Thursday July 24, 2008

Well we returned from Hong Kong on Sunday and I admit I have been a little lazy since we got home. It usually takes me a few days to get adjusted once I've been on a trip. I like to say " I need a vacation from my vacation!" We really enjoyed ourselves and tried to see as much of the city as possible. Jim was fortunate enough that his business portion of our trip was short so he got to spend a lot of time with me when originally I thought I would be sightseeing mostly on my own. We arrived on Wednesday, early in the evening. We decided that we would not hire a driver or rent a car because we heard so much about how reliable the Hong Kong public transportation is. We took a train from the airport which took us to the central subway station in downtown Hong Kong. We then transferred to a different line which took us directly outside of our hotel. It was very simple and easy to figure out how to get around so we purchased public ride cards or Octopus cards as they call them which gave us unlimited rides for the duration of our trip. Along the way I picked up pamphlets and maps so I could plan for the days I thought I would be going it alone.

Thursday morning I booked a couple of tours for me and Jim to take. Whenever we go to a different city I find that this is the best way to decide what you want to do. They take you different places and you can always go back if you want to spend more time at a paticular place. In my subway card packet there was a pamphlet highlighting places you could ride the train to so my first excursion out was to Lantau Island to see Ng Ping Village, the Po Lin Monastery and the World's largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha. The subway in all it's simplicity and efficiency is very interesting particularly the hoards of people walking through. Picture if you would a cartoon where people are going to and from work, walking in step, and singing a song, yet being quiet. I took the blue line out to Lantau where I had to ride a cable car to get up to the mountain. I met a family from Wisconsin on the way. It's funny, when you don't live in the States you can definitely hear an American accent. Even though they were going to the same place as me, I just had a short conversation with them and ventured out by myself. The cable car ride took about 25 minutes to get to the top and along the way you can see all the outlying islands, skyscrapers, the China Sea...really beautiful! And just when you thought the view couldn't get any better, there perched on top of a mountain is the massive Buddha. There's nothing else around it, no cities, no residential neighborhoods, just the monastery and the village which is more like a strip mall with stores and restaurants whose sole purpose for being there is to cater to the tourist coming up to see Buddha.

I stopped and had lunch in a Chinese restaurant ( I'm trying to get as much practice as I can with the chopsticks ) and then I walked through the village where I bought a Chinese hat and some fortune telling sticks, then I made my way to Buddha. I thought for sure there would be an easy way to see it but NOPE!! Just like at the Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, standing before me is a half mile of steps. I almost didn't go up but figured I was there so I might as well. Good thing this time is that there were no wild monkeys along the way. At the top was Buddha and six demi-gods giving offerings to him. Below and inside the buddha was information on how and why it was built and of course gift shops. It was a great view of the mountains and sea from up there but after a while the clouds started rolling in and I figured I'd better start making my way back down in case it was going to rain. I went to the Po Lin Monastery next where I toured the prayer halls and watched people buy and burn incense as offerings to the many gods for answers to their prayers. Needless to say, the entire area was very fragrant and smoky. I saw Monks doing Tai Chi but felt it would have been disrespectful to take a picture of them, so I didn't. It was getting late so I headed back to the hotel to meet Jim and have some dinner. Every night in Victoria Harbor they have a light show at 8 pm so we went to the rooftop to watch and found ourselves very disappointed. I mean it's cool to see all of the skyscrapers light up and shoot off lasers but the hype that is built up around the nightly event is grossly exaggerated.

The next day I couldn't decide if I wanted to go to Ocean Park to see the Pandas or to the Central District which is the financial hub of Hong Kong to see the world's longest outdoor escalator. I opted for the escalator. Just as I was about to leave, Jim returned to the hotel and said that he was done with work so he could go with me. Once again we took the subway and walked a few blocks until we found the travelator. It's 800 meters long and was built for the residents because it sits on a steep hill which can be tiresome if you had to walk back and forth each day. It isn't one continuous escalator, it's made up of about 20 different ones with stops along the way so you can get on or off at different points. Also from 6 am to 10 am it only runs downhill, from 10 am to midnight it only runs uphill, so once you get to the top you have to walk back down. This is to accomodate the times people are going or returning home from work. This is also where we came across Soho. Jim found a tavern called Cochrane's so since it was past noon we stopped for a beer. As I was reading the menu I noticed all the mugs hanging from the ceiling and asked what they were for. I was told they were members of the Painkiller's Club. If you drink this cocktail made with some british rum, coconut milk, brandy, and some juice then you're in the club. So I figured why not? Jim bailed out, the drink wasn't all that bad but it was d-efinitely strong so I just drank it as fast as I could while holding my breath so I couldn't smell it. Now I have a mug and a membership card which entitles me to a 10 % discount on purchases anytime I'm in Cochrane's in Soho. I bought a couple of dresses and then we headed towards the harbor because we signed up for a night cruise with the feature being the Symphony of Lights light show which I already mentioned.

The cruise boat was in an old Chinese theme and served unlimited drinks (woo hoo!!). It sailed Victoria Harbor from Kowloon Island to Hong Kong Island. The best part was just looking at the shorelines of both islands. I told Angela that if the inside of a tv was a city, it would look like Hong Kong. All of the neon lights and skyscrapers boasting every name in electronics imaginable, plus all the signs for the Olympics. Hong Kong is the co-host for the games with Beijing, they're hosting the equestrian portion. There is so little land mass, it's hard to believe that 7 million people live here until you go into the subway, which explains all of the high-rise buildings. You can only own a house here unless you're rich and then you have to live up in the mountains. The average size of an apartment is 800 sq/ft and that's for a family of 5 imagine that? On the cruise we met a brother/sister from Australia and hit it off right away. We talked so much that we didn't notice the boat dock to let the passengers off and then leave with us still on board! The crew wouldn't turn around to take us back so we had to ride to the other side of the harbor and then take a separate ferry boat back. The crew acted like it happened all the time, maybe because of the unlimited cocktails. We invited our new friends to have dinner with us ( I can't remember their names...go figure!) and talked and laughed until late where we said goodbye. They are planning on being in Kuala Lumpur next week so we gave them our info so we could get together and show them around. After that me and Jim went back to the hotel and passed out.

The next day we signed up for an all day tour that covered land and sea. Little did we know that our first stop of the morning was the same cruise that we took the night before. The morning cruise did not offer unlimited cocktails but it was a little longer than before. It went through a couple of typhoon shelters for the fisherman and also we got to witness the tiniest cannon blast ever. We spent almost 2 hours on the boat this time and we did get off when we were supposed to. After that we had chinese dim sum lunch at the Hong Kong Cultural Center. It was 8 courses and surprisingly Jim liked everything except dessert and any dumpling that had green color in it. From there we got on a tour bus which stopped at other hotels to pick up more passengers and then we all headed off to Victoria Peak. It is the highest point in Hong Kong and named after Queen Victoria ( for those who didn't know, at one time the area was part of the Briitish colonies ). From there you can see everything! It is really beautiful up there but we could only spend 20 minutes there and then it was back on the bus. After that we went to the Aberdeen Fishing Village where for centuries fisherman have lived on their boats called a samban with their families, dogs, cats, whatever. Even now they still live on the boats but some have washers, satellite tv, and little outdoor patios. We paid a fisherman to take us out on his samban around the village where we also got to see the Jumbo Restaurant. It's a huge floating restaurant that can seat 3000 people at one time. Several movies have featured the place including the upcoming Batman movie. We could have eaten there but didn't have enough time left in our trip to get a reservation. From the fishing village we got back on the bus and drove by Repulse Bay which is named after a naval vessel that docked there throughout the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. That part wasn't really all that interesting considering the bus never stopped, we just drove by. The last part of the tour was the Stanley Market, a street bazaar selling all kinds of goods from clothes to purses to sunglasses. Me and Jim walked around and shopped a bit and decided that we would not take the tour bus back to the hotel we would just hang out and grab some dinner. Jim wanted to watch a rugby match so we walked along the bay walk where there were several restaurants and pubs. Of course the one place that was showing the game was packed and we got in just in time because shortly after we sat down it started pouring outside. Since we were right on the water and the restaurant was open-aired, the restaurant got more packed as people were trying to move from the outside to the inside. I started to get a little crabby but I calmed down after I got some gumbo in me. So after dinner we went back to Kowloon to our hotel and prepared for our trip home the next day.

We took the subway back to the airport. One thing that I really appreciated was something called in-town check in. We could check our luggage and get our boarding passes from downtown Hong Kong, a 28 minute train ride away from the airport. It was very convenient, definitely a great idea. We got back home and our boys were happy to see us. I did have some mopping to do because my house smelled like dogs. So hope you all like the photos we are happy to be home. Hong Kong is a little too crowded for my tastes but I would definitely go back to do some shopping!!