We got home from South America for a brief stopover before leaving again for eight months. We got sucked into the comforts of home and had trouble leaving again. We actually decided to skip Mexico and spend more time at home. It was good to unwind for a few days and then we had to get down to business. The normal things that are on the everyday list of responsibilities visit family, take care of finances, paper work, taxes, phone calls, regroup, rethink and re-pack for the next eight months. We could have used another week at home but it was time to hit the road and head to the airport.
I am running around doing everything at the last minute but that is because I procrastinate. My backpack is reloaded and it feels 10 pounds lighter. There were some items that I did not need: Hair Dryer, Door Lock, Bicycle lock for pack, some first aid items, water purifier and a few other odd items. The organizer in me came out so I reconfigured my journal and overall paperwork system. I remembered smiling when I packed away my day timer that I used for work and promised to use it again in a year. I wasn't gone two months and I had to purchase a new mini-day timer with lots of sections for planning, notes, finances, etc. I felt better organized just making the purchase.
We are ready to go and catch our 4:30 PM flight from Ft. Lauderdale-Atlanta-Los Angeles-Taiwan-Hong Kong. It is going to be a long day of flying. The start of this segment of the trip is different from our South American travel. All of our flights are in business class compliments of Delta Airlines frequent flier miles and American Express membership miles. The best thing about the 24 hours of flying is that we got caught up on all the movies we had missed.. We were headed to the other side of the world and a 12 hour time zone difference.
From Los Angeles we would be flying Singapore Airlines, the number one rated airline in the world. This travel thing is a piece of cake when you fly business class. We used frequent flyer miles to purchase our around-the-world tickets at 220,000 miles each. If you fly a lot for business and use your American Express card for expenses it does not take long to save up the required miles. A coach class around-the-world ticket is around 140,000 miles each. We had spent two months in South America flying on a lot of very nice airlines but nothing can compare to the service of Singapore Airlines. After checking in at Singapore Airlines in Los Angeles we had a few hours to kill so we decided to get some WorldWander business cards printed.
Scooter designed our travel business card with our contact information and some graphics on the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles. We had purchased some preprinted business card stock and now all that was required was a Kinko's copy and a color printer. We started to inquire at the Los Angeles. airport about the nearest Kinko's and it felt like we had landed in South America. After a few phone calls to local Kinko's we jumped in a taxi and spent the next two hours printing out business cards.
The service was overwhelming with constant offers of hot towels, beverages, menu, pillows, newspaper etc. We settled in and had twelve hours of nonstop food, drink and movies. I can't even imagine what they do for you in first class. I am not sure where time has gone, but we just spent 12 hours crossing the Pacific Ocean, in addition to 2 hours to Atlanta and 5 hours to Los Angeles. Somehow we would arrive in Hong Kong two days later. When we arrived in Taipei, Taiwan, we were greeted at the gate by a Singapore Airline employee and delivered to the VIP lounge area. It has been a peaceful and relaxing flight and I am feeling well rested drinking an Oxygen enriched drink which is made from the eleutheroccocus plant. The plant is only grown in Siberia and is proven to help the human body absorb more Oxygen and raise the rate of cellular Oxygen exchange. "Drink Tiger Tooth anytime and keep yourself healthy all the time." After a short stop over we continue on our flight to Hong Kong.
I was in Hong Kong on vacation with my sister six years ago and remember really enjoying myself. Of course on the way from Taipei I read the guidebook on how to get into town. It's not difficult in Hong Kong - the airport is in the middle of town on the Kowloon mainland side. Hong Kong has gone out of its way to make sure visitors don't get lost. We decided to stay at the YMCA which is a beautiful hotel with a prime location and the right price in the world's second most expensive city. The right price is still not cheap at $100 US per night but the accommodations are first rate. This is going to spoil us for sure. The YMCA also has dorm style pricing for $20 US a night. They converted a group of regular hotel rooms into dorm rooms by installing two bunk beds in each room. Once again let me point out that the YMCA is a first rate hotel.
As usual, Scooter is driven by meal time and it is time for Lunch here but according to our former time zone it is well past dinner time. Hong Kong is twelve hours later than the East coast of the US. In an effort not to seek food that was too challenging we went to a pub for beers, vegetable pie and chicken - Ned Kelly's Last Stand. After a little stroll down Nathan (The main drag) we went back to the YMCA for a nap. Ha Ha - who were we fooling- twelve hours later- we did not wake up until 4:00 AM, and we were ready to go. Food again, was high on Scooter's priority list at 4:00 AM. The only food place open near us was the ever present McDonald's. This is not the ideal menu for a vegetarian. The streets are empty but the McDonald's is full. Every table is filled with groups of young people after a night on the town, socializing or sleeping until the morning buses start.
The walk back to the hotel was very surreal not a person or car in sight but all the traffic signals and walk-don't walk signs were in full swing. Hong Kong is a place with six million residents and it was weird to be the only two people walking around. The walk-don't walk signs are blinking, flashing and making an awful racket but the lack of a single car makes them useless. It appears that the awful racket is a clicking noise for the blind to indicate it is safe to cross. When the city is in full swing the street noise is very loud so the walk-don't walk signs have to be equally loud to be heard. So as we stood on the street corner listening to a sleepy city filled with mechanical crickets hard at work.
April 10
Breakfast is compliments of the hotel and we are treated to a large buffet affair serving both oriental and western breakfast. Dim Sum and Congee are typical oriental breakfast foods- we opt for cereal, omelets, fruit and bread. This hotel is not your ordinary YMCA.
I have a full day planned and am anxious to be out the door before I get tired again. Our time change is 12 hours and it will take a couple of days to convert. We were contemplating a side trip to Bejing, China and a peek at the only man made object that can be seen from space ( The Great Wall). The China travel service office (CTS) is a good place to begin for our education on costs, visas and package tours. They can arrange for all train, bus, hotel, visas in China. If you can get someone to wait on you. It is Saturday and Easter weekend. The traditional Hong Kong travel agents, banks and most businesses are closed for a five day Easter holiday. We found this odd since Christianity is not very popular but I guess any excuse for week off. The CTS office is run by the Chinese government so they work seven days a week and do not get any religious days off. I guess Communism is good for something.
The CTS office is around the corner from the YMCA and we find an office in process of being renovated. It was not crowded but we found it difficult to figure out how to get waited on. Nobody to greet you or number to pull. We observed what others were doing and figured you had to make yourself known. This was a drawback of Communism they are open but offer no customer service. The only clear hurdle was getting a Visa and they offered one day turnaround service for $ 250 HK. After adding everything up a visit to the Great Wall via CTS would be very expensive. We decided to spend some more time checking other travel agents. It was Easter and everyone was closed so we figured we would fly to Bangkok, Thailand in a couple of days and save China for a future visit. We looked up in Lonely Planet for other travel agents and set out to find Shoestring Travel. After walking around exploring we found Shoestring in the same building as CTS. They only had a small staff working and we got rerouted to Time travel owned by the same people. Time Travel is located in the basement shopping mall of the Hyatt hotel and they were busy. We explored our options for China and decided that heading to Bangkok was the best option. They had some good weekend package deals but we had already missed them. The agent informed us that she could sell a ticket on Air Canada since they are computerized but all the other airline offices were closed. The cost was $ 2,600 HK for two one-way tickets and after four hours our business was done. It was time to be a tourist.
We had three destinations on our list for today. The Tin Hau Temple, Jade Market, Temple Street and Computer Center Market. All four locations are in walking distance from the YMCA so we grab our map and set out for some city walking. We headed North walking through the tourist/shopping area of Tsim Sha Tsui toward Mong Kok and the Yau Ma Tei sections of town. We first came across temple street market - not a lot of action yet since it is a night market but a very interesting food market. The Chinese are famous for the fact they will eat almost anything, but this does not become evident until you walk through Chinese markets. Every kind of animal is hanging or has been dried for what I can imagine is a chewy meal. The smell in these markets is really pungent and all over town they smell the same. It could be the squirming eels, chicken feet, dried snakes or the smell of a fruit called Durian. The Chinese have a saying about Durian, ‘Heaven to eat and hell to smell'. According to our guidebook, Chinese hotels will display a sign that states "NO DURIAN IN ROOMS".
Great fun but it is a bit overwhelming. I think it would be a good idea to see what the upscale jewelry stores on Nathan are selling and at what price before visiting the Jade market. Each vendor is anxious for you to visit their booth. I tried on some rings at one stall and found a couple I liked but I wasn't ready to make a purchase. After inquiring about the price the proprietor since that she had a sale in the works and really turned on the charm. We tried to tell her that we were going to look around and that we would come back. This set her into motion and the price kept getting lower and we kept telling her we would be back. As we walked away she was visibly upset and I thought this was bad business. We read someplace later that it is considered very bad luck by the Chinese not to make at least one sale every day. I guess business had been slow today and she was really hoping that we would prevent any bad luck. I bought Jade and Onyx bracelets for $10 US each.
When I could no longer force Scooter to browse we went to the Tin Hau Temple. The temple was surrounded by men in tank topped T-shirts engaged in various forms of gambling and the quick sip of little bottles. Before Opium was outlawed it was estimated that over 70% of the Hong Kong males were addicted. I think the little bottles had a small amount of Opium something in it. The temple had a house blessing ceremony in progress and the place was filled with giant burning incense.
They have supposedly crack down on illegal software, but here we are in downtown Hong Kong at a computer mall and we can't find one legal piece of software. You can buy almost any piece of software for under $10 US. Every store we looked in the shop owner had a large box of freshly recorded CD's that he was packaging for sale. The entire mall was filled with adolescent boys and it was impossible to walk against traffic. Prices for hardware was the same in the US and Scooter could not find any bargains so we headed out looking for happy hour.
We started walking back to our hotel but today's sightseeing had taken us several miles away. We started walking as fast as the packed sidewalks would allow but it was getting late so we jumped in a taxi for a ride to Mad Dogs - a well known British pub on Nathan. It was indeed happy hour - 2 for 1 but it was still expensive and we stayed longer than we should have. We started talking to a women from the US named Diana who does purchasing all over the Orient for children's clothing. She was good company and our conversation led to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and one last drink at the Kangaroo Pub. Diana was heading to China tomorrow and she makes it a point before each trip to eat as much food as possible because China did not have a lot to offer a US stomach.
April 11
April 12
We would strike out on the efficient public transport system of Hong Kong island. The YMCA is located across the street from the Star Ferry terminal which is the most scenic way to cross between Kowloon and the Hong Kong island. The ferry trip only costs $2.20 HK or .31 cents. The other crossing option is the subway under the bay. Once we are on the other side we have our choice of catching the bus or the double-decker tram. The bus is fast but we decided to take the more vintage tourist path of the double-decker tram. Hong Kong has over 6,000,000 people in 400 square miles. This works out to be about 1500 people per square mile. We spent the afternoon amazed at the number of high rise apartments. The apartments dominated the sky and it was impossible to comprehend how so many people could live so close together. Construction was in full swing everywhere and it appeared that the material of choice was bamboo. The buildings were of course concrete but the workers would build a network of bamboo scaffolding that would cover a 40 story building. The contrast of modern concrete and traditional bamboo was fascinating to Scooter.
The Stanley market is on the south side of the island and it is definitely a tourist market. It is filled with clothes, souvenirs and very crowded. I thought it was fun but Scooter had enough of the market thing, I could of stayed their all day. The next stop was a view of Repulse bay and a ride on a sampan. The road hugs some very narrow cliffs and sitting on the second story of the bus makes for a very interesting ride. The bus was speeding through bicycle paths with only inches to spare between the oncoming traffic. The bus continued on to Aberdeen which is one of the few remaining fishing ports on Hong Kong island. We were headed on the tourist track and got dropped off at the sampan rides. Sampans are traditional Chinese boats-very picturesque. According to our guide the government has forced most of the Sampans to hang up their fishing nets. The family would live and work on the boat which made it very difficult for the children to attend school. We jump on a Sampan tour boat with another cute French couple (both men) and set off for a 45 minute harbor tour. The tour takes through a couple hundred Sampans, past the famous floating restaurants. The floating restaurants look like a floating Chinese palace but we had been warned that the food was not very good. The Aberdeen area is also home of Ocean park a big amusement park and Chinese cultural village. The bus ride back to Star ferry took only 15 minutes so we decided to go up to the observation peak.
Today was an ugly day with rain, clouds and fogs. This was not an ideal day to go to an observation peak. We should of done this when we first got to Hong Kong. The tram ride up was worth the trip. The incline was 45 degrees and it tilted all the skyscrapers to the right. Once we got to the top we wished it had been a bright sunny day. We couldn't be lucky all the time. Even though the tram ride was $28 HK each we were tempted to try again tomorrow if the sun was shining. The top was very developed with restaurants and various tourists activities such as shopping, eating, pictures and hiking. We selected eating and drinking. After a very expensive drink at The serene, historical Peak Cafe. It was too expensive for our current budget but I really wanted to stay. The next place we ventured, Movenpick Marche Restaurant, was a five star cafeteria. You walk in and they give you a card and take you to a table. You are then free to wonder around to the numerous chefs who cook your food to order. The selections include Sushi, Stir-Fry, Pasta, Salad, BBQ, Seafood, Soup and a full bar. Every time you order food they stamp your card and you pay when your finished at the checkout counter.
It was Sunday and we decided to check out some night life. So far we have done very little partying because we are usually too tired from traveling. There are two night life districts on Hong Kong island: Wanchai and Lan Kwai Fong. They are loaded with bars and burlesque shows. We chose Banana Joe's, a place I visited six years ago with my sister during the International Rugby 7's match. It was packed then but this place is dead now. We had one luscious banana daiquiri and we moved on down the road to a lively Filipino bar. The place was busy with the local Filipino maids and a large group of foreign men. This was not our cup a tea and we headed home via the Star ferry. The Hong Kong skyline is even more beautiful at night.
April 13
Easter came and went without any recognition from us. We had visited numerous temples and churches in the last three months so we did not have a huge desire to attend a Easter service.
We are flying to Bangkok today but we have a lot of errands to do. Update the web site, laundry, pick up airline tickets, and purchase a camera. Scooter is glued to his computer and I get stuck with laundry at the YMCA. After laundry we go to pick up our airline tickets and they wanted us to pay cash. The agent couldn't remember the quoted price so I repeated back to her a slightly lower price and it was accepted.
We also wanted to purchase a camera but this is an overwhelming purchase due the hundreds of camera stores and a myriad of cameras to choose from. We stopped by a couple of camera stores listed in the Hong Kong tourist guide. The tourist guide warned about getting ripped off through a variety of scams, so we stuck with those that had been approved. The process was very frustrating because none of the salespeople seemed to know anything about the product or would venture to make a recommendation. The goal was small with a zoom lens and Scooter was set on the new APS film system from Kodak.
My recommendation for shopping in Hong Kong is to be very cautious and make sure to try out your new purchase before you leave. Also be careful about prices that are to good to be true. We narrowed down our selection to a brand new camera the Pentax Efina. We looked for a magazine review at the local bookstore and a suggested price. It helps make purchase when you are an informed consumer. The only problem we encountered was the manufactures warranty. The warranty was in Japanese and if we had a problem we would have to send it to Japan to get fixed. Our chores our done so it time for some fun.
We walk to the Peninsula hotel which is a world famous five star resort that is the place for Tea time. The atmosphere is luxurious complete with orchestra playing in the corner. Service is fair, tea strong and the banana spilt the best ever. This was a great treat - one that I vividly remember enjoying with my sister six years ago. It was Scooter's idea which made it that much more special. We had just enough time to catch the A1 bus to the airport and our flight to Bangkok, Thailand.
We are ready to go and catch our 4:30 PM flight from Ft. Lauderdale-Atlanta-Los Angeles-Taiwan-Hong Kong. It is going to be a long day of flying. The start of this segment of the trip is different from our South American travel. All of our flights are in business class compliments of Delta Airlines frequent flier miles and American Express membership miles. The best thing about the 24 hours of flying is that we got caught up on all the movies we had missed.. We were headed to the other side of the world and a 12 hour time zone difference.
From Los Angeles we would be flying Singapore Airlines, the number one rated airline in the world. This travel thing is a piece of cake when you fly business class. We used frequent flyer miles to purchase our around-the-world tickets at 220,000 miles each. If you fly a lot for business and use your American Express card for expenses it does not take long to save up the required miles. A coach class around-the-world ticket is around 140,000 miles each. We had spent two months in South America flying on a lot of very nice airlines but nothing can compare to the service of Singapore Airlines. After checking in at Singapore Airlines in Los Angeles we had a few hours to kill so we decided to get some WorldWander business cards printed.
Scooter designed our travel business card with our contact information and some graphics on the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles. We had purchased some preprinted business card stock and now all that was required was a Kinko's copy and a color printer. We started to inquire at the Los Angeles. airport about the nearest Kinko's and it felt like we had landed in South America. After a few phone calls to local Kinko's we jumped in a taxi and spent the next two hours printing out business cards.
We boarded the 747 at 1:00 AM and headed upstairs for our business class seats.
The service was overwhelming with constant offers of hot towels, beverages, menu, pillows, newspaper etc. We settled in and had twelve hours of nonstop food, drink and movies. I can't even imagine what they do for you in first class. I am not sure where time has gone, but we just spent 12 hours crossing the Pacific Ocean, in addition to 2 hours to Atlanta and 5 hours to Los Angeles. Somehow we would arrive in Hong Kong two days later. When we arrived in Taipei, Taiwan, we were greeted at the gate by a Singapore Airline employee and delivered to the VIP lounge area. It has been a peaceful and relaxing flight and I am feeling well rested drinking an Oxygen enriched drink which is made from the eleutheroccocus plant. The plant is only grown in Siberia and is proven to help the human body absorb more Oxygen and raise the rate of cellular Oxygen exchange. "Drink Tiger Tooth anytime and keep yourself healthy all the time." After a short stop over we continue on our flight to Hong Kong.
I was in Hong Kong on vacation with my sister six years ago and remember really enjoying myself. Of course on the way from Taipei I read the guidebook on how to get into town. It's not difficult in Hong Kong - the airport is in the middle of town on the Kowloon mainland side. Hong Kong has gone out of its way to make sure visitors don't get lost. We decided to stay at the YMCA which is a beautiful hotel with a prime location and the right price in the world's second most expensive city. The right price is still not cheap at $100 US per night but the accommodations are first rate. This is going to spoil us for sure. The YMCA also has dorm style pricing for $20 US a night. They converted a group of regular hotel rooms into dorm rooms by installing two bunk beds in each room. Once again let me point out that the YMCA is a first rate hotel.
As usual, Scooter is driven by meal time and it is time for Lunch here but according to our former time zone it is well past dinner time. Hong Kong is twelve hours later than the East coast of the US. In an effort not to seek food that was too challenging we went to a pub for beers, vegetable pie and chicken - Ned Kelly's Last Stand. After a little stroll down Nathan (The main drag) we went back to the YMCA for a nap. Ha Ha - who were we fooling- twelve hours later- we did not wake up until 4:00 AM, and we were ready to go. Food again, was high on Scooter's priority list at 4:00 AM. The only food place open near us was the ever present McDonald's. This is not the ideal menu for a vegetarian. The streets are empty but the McDonald's is full. Every table is filled with groups of young people after a night on the town, socializing or sleeping until the morning buses start.
The walk back to the hotel was very surreal not a person or car in sight but all the traffic signals and walk-don't walk signs were in full swing. Hong Kong is a place with six million residents and it was weird to be the only two people walking around. The walk-don't walk signs are blinking, flashing and making an awful racket but the lack of a single car makes them useless. It appears that the awful racket is a clicking noise for the blind to indicate it is safe to cross. When the city is in full swing the street noise is very loud so the walk-don't walk signs have to be equally loud to be heard. So as we stood on the street corner listening to a sleepy city filled with mechanical crickets hard at work.
April 10
At 7:00 AM I go for a workout at the YMCA gym trying to get on the road to fitness.
Breakfast is compliments of the hotel and we are treated to a large buffet affair serving both oriental and western breakfast. Dim Sum and Congee are typical oriental breakfast foods- we opt for cereal, omelets, fruit and bread. This hotel is not your ordinary YMCA.
I have a full day planned and am anxious to be out the door before I get tired again. Our time change is 12 hours and it will take a couple of days to convert. We were contemplating a side trip to Bejing, China and a peek at the only man made object that can be seen from space ( The Great Wall). The China travel service office (CTS) is a good place to begin for our education on costs, visas and package tours. They can arrange for all train, bus, hotel, visas in China. If you can get someone to wait on you. It is Saturday and Easter weekend. The traditional Hong Kong travel agents, banks and most businesses are closed for a five day Easter holiday. We found this odd since Christianity is not very popular but I guess any excuse for week off. The CTS office is run by the Chinese government so they work seven days a week and do not get any religious days off. I guess Communism is good for something.
The CTS office is around the corner from the YMCA and we find an office in process of being renovated. It was not crowded but we found it difficult to figure out how to get waited on. Nobody to greet you or number to pull. We observed what others were doing and figured you had to make yourself known. This was a drawback of Communism they are open but offer no customer service. The only clear hurdle was getting a Visa and they offered one day turnaround service for $ 250 HK. After adding everything up a visit to the Great Wall via CTS would be very expensive. We decided to spend some more time checking other travel agents. It was Easter and everyone was closed so we figured we would fly to Bangkok, Thailand in a couple of days and save China for a future visit. We looked up in Lonely Planet for other travel agents and set out to find Shoestring Travel. After walking around exploring we found Shoestring in the same building as CTS. They only had a small staff working and we got rerouted to Time travel owned by the same people. Time Travel is located in the basement shopping mall of the Hyatt hotel and they were busy. We explored our options for China and decided that heading to Bangkok was the best option. They had some good weekend package deals but we had already missed them. The agent informed us that she could sell a ticket on Air Canada since they are computerized but all the other airline offices were closed. The cost was $ 2,600 HK for two one-way tickets and after four hours our business was done. It was time to be a tourist.
We had three destinations on our list for today. The Tin Hau Temple, Jade Market, Temple Street and Computer Center Market. All four locations are in walking distance from the YMCA so we grab our map and set out for some city walking. We headed North walking through the tourist/shopping area of Tsim Sha Tsui toward Mong Kok and the Yau Ma Tei sections of town. We first came across temple street market - not a lot of action yet since it is a night market but a very interesting food market. The Chinese are famous for the fact they will eat almost anything, but this does not become evident until you walk through Chinese markets. Every kind of animal is hanging or has been dried for what I can imagine is a chewy meal. The smell in these markets is really pungent and all over town they smell the same. It could be the squirming eels, chicken feet, dried snakes or the smell of a fruit called Durian. The Chinese have a saying about Durian, ‘Heaven to eat and hell to smell'. According to our guidebook, Chinese hotels will display a sign that states "NO DURIAN IN ROOMS".
Next on the list is the Jade Market - two large tents setup with over 400 vendors. They are open every day from 10-3.
Great fun but it is a bit overwhelming. I think it would be a good idea to see what the upscale jewelry stores on Nathan are selling and at what price before visiting the Jade market. Each vendor is anxious for you to visit their booth. I tried on some rings at one stall and found a couple I liked but I wasn't ready to make a purchase. After inquiring about the price the proprietor since that she had a sale in the works and really turned on the charm. We tried to tell her that we were going to look around and that we would come back. This set her into motion and the price kept getting lower and we kept telling her we would be back. As we walked away she was visibly upset and I thought this was bad business. We read someplace later that it is considered very bad luck by the Chinese not to make at least one sale every day. I guess business had been slow today and she was really hoping that we would prevent any bad luck. I bought Jade and Onyx bracelets for $10 US each.
When I could no longer force Scooter to browse we went to the Tin Hau Temple. The temple was surrounded by men in tank topped T-shirts engaged in various forms of gambling and the quick sip of little bottles. Before Opium was outlawed it was estimated that over 70% of the Hong Kong males were addicted. I think the little bottles had a small amount of Opium something in it. The temple had a house blessing ceremony in progress and the place was filled with giant burning incense.
On to the Mongkok Computer Center just off Nathan street on the corner of Nelson and Fa Yuen streets. The computer market turned out to be four floors filled with a hundred computer shops-hardware and cheap bootleg software. There has been a lot of friction between the US because of China's rampant disregard for US copyright laws.
They have supposedly crack down on illegal software, but here we are in downtown Hong Kong at a computer mall and we can't find one legal piece of software. You can buy almost any piece of software for under $10 US. Every store we looked in the shop owner had a large box of freshly recorded CD's that he was packaging for sale. The entire mall was filled with adolescent boys and it was impossible to walk against traffic. Prices for hardware was the same in the US and Scooter could not find any bargains so we headed out looking for happy hour.
We started walking back to our hotel but today's sightseeing had taken us several miles away. We started walking as fast as the packed sidewalks would allow but it was getting late so we jumped in a taxi for a ride to Mad Dogs - a well known British pub on Nathan. It was indeed happy hour - 2 for 1 but it was still expensive and we stayed longer than we should have. We started talking to a women from the US named Diana who does purchasing all over the Orient for children's clothing. She was good company and our conversation led to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and one last drink at the Kangaroo Pub. Diana was heading to China tomorrow and she makes it a point before each trip to eat as much food as possible because China did not have a lot to offer a US stomach.
April 11
- Hong Kong is a great city to be a tourist in because it is exotic and familiar at the same time. English and Chinese are both official languages so communications is not a worry. Also, the Hong Kong tourist association has made it ridiculously easy to see the sights on your own or with many of their many tours which can be booked at almost any hotel front desk. They offer extensive tours, "The official sightseeing guide", "The official shopping guide", and "The official restaurant/entertainment guide." The tourist office offers great travel guides filled with maps and detailed tourist information. The tourist office has three locations in the city - The International Airport, Jardine house (HK island), and Star ferry (Kowloon Side) Their web site is http://www.hkta.org . Today we were taking one of the tours offered by the Hong Kong tourist association. It took two minutes to sign up and pay at the YMCA desk. A full day tour cost $20 US a person and included lunch. We selected "The Land Between" tour which took us to the Northern territory and the China mainland border.
- Our bus picked us up at the YMCA, it was half full and very comfortable. The itinerary for the tour included the Chuk Lam Monastery, Luen Wo market, Sam Mun Tsai village and the Tai Mo Shan park. Lunch was at a large busy hotel restaurant because of the holiday the park and hotel was really busy with the locals really enjoying themselves. The restaurant was probably serving 500 people at once eating Dim Sum and Chinese family style. Our meal was ordered for us and included such delicacies as jellyfish, a pork dish, beef dish, egg drop, corn soup - all placed on a lazy susan and spun around the table so everyone could share. We all looked at each other trying to figure out what to do. It basically turned into a grab your chopsticks and fill up your plate. I sat next to missionaries from Florida on their way to six months in the Philippines. This was their 3rd assignment. If I was religiously inclined it seems like a great way to see the world - except you must go where your assignment sends you. They said they would never go back to Nigeria. After lunch it was time to head back to Kowloon and the YMCA for a little R&R after our busy day. Jet lag was still kicking our butt and our nap ended around midnight.
April 12
We would strike out on the efficient public transport system of Hong Kong island. The YMCA is located across the street from the Star Ferry terminal which is the most scenic way to cross between Kowloon and the Hong Kong island. The ferry trip only costs $2.20 HK or .31 cents. The other crossing option is the subway under the bay. Once we are on the other side we have our choice of catching the bus or the double-decker tram. The bus is fast but we decided to take the more vintage tourist path of the double-decker tram. Hong Kong has over 6,000,000 people in 400 square miles. This works out to be about 1500 people per square mile. We spent the afternoon amazed at the number of high rise apartments. The apartments dominated the sky and it was impossible to comprehend how so many people could live so close together. Construction was in full swing everywhere and it appeared that the material of choice was bamboo. The buildings were of course concrete but the workers would build a network of bamboo scaffolding that would cover a 40 story building. The contrast of modern concrete and traditional bamboo was fascinating to Scooter.
- Our first stop after changing to a local bus at the end of the tram line is the Stanley market.
The Stanley market is on the south side of the island and it is definitely a tourist market. It is filled with clothes, souvenirs and very crowded. I thought it was fun but Scooter had enough of the market thing, I could of stayed their all day. The next stop was a view of Repulse bay and a ride on a sampan. The road hugs some very narrow cliffs and sitting on the second story of the bus makes for a very interesting ride. The bus was speeding through bicycle paths with only inches to spare between the oncoming traffic. The bus continued on to Aberdeen which is one of the few remaining fishing ports on Hong Kong island. We were headed on the tourist track and got dropped off at the sampan rides. Sampans are traditional Chinese boats-very picturesque. According to our guide the government has forced most of the Sampans to hang up their fishing nets. The family would live and work on the boat which made it very difficult for the children to attend school. We jump on a Sampan tour boat with another cute French couple (both men) and set off for a 45 minute harbor tour. The tour takes through a couple hundred Sampans, past the famous floating restaurants. The floating restaurants look like a floating Chinese palace but we had been warned that the food was not very good. The Aberdeen area is also home of Ocean park a big amusement park and Chinese cultural village. The bus ride back to Star ferry took only 15 minutes so we decided to go up to the observation peak.
Today was an ugly day with rain, clouds and fogs. This was not an ideal day to go to an observation peak. We should of done this when we first got to Hong Kong. The tram ride up was worth the trip. The incline was 45 degrees and it tilted all the skyscrapers to the right. Once we got to the top we wished it had been a bright sunny day. We couldn't be lucky all the time. Even though the tram ride was $28 HK each we were tempted to try again tomorrow if the sun was shining. The top was very developed with restaurants and various tourists activities such as shopping, eating, pictures and hiking. We selected eating and drinking. After a very expensive drink at The serene, historical Peak Cafe. It was too expensive for our current budget but I really wanted to stay. The next place we ventured, Movenpick Marche Restaurant, was a five star cafeteria. You walk in and they give you a card and take you to a table. You are then free to wonder around to the numerous chefs who cook your food to order. The selections include Sushi, Stir-Fry, Pasta, Salad, BBQ, Seafood, Soup and a full bar. Every time you order food they stamp your card and you pay when your finished at the checkout counter.
It was Sunday and we decided to check out some night life. So far we have done very little partying because we are usually too tired from traveling. There are two night life districts on Hong Kong island: Wanchai and Lan Kwai Fong. They are loaded with bars and burlesque shows. We chose Banana Joe's, a place I visited six years ago with my sister during the International Rugby 7's match. It was packed then but this place is dead now. We had one luscious banana daiquiri and we moved on down the road to a lively Filipino bar. The place was busy with the local Filipino maids and a large group of foreign men. This was not our cup a tea and we headed home via the Star ferry. The Hong Kong skyline is even more beautiful at night.
April 13
Easter came and went without any recognition from us. We had visited numerous temples and churches in the last three months so we did not have a huge desire to attend a Easter service.
We are flying to Bangkok today but we have a lot of errands to do. Update the web site, laundry, pick up airline tickets, and purchase a camera. Scooter is glued to his computer and I get stuck with laundry at the YMCA. After laundry we go to pick up our airline tickets and they wanted us to pay cash. The agent couldn't remember the quoted price so I repeated back to her a slightly lower price and it was accepted.
We also wanted to purchase a camera but this is an overwhelming purchase due the hundreds of camera stores and a myriad of cameras to choose from. We stopped by a couple of camera stores listed in the Hong Kong tourist guide. The tourist guide warned about getting ripped off through a variety of scams, so we stuck with those that had been approved. The process was very frustrating because none of the salespeople seemed to know anything about the product or would venture to make a recommendation. The goal was small with a zoom lens and Scooter was set on the new APS film system from Kodak.
My recommendation for shopping in Hong Kong is to be very cautious and make sure to try out your new purchase before you leave. Also be careful about prices that are to good to be true. We narrowed down our selection to a brand new camera the Pentax Efina. We looked for a magazine review at the local bookstore and a suggested price. It helps make purchase when you are an informed consumer. The only problem we encountered was the manufactures warranty. The warranty was in Japanese and if we had a problem we would have to send it to Japan to get fixed. Our chores our done so it time for some fun.
We walk to the Peninsula hotel which is a world famous five star resort that is the place for Tea time. The atmosphere is luxurious complete with orchestra playing in the corner. Service is fair, tea strong and the banana spilt the best ever. This was a great treat - one that I vividly remember enjoying with my sister six years ago. It was Scooter's idea which made it that much more special. We had just enough time to catch the A1 bus to the airport and our flight to Bangkok, Thailand.
Hong Kong does not have to be expensive and our suggestion would be to stay at the YMCA. If you are on a tight budget stay in the YMCA dorm area. The public transportation is very good and inexpensive. There are also many noodle shops and street vendors for a good but cheap meal. The excitement and Uniqueness of Hong Kong is free. The first sign of sunshine and a clear sky head up to the observation peak.