steep as I had been led to believe then I could always tackle them in stages with one case at a time - thank goodness I had taken this precaution!!!! I could only manage one case at a time so it was up 12 steps with one case and then back down for the second - this procedure being repeated goodness only knows how many times. When I was about half way up a female Chinese detective appeared and very kindly took one of the cases and whisked it up to the top in no time at all. She asked what room I had been allocated and proceeded to carry said case up the stairs to the second floor - yes, there is no lift in this lovely old building!!! I followed on and have to admit to flagging by the time I reached the first floor - heaven knows how I managed the last flights but thank goodness my fitness levels are at least reasonable otherwise I should never have managed at all.
Room 209 is actually a small suite with sitting room, bedroom and bathroom with a very large walk-in shower. The sitting room comes provided with settee, TV, kettle, fridge, ironing board and iron. There should have been a hair dryer in the bedroom but having searched everywhere I had to report that it was nowhere to be found. Of course the amah did not understand what I was trying to say as she only speaks Cantonese and my knowledge does not extend to words such as hairdryer - SO trusty sign language had to be used with me shaking my hair with my hand whilst making a whooshing noise. That did the trick but did not produce the location of the hair dryer so presumably the lack of said appliance would be reported to her superior. Slevin House is described as being Hostel Accommodation rather than Hotel which is why former employees of the Hong Kong Police have the opportunity to stay here for a very reasonable price. Admittedly the bed is on the hard side but looking on the bright side I tell myself this is very good for my back. Along the corridor from my room is "The Business Suite" where wifi is available - also provided in this room is a huge fridge/freezer plus a microwave so meals during my stay will not be a problem - providing I can find somewhere which sells ready prepared microwaveable meals (they are not commonly found in the supermarkets over here). Next to the "Business Suite" is a laundry room fitted out with washing machine and tumble drier especially for the use of guests. Not that a week of "smalls" will warrant reading through all the instructions necessary for operating these appliances - the sink and a bit of soap will do me fine.
The room looks out over the top of Bauhinia Trees which provide a canopy masking the complex as a whole. The Bauhinia is the national flower of HK and now appears on its flag - a white flower on a red background. Unfortunately the trees are not in flower at present but they still provide a wonderful vantage point for the birds who are singing prettily outside as I type this.
My first mission after unpacking was to find a local English supermarket and stock up on milk, cheese, bread, tomatoes etc. With these in my fridge I would be able to make sandwiches which I can take with me on my adventures next week. So off I set - but first I had to get out of the grounds. I was using a gate other than the one I had entered by but it was barred and would not budge. Thankfully a policeman working near the gate showed me how to use the zap card which had been provided along with my keys - they could have put some instruction with this! It was an easy matter finding the supermarket and I came back loaded down with goodies for the fridge. Then it was off to bed because not sleeping during the 11 hour flight meant I was exhausted. I had just drifted off when the doorbell rang. In a very groggy state I answered it and found the amah's manager standing there with hair dryer in hand. This lady was very officious and strode around the rooms looking for things to do. Eventually I persuaded her to leave and collapsed into bed to sleep the afternoon, evening and night away!
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