Dean &
Ginny's excellent adventures... Main
Adventure Page
Grand
Voyage--2012:
<<
Part 1 <<
Part 2 <<
Part 3 <<
Part 4 <<
Part 5 <<
Part 6 <<
Part 7 <<
Part 8
<<
Part 9 <<
Part 10 <<
Part 11 <<
Part 12 <<
Part 13 <<
Part 14 Part
15 Part 16 >>
Part 17 >>
Part 18 >>
Part 19 >>
Part
20 >>
Part 21 >>
Part 22 >>
Part 23 >>
Part 24 >>
Part 25 >>
|
|
We sailed into Hong Kong early on Sunday morning.
The first thing you notice is the verticality of the city with all its
skyscrapers and then, even this early on a Sunday, that the traffic along the
waterfront roads and also the boat traffic in Victoria Harbor is significant.
We will be here for two days. So much to see!
 
Our ship docked on the Kowloon side of the harbor next
to the Star Ferry terminal with its iconic clock tower and across the
harbor, on the Hong Kong side, we could see this convention center with
sweeping rooflines vaguely similar to the Sidney Opera House. We were some of
the first passengers to disembark and we found a money change house that
was open and
changed our Australian money for Hong Kong dollars.
Our plan was to buy a one-day subway (MTR) ticket that's good for 24
hours and take the train to various sites. But first we walk around the
city...
|
|
Across the street from the Star Ferry terminal, this
world heritage site provided some interesting contrasts between old and
new as well as between Eastern and Western cultures.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
A noodle man rearranges his bags of dried noodles in front of a
":Chocoolate" wall.
|
We walked over to Kowloon Park where our Tai Chi class will
practice with Hong Kong residents early tomorrow morning. It's mostly
highly managed, but one area was labeled as being less trimmed and
maintained with no poisons to create habitat for the birds. No matter where you are in the
park, though, the city is not far away. While we were there, an
older gentleman with a beautiful voice was singing what we assumed was
Chinese operatic arias. A magical moment...
We head back into the streets and then on to another nearby garden space. Yes, it was rainy and chilly. This was as far north as we've
been for a while...
 
Huge TV screens blast the sports and ads into the streets. There is a
lot of building, but we were surprised that almost all the scaffolding
is made of bamboo and duct tape--even many stories tall.
|
|
 
We've no idea what the Hair Peace is, but ads for it are common.
 
Chestnuts roasting on a charcoal fire, baked sweet potatoes, or orange
juice: there's plenty to eat on the streets.
An elevated garden space overlooks the harbor and Hong Kong Island.
Familiar plants such as the Crepe Myrtle were evident, but then so is
Florida native, Magnolia grandiflora. I've never heard it referred to as
a Bull Bay, but then while English is widely spoken here thanks to many
decades of English rule, the translation of signs is sometimes a little
weird.
|
|
It's spring in Hong Kong and the azaleas are
gorgeous. We didn't see that many birds, but we heard them and we
never found this mynah-like bird with the black collar in the Chinese
(or Australian) bird book.
|
|
|
At around noon we walked to the subway
station and bought our tickets.
Very neat and orderly... There are glass walls with doors that open
automatically with the train doors to keep people from falling onto
the tracks. A couple of old men played
beautiful Oriental music on a modern xylophone and an old type of
string instrument.
Dean had researched the places to visit and we had a commercialized
map of the city and its New Territories that have been settled more
recently. So we were off... About $7 each for our tickets. We
start at the "A". Our first stop was under the harbor to
Hong Kong Island to Victoria Park ("B"), a garden famous
for its events and the large number of Tai Chi participants. Today there's a flower show, but since it was
raining, not much is happening.
We found some cover under a tent, rechecked our
map for the next stop, and waited along with whole families for the
rain to dissipate. The stone walkway had warning signs to use it
(apparently without shoes) only if you could do so without
pain--beautiful none-the-less.
|
|
We then traveled back under the
harbor and made a couple of transfers and rode north to the
New Territories ("C") to see The Fanling Temple. Being a
Sunday, it was crowded with families honoring their ancestors. We're
not sure what the Buddhists' practices are, but the temple was
beautiful and we tried not to offend people as they worshiped. The
odor of sandalwood incense and other smoke filled the air. 
|
|
|
|
|
By the time we walked over to the park, there was a session well under
way. When there was a break in the music and routine, Cathy, our Tai Chi
master (with white pants below) asked for permission for us to join them.
 
We visited with the locals. This man took me under his
wing and showed me their warm-up routines. We worked out with them
for about an hour--they weren't finished at this point, but most of
us left to go back to the ship (a twenty minute walk) for breakfast and to
get on with our day. Fun and a great work out. We saw no young people
participating either here or in any of the other parks.
|
|
Then it was back to the train for us... More people on
the train since it's Monday. We had another park to visit, King's Park. What surprised us about this park was
its vertical nature.
|
|
There were small dead ends in the pathways where people could
practice their Tai Chi or meditation totally alone. We figured
that they needed this private space in such a busy and crowded
city.
|
|
Uniformed school boys gather at the
Big Thumb Café.
This
sewing machine company was crammed with supplies and seamstresses.
It's typical of many family business storefronts.
|
Our last stop was Stanley on the opposite side
of Hong Kong Island. The trains don't cross the island, so it was
an interesting bus ride over. Our double-decker bus offers
good views of the city.
Many small markets dot the cityscape.
Cemeteries are compact--no large lawns here. Above is the gate and
below is a view of the family plots all jammed together on a steep
slope. People with black umbrellas work on theirs plots.
|
|
More high rises on the water and some famous beaches are on the far
side of Hong Kong Island.
|
|
Stanley is a world away from the city and has served
as a respite from the HK hubbub.
Stanley Market consists of a warren of
booths. It's quite famous, but we are not terribly
impressed. We heard a tour leader for one of the organized trips
giving her participants only 40 minutes here. We were in and out
way before then and that included a pretty good walk along the
waterfront where you can purchase "An All-American Breakfast
All Day Long!" We smiled at the aggressive greeters and
walked on by. Coming to Hong Kong for an American breakfast wasn't
on our list.
|
|
 
 
|
|
 
There was another stop on the way out here with many sanpans
where people live out there whole lives on these covered boats, but we
didn't have time to stop. Only one
here. A small Buddhist Temple adorned one end of the waterfront area.
 And
so we take the bus back to the port area and I came back out with my
computer into the very high-end shopping mall that serves as our
terminal. I spent a couple of hours checking email, Facebook and
uploading trek pages. There's never enough time after sightseeing for
Internet, even though I pre-build all these pages on sea days. All
aboard is 3:30pm.
<< A
Shirley Temple store exemplifies the over-the-top high-end consumerism
in the terminal mall, Harbor City. Dean's
Log: Days 65 - 67
|
