1/2/14
The last
few days have been incredibly busy, so although I really wanted to update the
blog, I couldn’t really find the time. One of my goals for the trip to Hong
Kong was to see the fireworks over the water on New Years Eve. That plan was altered when we saw the crowds starting
to grow at around 5 pm. At that time,
there were already thousands of people lined up along the sides of the
water. Most of them had their video
cameras fixed to the sky. I wonder how
many terrible videos there are of the same event. I am just as guilty of this, but sometimes it
is better to experience the world outside of the limits of a viewfinder. One
thing I have learned here is that pictures can never really accurately capture
the immense presence of the city. At all
times, huge skyscrapers with all different types of architecture, bright blue
water and deep green mountains surround you. Hong Kong is unlike any other city
that I have visited. It is relatively clean, sunny, warm and a mix of new and
old. Everything appears to be constantly
changing as buildings are torn down and new modern ones are put into their
place. Huge machines that push soil into the water are literally filling in the
sea. In a few years, buildings will be built on top of what was once
water. At the same time, Hong Kong has
huge nature parks with winding trails through dense forests. Everything is a bus ride away AND you never
have to wait for a bus for longer than 5 minutes. You begin to lose your sense of reality here…
“Where is that bus!?! We have been standing here for at least two minutes! We
will surely die in this 60 degree beautiful weather!” One almost forgets the pleasures of the red
line in DC, the mentally challenged little brother train of the DC metro system
that can’t seem to understand how to perform its one purpose in life. Hong Kong
is a magical place where everything is efficient and you almost never get
lost. While my description leans toward
the overly positive, there are still some aspects of the city that annoy
me. The market areas are overcrowded and
people meander around at a snails pace. Luckily, I am taller than everyone so I
can just step over people when needed.
Also, I have had a few miscommunications with some of the storekeepers,
but that will come later.
The view of
from the top of Victoria peak was inspiring, even though the pollution was a
bit high that day and you couldn’t see as far as I would have liked. We stayed for an hour or so, got some cheap
lunch at a café and took a minibus back down the hill. I was warned that mini buses are not always
known as being the safest form of transportation in Hong Kong and I was
concerned when I entered the cab and saw a large digital speedometer for
everyone to see. It was a huge red sign
that I thought was going to show us what street we were headed to, but instead showed
us how close to death we were. However,
the ride was actually quite fun and safe.
We traveled down curvy roads with tremendous views of the water. Whoever lives in the houses on top of the
mountains in Hong Kong must be super duper rich. We took the bus to the Star Ferry and crossed
over the water to Tsim Sha Tsui, so that I could go to the Avenue of the Stars. The Star Ferry costs a few pennies and it is
really the best way to see Hong Kong from all sides. I got a lot of really great pictures from the
boat. We walked from the boat to the
Avenue of the Stars (which is similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame) in order
for me to see the Bruce Lee statue.
Deborah kept asking me if Bruce Lee was still alive and I just kept
walking without a response. After my
moment of silence we met Jon at his hotel for a drink. From the hotel, we went back to Aberdeen to
rest up for the night. We took the MTR
to our bus stop and saw that the streets were being closed off! Deborah and I ran to one of the last buses as
the street barriers went up, blocking traffic. Breathing hard in the bus, I
looked at Deborah and made the game time decision that we were going to take it
easy and not kill ourselves trying to get to the water later that night. I would rather have an easy New Years Eve
than one that was full of disappointment because you are around a million
stinky drunk people that obscure the view of the fireworks. It is like when you go to a concert that you
have been anticipating for months only to have to deal with the crowd and
terrible seats. Sometimes you have to be
realistic. Also, while I knew that Deborah was game, I knew that she was tired
from the day and I didn’t want to push her too much. We ended up trying the restaurant in the
basement of our hotel. It was quite
good, but I think the waiter was new and he didn’t understand some of the
things we were telling him. I wanted a rum and coke and just got the coke, I took it as a sign that maybe I shouldn’t
drink on this New Years Eve. We shared a
Mexican quesadilla with salmon and some sort of mango soufflé for dessert. I hope I am not putting on weight! I should
go to the gym soon! After dinner, we
went to our room and turned on the tv.
Deborah instantly fell asleep and I tried to find a station that covered
New Years. I don’t know if I was ever
successful because the last thing I remember is looking at the clock that said
11:50 and then I fell asleep.
Happy New
Years 2014!
The
following day was spent playing with the kids near Daniel’s apartment. We ate lunch and dinner there and I took a
lot of great pictures. One of my
cultural miscommunications was my effort to try and top off my work phone. You can do this at many different shops in
Hong Kong. The main one that people go
to is the local seven elven. We went to
two different stores where nobody understood what was going on. I was told to pull out my sim card, I was
told to put it back in, I was told to dance around. The woman at the final store seemed really
frustrated with me as I kept handing her the sim card rather than money. I found out that all they need to know is the
company of the card and then they can add my money to their system. You get a receipt with a code on it that you
text to the company and voila, you have more minutes. I did what the receipt said, but I still
have no idea how to see the minutes left on my phone. I put another 100 hk dollars on it (which is
like 12 US dollars), so that should last for a while. It is kind of funny how things work
here. You would expect EVERYTHING to
cost a fortune because it is Hong Kong, but things like public transportation and
phone stuff is incredibly cheap. I
probably will never have to put money on the phone again.
I now have
most of the day off as Deborah is taking Selena to Ocean Park. It is nice to get some time off, I will have
to do the same for Deborah soon…
Visits near Bruce Lee's house and Jackie Chan's house (outside only) are probably arrangeable if you like.
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