Hawaii
Akaka Falls
Jul 9, 2010
Museums!
Liechtenstein may be little, but apparently it has some super museums. Various sites report that the art museum is first class and the national museum is also very good. But besides that there is a Ski Museum, a Postage Stamp Museum and a Museum of Calculators. Can't miss the calculator museum! But possibly the best of all is the rumored existence of the False Teeth Museum!
Dr. TH Steele, a math professor who has been to Liechstenstein, claims there is actually a false teeth museum. I can't find it on the internet, but what IS true for sure is that Liechstenstein is a MAJOR exporter of false teeth, sending off more than 50 million each year. Who would have guessed?
Jul 5, 2010
Liechtenstein
We've gone from the enormity of China to the tiny country of Liechstenstein. Really tiny---the whole country is only 15 miles long and the width is much less. Liechstenstein is great--we've actually been there. When Catherine was 10 Dave took a group of high school students on a 10 day trip to Germany and Liechstenstein was a stop.
Hong Kong 2013
HONG KONG 2013
I never thought I'd get to real China in my lifetime, but I did!!! My husband had to go to a conference with ISFTE (International Society for Teacher Educators) and I got to go along!! Meanwhile, my daughter is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), so I wrote up the trip in a fair amount of detail for her (and for this blog and ourselves). What follows here is my lightly edited letters to Catherine with a few of the pictures thrown in.
May 24 or 23 or 25 who knows?
HONG KONG AND TOKYO DISNEY!
We spent the next day at Hong Kong Disneyland, then flew to Tokyo and spent two days at the Disney parks there. To see details about our adventures at the happiest places in the world. Take a look at the Disneyland link on the main page of this blog.
Back Home in Utah
The Last Post from our Virtual 2010 visit to China
The thing from China that I wish Americans would adopt is the idea of community exercise in the park. I love Tai Chi--which is what the videos seem to show the most. But I've also seen ballroom dancing and Kung fu and all kinds of neat stuff.
Technically we left China at the end of June, but since the Chinese are also famous for fireworks and the 4th of July was here--we said goodbye and thanks to China with a bang. Fireworks get better every year!!
I never thought I'd get to real China in my lifetime, but I did!!! My husband had to go to a conference with ISFTE (International Society for Teacher Educators) and I got to go along!! Meanwhile, my daughter is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), so I wrote up the trip in a fair amount of detail for her (and for this blog and ourselves). What follows here is my lightly edited letters to Catherine with a few of the pictures thrown in.
May 24 or 23 or 25 who knows?
WE ARE HERE!!! We had a bit of a rough start at the airport. First we had no airplane--they told us it was because of "minor maintenance" then they canceled the flight. EEP!! They told us to get our bags from the carrousel and then go to the ticket counter to be re-routed. Daddy thought we should get the tickets first. Good call. They were able to get us on a Delta flight, but every step seemed to take ages. Then when we went to get the luggage it was surreal--nobody was around. None of the carrousels were going We found out there was some mechanical issue getting the luggage off the plane. But it all worked out fine, we got the bags at last, and dashed to the other terminal--went through security--again, and went to literally, the farthest gate, but we made the connection and got to LA on time. Kudos to American Airlines for realizing that they were truly broken and calling off the flight while there was still time to reschedule. In LA (after going through security yet again) we bought some food at ridiculous prices--no wonder they didn't label it!
It was a good flight. We were stuck in the middle, but there was still pretty good leg room and the guy next to me was very nice about letting us crawl all over him. I watched two movies, some documentaries, did a lot of cross-stitch, did pretty well sleeping for the first part. The food was very good, but it was funny--they served the first meal about 2 hours into the flight and then the second one just one hour before we landed. Why bother? It was so fun to be back in Japan, even if it was only for an hour. Japan is still backwards. We had to go upstairs. Like America, they had a flight of stairs or an escalator. But, unlike America, the escalator was going DOWN so it was no help at all. There were some gorgeous gift shops, but I refrained. The plan was to stay awake on the flight to Hong Kong. I failed miserably. But I don't think it's going to be a problem. Even though this computer says it's 9:20 a.m. I think I'm going to sleep like a baby. The flight actually got us here an hour early! No troubles getting to the hotel, other than just feeling very small in a gi-nourmous strange city. We're on the 9th floor in a very nice place and it looks like the temple is withing walking distance.
View from our hotel window.
May 25
I'm proud of us. For as lost and jet-lagged as we are, I think we did pretty well. We both woke up around 6 a.m. and figured we'd head for the temple (Mormon) since we had no idea how long it would take us to get there. The google map was pretty good. It's only about a 15 min walk, but it was POURING, We had hoped to find breakfast on the way but didn't. The temple didn't have a cafeteria either, but it did have nice people who pointed us toward the Festival Walk mall which also contains the train station. Anyway Festival Walk is the biggest mall I've ever seen. Mostly full of American stores. We orient ourselves by the Clinique set up downstairs.
We food court was on the 6th level. I might not get a chance to ride the world's longest escalator, but it won't matter. I think I've ridden more escalators today then ever before in my life! McDonald's was open, and although I hated to start a foreign trip by eating there, we really didn't want to eat anything too weird and have to go to the bathroom while we were in the middle of a session at the temple. The mall played "Call me Maybe." At the temple they gave us headphones, but there were so many people, they opened up another session in English. Even still, there were lots of people listening in other languages like Thai.
After the session, it was raining even harder. We went back to the hotel to change and take a short nap. Ooops. Nap not so short.
We food court was on the 6th level. I might not get a chance to ride the world's longest escalator, but it won't matter. I think I've ridden more escalators today then ever before in my life! McDonald's was open, and although I hated to start a foreign trip by eating there, we really didn't want to eat anything too weird and have to go to the bathroom while we were in the middle of a session at the temple. The mall played "Call me Maybe." At the temple they gave us headphones, but there were so many people, they opened up another session in English. Even still, there were lots of people listening in other languages like Thai.
After the session, it was raining even harder. We went back to the hotel to change and take a short nap. Ooops. Nap not so short.
May 28 BOUT 5:45 A.M.
I had to quit writing last night I was too tired to even see straight. I did pretty well. Slept straight through from about 10 to 5. It's raining again--by which I mean pouring with thunder and everything. Serves us right for planning to deliberately break the Sabbath. Anyway after our nap we ventured to the subway by way of the mall and food court again. This time we chose something more Chinese. Pepper Lunch! Interesting concept. They put raw meat and veggies on a sizzling hot fajita-style plate, by the time you get to your table, it's cooked. Sounds easy, but it took about 40 minutes to get our food. I can't figure out why there were so many people at the food court at 3 in the afternoon? Most of the food court food looks reasonably edible.
Onward, to the subway. The goal was to find the jade market. Not so easy! We had maps of the subway, we had the guidebook that told us about the market and generally where it was. What we didn't have was the name of which subway stop was close. We eventually narrowed it down somewhat and just took one on faith.
Hong Kong looks just like the pictures. It's a little like Las Vegas that way--so like the pictures it's hard to believe it's real.
Met a nice Chinese guy who didn't really know where the jade market was either, but thought we were in the right ball park. Signs helped too and it was an interesting walk, they were setting up for the night market--the other thing we hoped to see. The jade market was like the market in Cancun--under a big tent, and full of VERY aggressive vendors selling mostly junk.
I really hate aggressive vendors and haggling. Poor vendors, we didn't buy much. This was more Christine's scene than mine. I just don't care that much about jewelry. I much preferred the night market--same aggressive vendors, but more stuff to choose from!
I got the BEST magnet. Just black on white in both English and Chinese with this inspiring message:
Onward, to the subway. The goal was to find the jade market. Not so easy! We had maps of the subway, we had the guidebook that told us about the market and generally where it was. What we didn't have was the name of which subway stop was close. We eventually narrowed it down somewhat and just took one on faith.
Hong Kong looks just like the pictures. It's a little like Las Vegas that way--so like the pictures it's hard to believe it's real.
Met a nice Chinese guy who didn't really know where the jade market was either, but thought we were in the right ball park. Signs helped too and it was an interesting walk, they were setting up for the night market--the other thing we hoped to see. The jade market was like the market in Cancun--under a big tent, and full of VERY aggressive vendors selling mostly junk.
I really hate aggressive vendors and haggling. Poor vendors, we didn't buy much. This was more Christine's scene than mine. I just don't care that much about jewelry. I much preferred the night market--same aggressive vendors, but more stuff to choose from!I got the BEST magnet. Just black on white in both English and Chinese with this inspiring message:
YOU STRONG LIKE RAMBO LOOK LIKE HERO
BUT YOUR BRAIN JUST LIKE POTATO
On the street corners were lots of real Chinese food restaurants. These are mostly NOT edible.
Happily, we were still full from our late lunch, so we passed on the tofu with pig intestines and the veggies cooked in pigs blood. There were big tubs of the day's catch--sea cucumber anyone? in front of a lot of the stalls. We settled for an ice-cream cone. We didn't get too much--like Cancun, after awhile all the stalls look the same. Daddy got a Tommy Hilfinger knock off shirt, and I got a set of pretty pens--I'll send you a couple. We found a bookstore, and also the public library. Took a look at the library---much like ours only with a sort of greyhound bus feeling to it. It was conveniently located near the street vendors selling pornographic stuff, great for the kids. Thanks to Daddy, we found our way back to the station and discovered a grocery store in the bottom of the mall. I was excited about this! It's a great way to really get a feel for the culture. It didn't seem as weird to me as a Japanese grocery store--I felt like I could actually buy food and make a meal if I needed to. We got some buns and bananas for a snack, and walked very tiredly home.
Next Morning: Today's goal is to find the way to the Star Ferry so we can take a "Big Bus" tour around the main island. We have to be back and presentable by 6:15 so the conference can take us to dinner. Which means we have to leave the tour super early to account for getting lost and being dumb tourists in general. I'll let you know how it goes.
Happily, we were still full from our late lunch, so we passed on the tofu with pig intestines and the veggies cooked in pigs blood. There were big tubs of the day's catch--sea cucumber anyone? in front of a lot of the stalls. We settled for an ice-cream cone. We didn't get too much--like Cancun, after awhile all the stalls look the same. Daddy got a Tommy Hilfinger knock off shirt, and I got a set of pretty pens--I'll send you a couple. We found a bookstore, and also the public library. Took a look at the library---much like ours only with a sort of greyhound bus feeling to it. It was conveniently located near the street vendors selling pornographic stuff, great for the kids. Thanks to Daddy, we found our way back to the station and discovered a grocery store in the bottom of the mall. I was excited about this! It's a great way to really get a feel for the culture. It didn't seem as weird to me as a Japanese grocery store--I felt like I could actually buy food and make a meal if I needed to. We got some buns and bananas for a snack, and walked very tiredly home.
Next Morning: Today's goal is to find the way to the Star Ferry so we can take a "Big Bus" tour around the main island. We have to be back and presentable by 6:15 so the conference can take us to dinner. Which means we have to leave the tour super early to account for getting lost and being dumb tourists in general. I'll let you know how it goes.
Next day. We had the opening dinner. It wasn't a dinner. It was a banquet--and not just any old banquet--it was the sort that Cantonese people might have for a wedding. TWELVE courses plus dessert. It was mostly seafood, but even so, I liked most of it. My favorite, was the fried milk curd. Worst was the abalone--shame that, nobody really liked that and it's a major delicacy and a compliment to be served it. It wasn't that it tasted so bad, it was just really slippery. The poor waitresses couldn't quite get that we didn't want tea. Everyone was served orange juice, which is fine, but I was massively dehydrated and I just can't drink a lot of OJ at one time, so I asked for water. They brought it to me piping hot--and I was thirsty enough to drink it. They must have thought that Americans are insane. I saw the other table had ice, so the next time I asked for lots of ice please. They obliged. Boiling hot water with ice for me.
Today, Daddy has to work. I'm told I'm going to ocean park, which is like sea world.
Our first stop was the mid-town escalators!! I got to see them after all. This is the longest escalator ride in the world. I didn't realize that Hong Kong was so hilly and so steep. We got off the bus, but didn't see the escalators right away---and were helped by a super nice guy. We have been helped by at least 5 different people, who didn't just point the way, but actually stopped and took us there. The entrance isn't obvious, but they are very popular, because there are shops and restaurants the whole way up. It wasn't just one escalator, but a series--I lost count of how many, but they never seemed to quit. I absolutely loved it; it's such a weird, quirky little thing, but really, it's difficult to think of a better way to get around.
Even not counting this, I've ridden more escalators in the last two days than I have in my entire life put together. Unfortunately for my knees, the escalators only went up. We had to take the stairs back down. We had a bit of a wait for the bus then, and I got to explore this tiny narrow alley way that had a farmer's market going on. I wish I could have bought some fruit and flowers and maybe even some tofu---one lady was selling it off of a giant slab, so if you needed two or three feet of tofu you could have it.
The next stop for us, was the Man Mo Temple--built in the 1800's it's one of the oldest Taoist temples in the area. This was a little disappointing--just small, and without any explanations for anything. But there were some interesting things to look at,
and I had my fortune told. Huh. 2013 is not going to be particuarly good or bad. When I get home I will be busy. Sometimes I am tired, because I am busy, busy all the time. Brother. That's what I get for having my fortune told on a Sunday from somebody who didn't even bother to dress the part.
We took the bus back to the beginning, and began the quest for lunch. Not so easy. Eventually, we went all the way back into the harbor buildings and bought chips at a Subways, and had a hotdog from a different place. Quite a decent Chicago dog. Here's one secret to Asian skinniness--they don't add anything to their lunches. You have a hotdog and that's all. Or a burger and that's all. We ate outside looking at the harbor. We had to leave fairly early, because we had to be back for the welcome dinner, but Daddy wanted to take one of the skinny double decker trollies that are everywhere. This took some walking and yet another friendly helper, but we did ride the trolley. It reminded me a lot of the night bus from Harry Potter.
We got off on Peddler street, which has huge very fancy stores of every designer you can think of--Prada, Armani etc.
We didn't go into any of these, we were so sweaty and gross, plus we don't have millions to spend. On the way back, we came across a street festival--just some people singing and dancing on a stage, and lots of people in the park and someone selling balloons. All over the place--not just at the festival, were people sitting on cardboard boxes on the ground just talking. They didn't look homeless or anything. I finally asked one what they were doing. I was told it was a holiday. "What holiday?" "A day off--we don't have to work today." Okay. I guess if you live in a tiny apartment, you get out any way that you can.
One of the conference attendees is from here, and told us about how small the apartments are. If you have any kind of view of the harbor at all the price sky rockets. We asked if she had a view? She told us she was lucky if she looked out her window and didn't see her neighbor looking back. She says she can watch the tv's of many people from her room.
Something I didn't expect was the laundry. We saw this sight everywhere.
What I didn't see were people on bikes (I understood this once I saw the traffic), or people flying kites.
We are getting faster at the subway. We made it back to take showers--one of the top 10 experiences of my life that shower!!, and then went to dinner.
My goodness!!! That dinner was a mighty step up from our hotdog lunch. The conference took us to a very nice restaurant near the harbor and served us a TWELVE course dinner. I tried to remember everything this morning, but I'm still missing a few courses. There was a big lazy susan on each table and we all helped ourselves as the dishes came out. Each course was only a couple of spoonfuls, so it wasn't as much of a crazy glutton fest as you might imagine, but still! Here's what I remember of what we had:
Appetizer of braised beef, bbq pork, duck and chicken
One poor guy at our table was allergic to seafood, so you can imagine he had a hard time. For someone who doesn't really like seafood, I really enjoyed this. The restaurant was beautiful, and everything was beautifully presented. Plus it was ok to literally just take one bite of the different things, so it was a great way to taste a lot of stuff I normally wouldn't have touched. I draw the line at the sea cucumbers though. I saw a heap of dried ones for sale on the street, and I don't imagine they look any better cooked.
May 27 at 5 a.m.
Sabrina kept asking me what I wanted for lunch. I told her anything fast food-ish because our time was limited and I wanted to see as much as possible. By this time we were both pretty tired out from the heat and I was drenched with sweat. The difference was that I didn't care. Sabrina was obviously dying and began to say she wanted air-conditioning. Obviously any sit down air-conditioned place in a theme park is going to cost a fortune, but I wasn't seeing any fast foody places and I was hot too, so we wound up at Tuxedos. Super cute!! It was called tuxedos because we got to see the penguins while we ate. I love penguins!
The food was good too. I had a hawaiian pizza. And that's all. No salad, no bread sticks. Just the pizza and a nice glass of warm water. I told Sabrina that this was a difference in our cultures, in America water is served cold with ice. She said, "Ah, so the Chinese way is better?" Ah, no. After this we saw the north and south pole exhibits which were freezing!! We also happened to catch the sea-lion show. This is the world's most boring sea-lion show. The sea lions came out of the water and lay there like blobs (but cute blobs) while the trainers told us about them in English and Chinese. Sometimes the host asked the audience questions--like, do you the think the water is more or less than 20 degrees C? I thought all this was a sort of warm up, but then the show suddenly ended and the seals were allowed to flop back ino the water. After this we attempted to find the rainforest area--that wasn't easy. We eventually stumbled on it by accident. There wasn't an exhibit here (I think), but there was a river rapid ride with only a 10 minute wait. Sabrina was brave and did it with me! I don't think she'd ever done anything like that. It was fairly mellow, but cool theming. The funny thing was that while we were waiting, I saw a lady open an umbrella during her ride. And somebody on our raft used her umbrella too. So cute, everyone in our raft was very vocal and screamed over the littlest drops. It was fun.
Here's a snack I skipped
After that I saw the "Tower" ride. I was going to ride this Sabrina or not---it was a slow scenic viewing ride that went up a tall tower and rotated slowly so you could see the ocean and hills and everything. It took some doing to find it, but we both rode! Sabrina said this was ok because it was slow and totally enclosed. I hope she liked it, because the view was truly stupendous. After this, I thought we just had time for the mine train ride. This was in yet a different section that had to be accessed by escalators. Poor Sabrina! I knew she wouldn't do the ride, but I had no idea she was scared of escalators too! Going down was ok, but going up really scared her. I stood in front of her to give her protection. In Hong Kong everyone races for the front seat on a roller coaster for the best view---silly, because it was themed to look like a train and the engine blocked the view, so I got the last car no problem. We would have just had time to get to the meeting place on time, but while I was on the mine ride, the park suddenly became infested with about a million more people! I asked Sabrina mostly rhetorically, "Where did all these people come from?" She responded in total seriousness, "Mainland China!" We were late back to the bus, but since the driver was also 10 minutes late, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Back at the hotel, I just had time to shower before dinner. (Time or no time I would have showered, I was completely gross). Dinner was served in the admin building, and MC'd by "Jackie Chan" the head guide.
They arranged entertainment for us. First were some kids from a middle school playing a string quartet--they gave us some Bach and Mozart and were outstanding. Then there was a violin solo, and a piano solo both classical and both amazing quality and difficulty. These kids were GOOD. Then, from a different school we got a Lion Dance (like a Chinese dragon), this was terrific and accompanied by traditional Chinese music on drums and chimes etc.
I approved of dinner too. Lots of American-style Chinese food. Really delicious.
Then the six of us were off to a new adventure--or new purgatory if you're Sabrina with a phobia. Poor girl!!! I wonder if she realized what she was signing up for. We drove to Lantau island and then took a cable car to Ngong Ping Village. This was a hundred times worse than the little cable car ride at Ocean park--THIS cable car meant business--very high up and it went for FOUR miles!
It took about half an hour and the scenery was just spectacular--I loved it. Sabrina toughed it out and came with us. I think she's the bravest person I've ever met. There were loads of monks with shaved heads and orange robes. Apparently the monks don't take a vow of poverty--lots of them had expensive cameras.
The village itself was a disappointment, it wasn't a village at all--just restaurants and souvenir shops.
I wonder how far you have to travel to escape from fast food?
Cool doors though.
But it did have the official tree under which the original Buddha supposedly sat and received enlightenment. I don't know if I received any enlightenment, but I was certainly purified. Boiling hot and humid day. There were no toxins left in my body.
My Dad, the linguist, has this to say about the Spam: I loved the picture of Spam, because I could read some of the English words written in Korean (not Chinese) letters, almost like katakana. The main one says "lan-chan-mi-i-tto-o," i.e., "luncheon meat." I wasn't able to figure anything out on the picture of Korean squid, though.
Monday night. Another fluid draining day. I now weigh my ideal weight of 130 pounds. I have sweated the rest off. First off, this hotel is kind of funny. It's a hotel, but it's also part of the Hong Kong Baptist university and it's here specifically to put up guests. So it looks and feels like a hotel, but there is no room service--so for the first two days we had to walk about a mile or so to get breakfast. and you have to tap in and out of the hotel with a room key. The room is fine--if you want hot water you have to turn on the water heater, and the beds have wonderful federdekken. The mattresses--uhhh promote good posture and early rising. We're on the 9th floor and have a view. The biggest blessing is the shower with wonderful pressure, and a first class air conditioner.
The beds, otherwise known as the platforms.
So---starting with yesterday. We got up and hiked the mile or so to breakfast. This time we went to the more Chinese looking place. I ordered a dish that was acceptable because it had scrambled eggs. THEN I was informed that they could not make scrambled--is sunny side up ok? Why sunny side would be easier I don't know, but that's what I got. I hate sunny side up eggs--liquid yolks, yuck. Plus, I nice hot cup of water. BTW--I found out why the food court was so crowded when we went there at 3 the other day. It's time for afternoon tea.
Anyway, the goal was to take a bus tour of the city--so the first step was to get to the harbor and buy the ticket. There was a GIANT rubber ducky in the harbor. GIANT as in two or three stories high.
Plus, there were a lot of "little" ducks on the sidewalk for people to take pictures with. I asked about this--the ducks are made by a Dutch artist and are on a world tour to promote happiness. Worked for me!!! We bought you a tiny commemorative duckie to use on your mission. We were told then to take the ferry to the other side--we're actually staying in Kowloon, Hong Kong proper is on an island. These ferries run all the time and the view around the harbor is spectacular with skyscrapers everywhere.
On the ferry
After some floudering around we decided to take the Big Bus Tour. It made about 9 stops and we could choose if we wanted to get off and look around or not. There were only two places we really wanted to get off, but it was so cool to hear the commentary about everything else. We saw the "Golden Behuninin" for example. We never would have seen that otherwise. It's the big golden statue of a rose like thing to commemorate the day that the British gave Hong Kong back to the Chinese.
The bus commentary also told us about the cursing ladies. This fact alone was worth the price of the tour. These ladies tend to congregate under the overpass and if there is someone in your life that you need to curse, they can help you. They have little paper people, you tell them some stuff about the person you're mad at, and they will write it on the paper person. Then they take a shoe and whack the paper person, and then they burn the paper. You can do short term or long term cursings, and if you need more than one person cursed, they will give you a volume discount.
About my favorite thing in any foreign country are the things that aren't famous, but are just different than what you'd see here. Like this:
So---starting with yesterday. We got up and hiked the mile or so to breakfast. This time we went to the more Chinese looking place. I ordered a dish that was acceptable because it had scrambled eggs. THEN I was informed that they could not make scrambled--is sunny side up ok? Why sunny side would be easier I don't know, but that's what I got. I hate sunny side up eggs--liquid yolks, yuck. Plus, I nice hot cup of water. BTW--I found out why the food court was so crowded when we went there at 3 the other day. It's time for afternoon tea.
Anyway, the goal was to take a bus tour of the city--so the first step was to get to the harbor and buy the ticket. There was a GIANT rubber ducky in the harbor. GIANT as in two or three stories high.
Plus, there were a lot of "little" ducks on the sidewalk for people to take pictures with. I asked about this--the ducks are made by a Dutch artist and are on a world tour to promote happiness. Worked for me!!! We bought you a tiny commemorative duckie to use on your mission. We were told then to take the ferry to the other side--we're actually staying in Kowloon, Hong Kong proper is on an island. These ferries run all the time and the view around the harbor is spectacular with skyscrapers everywhere.
On the ferry
After some floudering around we decided to take the Big Bus Tour. It made about 9 stops and we could choose if we wanted to get off and look around or not. There were only two places we really wanted to get off, but it was so cool to hear the commentary about everything else. We saw the "Golden Behuninin" for example. We never would have seen that otherwise. It's the big golden statue of a rose like thing to commemorate the day that the British gave Hong Kong back to the Chinese.
The bus commentary also told us about the cursing ladies. This fact alone was worth the price of the tour. These ladies tend to congregate under the overpass and if there is someone in your life that you need to curse, they can help you. They have little paper people, you tell them some stuff about the person you're mad at, and they will write it on the paper person. Then they take a shoe and whack the paper person, and then they burn the paper. You can do short term or long term cursings, and if you need more than one person cursed, they will give you a volume discount.
About my favorite thing in any foreign country are the things that aren't famous, but are just different than what you'd see here. Like this:
Our first stop was the mid-town escalators!! I got to see them after all. This is the longest escalator ride in the world. I didn't realize that Hong Kong was so hilly and so steep. We got off the bus, but didn't see the escalators right away---and were helped by a super nice guy. We have been helped by at least 5 different people, who didn't just point the way, but actually stopped and took us there. The entrance isn't obvious, but they are very popular, because there are shops and restaurants the whole way up. It wasn't just one escalator, but a series--I lost count of how many, but they never seemed to quit. I absolutely loved it; it's such a weird, quirky little thing, but really, it's difficult to think of a better way to get around.
Even not counting this, I've ridden more escalators in the last two days than I have in my entire life put together. Unfortunately for my knees, the escalators only went up. We had to take the stairs back down. We had a bit of a wait for the bus then, and I got to explore this tiny narrow alley way that had a farmer's market going on. I wish I could have bought some fruit and flowers and maybe even some tofu---one lady was selling it off of a giant slab, so if you needed two or three feet of tofu you could have it.
The next stop for us, was the Man Mo Temple--built in the 1800's it's one of the oldest Taoist temples in the area. This was a little disappointing--just small, and without any explanations for anything. But there were some interesting things to look at,
and I had my fortune told. Huh. 2013 is not going to be particuarly good or bad. When I get home I will be busy. Sometimes I am tired, because I am busy, busy all the time. Brother. That's what I get for having my fortune told on a Sunday from somebody who didn't even bother to dress the part.
We took the bus back to the beginning, and began the quest for lunch. Not so easy. Eventually, we went all the way back into the harbor buildings and bought chips at a Subways, and had a hotdog from a different place. Quite a decent Chicago dog. Here's one secret to Asian skinniness--they don't add anything to their lunches. You have a hotdog and that's all. Or a burger and that's all. We ate outside looking at the harbor. We had to leave fairly early, because we had to be back for the welcome dinner, but Daddy wanted to take one of the skinny double decker trollies that are everywhere. This took some walking and yet another friendly helper, but we did ride the trolley. It reminded me a lot of the night bus from Harry Potter.
We got off on Peddler street, which has huge very fancy stores of every designer you can think of--Prada, Armani etc.
We didn't go into any of these, we were so sweaty and gross, plus we don't have millions to spend. On the way back, we came across a street festival--just some people singing and dancing on a stage, and lots of people in the park and someone selling balloons. All over the place--not just at the festival, were people sitting on cardboard boxes on the ground just talking. They didn't look homeless or anything. I finally asked one what they were doing. I was told it was a holiday. "What holiday?" "A day off--we don't have to work today." Okay. I guess if you live in a tiny apartment, you get out any way that you can.
One of the conference attendees is from here, and told us about how small the apartments are. If you have any kind of view of the harbor at all the price sky rockets. We asked if she had a view? She told us she was lucky if she looked out her window and didn't see her neighbor looking back. She says she can watch the tv's of many people from her room.
Something I didn't expect was the laundry. We saw this sight everywhere.
What I didn't see were people on bikes (I understood this once I saw the traffic), or people flying kites.
We are getting faster at the subway. We made it back to take showers--one of the top 10 experiences of my life that shower!!, and then went to dinner.
My goodness!!! That dinner was a mighty step up from our hotdog lunch. The conference took us to a very nice restaurant near the harbor and served us a TWELVE course dinner. I tried to remember everything this morning, but I'm still missing a few courses. There was a big lazy susan on each table and we all helped ourselves as the dishes came out. Each course was only a couple of spoonfuls, so it wasn't as much of a crazy glutton fest as you might imagine, but still! Here's what I remember of what we had:
Appetizer of braised beef, bbq pork, duck and chicken
Broccoli and fish
Some kind of sprout (chinese spinach)--really good, with clam sauce.
chicken and clams over a cabbagy kind of veggie
Fried milk curd (my favorite) and shrimp balls
crab soup.
abalone
Fresh grouper--served with head and tail attached!!! Actually delicious, but gross just the same. They did this in Japan too, to prove how fresh the fish is. I'm more than willing to have the chef spend 5 seconds to take the head off and I promise to believe that the fish is fresh. I learned that the cheek of the fish is the best part. I'll take their word for it.
Fried chicken--normal looking except for the FRIED CHICKEN HEAD that came with it.
Someone in our table put this slice of red pepper in it's beak just to add to the festive look.
Someone in our table put this slice of red pepper in it's beak just to add to the festive look.
Rice and noodles
Dessert--in Cantonese cooking, dessert is always soup. In this case a coconut soup with some kind of sweet bean that made the soup purple.
One poor guy at our table was allergic to seafood, so you can imagine he had a hard time. For someone who doesn't really like seafood, I really enjoyed this. The restaurant was beautiful, and everything was beautifully presented. Plus it was ok to literally just take one bite of the different things, so it was a great way to taste a lot of stuff I normally wouldn't have touched. I draw the line at the sea cucumbers though. I saw a heap of dried ones for sale on the street, and I don't imagine they look any better cooked.
May 27 at 5 a.m.
I am forever in Penne's debt. For some bizarre reason I didn't bring any hair ties on this trip. The void (my special bag) ALWAYS produces hair ties for me, but not this time. I brought a curling iron, but it is totally useless. After 10 minutes outside, my hair looks like I just got out of the shower. Penne has given me a hair tie so today at least my hair will be off my neck. I don't feel as guilty telling you what I did yesterday since Daddy didn't get to do this stuff either. Now that the conference has officially started we get breakfast. Sunny side up eggs again, with toast (really good toast though), a small side of baked beans and hot chocolate. Daddy had a bowl of watery pasta with ham slivers. After breakfast and registration, we went our separate ways. There are only 6 guests of the conference, but we've been assigned two guides--Felicia, who is young and pretty and a total cutie, and Sabrina who is a little older and more old-ladyish. We got on a bus that took us to Repulse Bay. It's called that because the bay used to be infested with pirates until the British Fleet "repulsed" them. Pretty, like most beaches, but there were some really cool things to honor the gods that protect the harbor. Much more impressive than Man Mo temple. . There were the two giant gods, lots of little ones, (if you touched a certain one of these, you would become pregnant--I did not touch), and lots of statues of lions and dragons and camels. Most important though was the "longevity bridge" Each time you cross this bridge you add three days to your life.
Longevity Bridge
I went across several times to make up for the two months that I'm older than Daddy. We only spent 1/2 hour here, and then we went to Ocean Park. This made Felicia super excited. Ocean Park is 1/2 sea-life and animal exhibits, and 1/2 amusement park. The cool thing is that it's built on one of the steep hills around here, so 1/2 the park is at the bottom and you have to take a cable car or train to get to the top half.
We only got to stay till 4:30, but it was so hot and humid , that it was enough. We all went out separate ways--Sabrina, the young guide went with Eli, Melina's son who is about your age and wanted to ride rides. Even though I like rides, I wanted to see all the fish since that's rarer for me than roller coasters. Sabrina decided to attach herself to me. I tried to get rid of her at the first, but in the end decided to just enjoy my private Chinese guide.
Felicia on the left, Sabrina on the right
Her English is pretty good. Her only problem is that she is terrified of heights and has an even worse sense of direction than I do. Oh well, I wanted to see the fish anyway. There were some basic cool aquariums, and then we got to see the giant Pandas!!! I had no idea that this is where they were! I got to see giant Panda's in China! How cool is that???
Felicia on the left, Sabrina on the right
Her English is pretty good. Her only problem is that she is terrified of heights and has an even worse sense of direction than I do. Oh well, I wanted to see the fish anyway. There were some basic cool aquariums, and then we got to see the giant Pandas!!! I had no idea that this is where they were! I got to see giant Panda's in China! How cool is that???
There were otters too, so I was very happy animal-wise. Then we went to the "old Hong Kong" section. From what I could tell it looked exactly like modern Hong Kong, and it was mostly arcade games anyway. Sabrina told me it was old like 1950's. Whatever. By this time we both wanted lunch and it sounded like most of the food places were up top. Sabrina told me she thought she could do the cable car, I told her I was willing to do the train. (This isn't quite as generous as it sounds--we're going somewhere today that has cable cars going up the mountain). We took a look at the cable car line--and simultaneously decided to take the train--Sabrina because she chickened out, me because the line was 45 min in the sun, and some basic mercy for Sabrina. The train was so cute!!! Yay for the fear of heights--I would have toughed out that line had I been on my own. It was called the Ocean express and was themed to be a captain Nemo like submarine. Once on the train, "hatches" opened on the top so we could view the sea life. Pretty fishes and scenery, and a giant octopus with a big eye-ball that attacked the train and cracked the glass. Hilarious! And there were a couple of different scenarios--on one trip we took there was a group of kindergarteners--this time there was an exploding volcano. The kids ooooo'd and ahhhed and shrieked with great gusto. They were the best part of the show.
Sabrina kept asking me what I wanted for lunch. I told her anything fast food-ish because our time was limited and I wanted to see as much as possible. By this time we were both pretty tired out from the heat and I was drenched with sweat. The difference was that I didn't care. Sabrina was obviously dying and began to say she wanted air-conditioning. Obviously any sit down air-conditioned place in a theme park is going to cost a fortune, but I wasn't seeing any fast foody places and I was hot too, so we wound up at Tuxedos. Super cute!! It was called tuxedos because we got to see the penguins while we ate. I love penguins!
The food was good too. I had a hawaiian pizza. And that's all. No salad, no bread sticks. Just the pizza and a nice glass of warm water. I told Sabrina that this was a difference in our cultures, in America water is served cold with ice. She said, "Ah, so the Chinese way is better?" Ah, no. After this we saw the north and south pole exhibits which were freezing!! We also happened to catch the sea-lion show. This is the world's most boring sea-lion show. The sea lions came out of the water and lay there like blobs (but cute blobs) while the trainers told us about them in English and Chinese. Sometimes the host asked the audience questions--like, do you the think the water is more or less than 20 degrees C? I thought all this was a sort of warm up, but then the show suddenly ended and the seals were allowed to flop back ino the water. After this we attempted to find the rainforest area--that wasn't easy. We eventually stumbled on it by accident. There wasn't an exhibit here (I think), but there was a river rapid ride with only a 10 minute wait. Sabrina was brave and did it with me! I don't think she'd ever done anything like that. It was fairly mellow, but cool theming. The funny thing was that while we were waiting, I saw a lady open an umbrella during her ride. And somebody on our raft used her umbrella too. So cute, everyone in our raft was very vocal and screamed over the littlest drops. It was fun.
Here's a snack I skipped
After that I saw the "Tower" ride. I was going to ride this Sabrina or not---it was a slow scenic viewing ride that went up a tall tower and rotated slowly so you could see the ocean and hills and everything. It took some doing to find it, but we both rode! Sabrina said this was ok because it was slow and totally enclosed. I hope she liked it, because the view was truly stupendous. After this, I thought we just had time for the mine train ride. This was in yet a different section that had to be accessed by escalators. Poor Sabrina! I knew she wouldn't do the ride, but I had no idea she was scared of escalators too! Going down was ok, but going up really scared her. I stood in front of her to give her protection. In Hong Kong everyone races for the front seat on a roller coaster for the best view---silly, because it was themed to look like a train and the engine blocked the view, so I got the last car no problem. We would have just had time to get to the meeting place on time, but while I was on the mine ride, the park suddenly became infested with about a million more people! I asked Sabrina mostly rhetorically, "Where did all these people come from?" She responded in total seriousness, "Mainland China!" We were late back to the bus, but since the driver was also 10 minutes late, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Back at the hotel, I just had time to shower before dinner. (Time or no time I would have showered, I was completely gross). Dinner was served in the admin building, and MC'd by "Jackie Chan" the head guide.
They arranged entertainment for us. First were some kids from a middle school playing a string quartet--they gave us some Bach and Mozart and were outstanding. Then there was a violin solo, and a piano solo both classical and both amazing quality and difficulty. These kids were GOOD. Then, from a different school we got a Lion Dance (like a Chinese dragon), this was terrific and accompanied by traditional Chinese music on drums and chimes etc.
I approved of dinner too. Lots of American-style Chinese food. Really delicious.
I'd better wrap up for the morning. Daddy wants to see if he got a letter from you too, and I need to do my hair with the hair tie. Yay!! More adventures tomorrow!!
Tuesday. Breakfast was again a choice of sunny side up eggs with Texas toast and a tiny portion of baked beans. OR a big bowl of watery pasta with ham slivers and an egg, OR a big bowl of a tomatoey watery pasta with beef and an egg. To drink was "chocolate" which meant hot Ovaltine. I'd never had ovaltine before, and will probably never willingly seek it out again.
Tuesday. Breakfast was again a choice of sunny side up eggs with Texas toast and a tiny portion of baked beans. OR a big bowl of watery pasta with ham slivers and an egg, OR a big bowl of a tomatoey watery pasta with beef and an egg. To drink was "chocolate" which meant hot Ovaltine. I'd never had ovaltine before, and will probably never willingly seek it out again.
Then the six of us were off to a new adventure--or new purgatory if you're Sabrina with a phobia. Poor girl!!! I wonder if she realized what she was signing up for. We drove to Lantau island and then took a cable car to Ngong Ping Village. This was a hundred times worse than the little cable car ride at Ocean park--THIS cable car meant business--very high up and it went for FOUR miles!
It took about half an hour and the scenery was just spectacular--I loved it. Sabrina toughed it out and came with us. I think she's the bravest person I've ever met. There were loads of monks with shaved heads and orange robes. Apparently the monks don't take a vow of poverty--lots of them had expensive cameras.
The village itself was a disappointment, it wasn't a village at all--just restaurants and souvenir shops.
I wonder how far you have to travel to escape from fast food?
Cool doors though.
But it did have the official tree under which the original Buddha supposedly sat and received enlightenment. I don't know if I received any enlightenment, but I was certainly purified. Boiling hot and humid day. There were no toxins left in my body.
We didn't have enough time to explore the village before we had to meet for lunch. We ate in the village at a Chinese tea-house which looked exactly like an American Chinese restaurant. Sabrina ordered Dim Sum for us. Again, wow! They did not stint one bit on the food. These meals must have cost a fortune. We had about 10 different kinds of main dish things and then about 4 different dessert things. Still lots of fish stuff, but some other things that I liked too. The Chinese do not do chocolate much. Desserts are usually some form of jello or pudding. After lunch it was time to see the Tian Tan Buddha. Alas for Sabrina, this was another form of UP. A very long flight of very steep stairs.
The fog rolled in and then the rain and wind. Buddha was a large mysterious shadowy figure. Which just goes to show that enlightenment doesn't come easy. :)
We got to the top and still couldn't see any better. We were scheduled to spend an hour and a half up there. We took a lap around Buddha--that took about a minute. And then a lap around the inside to get out of the rain--that took about 3 minutes--there were just a few small souvenir shops I had bought a ticket to see the museum inside the Buddha which included a free ice-cream at the end. That took about 5 minutes--there was a large carved skinny Buddha, then up the stairs around Buddha to see a big bell and one display of sacred relics (which looked the same to me as relics that weren't sacred). I got my ice-cream (much better than the "museum") and joined the group who were all huddled under umbrellas. Every now and then the fog would lift just a bit and we could almost see the scenery and Buddha, but then it would settle back down again thicker than ever. We decided that 90 minutes was a bit much up there and to go back down and see the Po Ling Monastery which was in the grounds below. This meant going back down the steep steps--luckily they weren't slippery, but I caught Sabrina part way down terrified that she was going to fall. I gave her my arm and got her down to the bottom in one piece. She kept apologizing for being "so timid." Timid nothing!
The monastery was under construction, covered with scaffolding.
But the rain stopped and we could now see Buddha from time to time. We were all hot and tired, but there were some nice flowers and some random carvings and minor Dieties. Sabrina suggested that we all get a snack. We were all still stuffed from lunch and overheated and none of us wanted a snack. This did NOT compute with Sabrina. There was money for a snack! We should all go get a snack! We heard about the snack for the next hour. We suggested that SHE could get a snack, "oh no! I don't want one. But you should get a snack--there's money....." Eventually we wandered back to the cable cars and went back down the mountains in the fog. Even in the fog it was a cool ride--everything looked wispy and mysterious. At the bottom we were scheduled to visit the Citygate outlet mall.
I must say, the shopping was the big disappointment of this trip. They kept taking us to American style malls--we were all American or Canadian and had no use for these malls. We all wanted to go to the Chinese street markets. But the guides couldn't really change the itinerary much--so we all marched off to the Citygate outlet for the prescribed 35 minutes. There were sales, but it worked out to be things like 2 shirts for 25 dollars. Not that great. I got you a little something that's not even remotely Chinese, but you'll like it. I think I was the only one who bought anything. I'm glad the others didn't buy clothes either. It makes me feel like I didn't miss a bunch of great bargains. I did however, find this great Hello Kitty purse made entirely out of Swarovski crystal. I took this picture to annoy Daddy.
The meeting place happened to be next to a bar. Many in the group expressed the sentiment that THERE was a snack they could get enthusiastic about. They told this to Sabrina, her face was priceless when she realized they were referring to a bar. "Oh! You are joking with me!" (I don't think they were). But we allowed ourselves to be herded back on the bus. We were driven to the Harmony Campus--not far from the main campus where we were staying, to meet the others for dinner. We were early and found seats in the shade. I think we would have all been happy to remain seated there until our dying day, but the guides felt bad that it was so hot. So they led us to the library which had AC but no seating. Then they found out that we were supposed to meet the others at the original campus for a group picture. Oh yay. We had only taken about 20 group pictures so far. It wasn't all that far of a walk, but anything felt far in that heat. Back to campus, group pic. They we were all marched back to the Harmony Campus for dinner. Which at least took us past this cool Bonsai Tree park.
It was the only dinner we had that wasn't over the top extravagant. There was actually a salad and a roll! Then either hot pasta or hot beef and rice. Plentiful and good, but not at all what I wanted. I just wanted some cold water and maybe some fruit. Anyway, there was nothing planned for the evening so it was the perfect time to go downtown to the harbor and see the light show. I was beat, but I wasn't about to miss the show.
It was the only dinner we had that wasn't over the top extravagant. There was actually a salad and a roll! Then either hot pasta or hot beef and rice. Plentiful and good, but not at all what I wanted. I just wanted some cold water and maybe some fruit. Anyway, there was nothing planned for the evening so it was the perfect time to go downtown to the harbor and see the light show. I was beat, but I wasn't about to miss the show.
About 10 of us walked the mile or so to the subway, then walked what felt like miles underground--we did see the Mrs. Field's cookie shop though--I was forced to make an emergency pit stop there. We got to the harbor just before 8 to see the show. The Hong Kong skyline is spectacular even without an extra show, but for 10 minutes every night the city puts on this little show for the tourists--music and some of the skyscrapers light themselves up in cool patterns, while others shoot laser lights in the sky. I was completely charmed.
After the show, we hiked back to the hotel in the evening heat. I was totally and completely spent. I spent the last iota of energy I had on the most glorious shower of my life and then fell into bed. I woke up about an hour later chilled and shaking with cold. Weirdest thing--I could feel the air was warm around me. I decided I was too darn tired to worry about any bodily strangeness, and that I could sleep just fine in the north pole if necessary. Which is exactly what I did.
Wednesday
I woke up as tired as I was when I went to bed. For that breakfast I tried the watery pasta and ham slices. It tasted exactly like---watery pasta with ham. For this morning we had two new very happy and bubbly guides which was a bit unfortunate because I think all six of us had hit a wall and we were an unsmiling, surly group. One of the guides brought a cute yellow finger on a stick for us to follow which normally I would have thought was fun, but I'm afraid that morning my only thought was an inappropriate one, not like me at all.
Anyway, we got back on a bus and they took us to the harbor to see the rubber duckie. It cheered me up a little.
They also pointed out a neat clock tower that Daddy and I had missed, it was built in 1915. Then they took us to the Science Museum for a few hours. It was mostly hands on kid stuff sort of things. Nicely done. I dragged around especially liking the mirror maze.
The ball thing where balls went down chutes and stuff--biggest one I ever saw, was also nice. They only set it off every hour.
Then we went back to the hotel for lunch and to pick up all the rest of the delegates for an "educational visit." I would have skipped this visit in favor of sleep, but we were going to the Peak afterward and I didn't want to miss that.
I've never seen a less appealing lunch in my life. Hot soup, hot water, hot rice, and a big serving of hot meat and cabbage. But I figured I needed the protein, and for sure I needed the water, hot or not. So I took two Tylenol and picked my way through the meat, by the time lunch was over I'd begun to revive a little bit.
I saw A LOT of these people. Steve, Eli (who is showing the attitude of the whole group. I felt just like that, Me, Greg, Helen and Dorothy
One of my all-time favorite pictures of myself. Due to the heat, I finally lost all the body weight I wanted!
I've never seen a less appealing lunch in my life. Hot soup, hot water, hot rice, and a big serving of hot meat and cabbage. But I figured I needed the protein, and for sure I needed the water, hot or not. So I took two Tylenol and picked my way through the meat, by the time lunch was over I'd begun to revive a little bit.
The educational visit was at St. Stephen's college--happily about an hour and a half away on an air-conditioned bus. That bus ride was exactly what I needed. I slept the whole way and when we got there I felt like a new person.
Beautiful Venue for a school.
The college was really a jr.high-high school. About 1/3 of the students board there so maybe that's why it felt a little like Hogwarts although it didn't look anything like Hogwarts. There were lots of buildings, more like a college campus. It had a Heritage walk with 9 points of interest. Our guides were students and their English was very good. We didn't learn much about what education is like in China--except that forms 1-3 (don't know what that's equivalent to) get to take home ec, which our guide liked because of the cooking. After 3rd form everyone has to take physics, biology and chemistry. Bummer.
What we did learn a lot about was WW2. The school is where the St. Stephen's massacre took place--Japanese soldiers came and murdered all the injured soldiers in their beds. There were lots of other stories. It was interesting to hear about the war from the Asian side of things. There was even a WW2 cemetery.
I was impressed with the grounds and the students. The school seemed to have a good spirit about it. Everyone wears uniforms. This is true of a lot of schools, we saw a lot of kids and teenagers in uniform throughout the whole trip.
I was impressed with the grounds and the students. The school seemed to have a good spirit about it. Everyone wears uniforms. This is true of a lot of schools, we saw a lot of kids and teenagers in uniform throughout the whole trip.
After this we were taken to the Stanley Market, which is one of the more famous Chinese street markets. Only 40 minutes there!! not even CLOSE to enough time.
After this it was time to go to the Peak. Our guide book says if there is only one thing you can do in Hong Kong it should be to go to the peak, which is the highest point there. Naturally, they have built a large American-style shopping mall on top. There is a really neat train that goes up a super steep incline to get there, but we just got to the top by bus, which was probably just as well for Sabrina's sake. Truly stupendous views.
The head guide--who went by Jackie Chan, had a heck of a time keeping us all together. I think several of us were missing from the mandatory group photo. Daddy and I slipped away and paid a little extra to go to the very top viewing platform. There was a place there to put a love note to someone, so we put one there for you.
Just one shop at the Stanley Market
After this it was time to go to the Peak. Our guide book says if there is only one thing you can do in Hong Kong it should be to go to the peak, which is the highest point there. Naturally, they have built a large American-style shopping mall on top. There is a really neat train that goes up a super steep incline to get there, but we just got to the top by bus, which was probably just as well for Sabrina's sake. Truly stupendous views.
The duck is omni-present.
Then it was time to have dinner at the peak. The place chosen was a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Yummies. I wasn't all that excited about this and while we were waiting for the food we slipped away again to the Hard Rock Café just to see it. Terrible Hard Rock. We never did see the café, and the gift shop was tiny. Dashed back to the restaurant where I got excited in a hurry. That was one of the BEST meals I've had in my entire life! Now that we're home, I've already been to the library to get a book on Vietnamese cooking and I'm determined to find a class too. We had to choose if we wanted the beef or chicken noodle bowl--and then literally everything else on the menu came out. I was in appetizer heaven. I can't explain the flavors other than to say they were delicious. The noodle bowls were fantastic. The last course was rice, but we were groaning with food by this time, so we skipped the rice and got Italian gelato from a place in the mall instead. Time to go home after this. I felt much less tired at the end of this day than I had at the beginning.
Thursday
Daddy got to come and tour around with us for the whole day today! We all went to the Nan Lian Gardens. I wanted more time there, so beautiful. Mom would have loved it.
Then we went to the Wong Tai Sin temple. This is the biggest Taoist temple.
If you ever decide to go in for idol worship, THIS is the god to go after. He just gives people anything they want. Her are some worshippers--
When Chinese children are at the store and whining to their parents to buy them stuff, the parents will say, "I'm not Wong Tai Sin you know!" The temple grounds were big and crowded and gaudy. Loads of fun. At all the temples you can see people bowing with incense sticks. None of the temples have just one God. They all seem to have the main God and then a whole bunch of others. This one had great statues of the characters from the Chinese zodiac among other things.
The souvenir shop had some odd things.
Did Lady Gaga start out as baby Gaga?
And here he is himself--scary, but generous.
My office at work is seriously lacking in gold.
The next stop was the Kowloon walled city park. This used to be important for the military, but after fortifications moved elsewhere the area became a slum for prostitutes and drug dealers. Then in the 1990's the city decided to clean the place up--which they did and it is now a very pretty park with basketball courts. Not nearly as nice as the Nan Lian Gardens, but a good place to be.
From here we walked to a local restaurant, Fong Wing Kee--ummmm, this was really local. We couldn't help but notice that the glasses on the table weren't clean.
Plus, they had classy napkins as you can see:
But I chose not to look in the direction of the kitchen which made the meal pretty good. Normal stuff--hot soup, hot water, hot platters of meat and fish and rice. The bus hadn't arrived yet when we were done, so we got to look at the fruit stands next door. We bought some apples and an orange! Also, I saw heaps of Durian fruit. These are famous for smelling so bad, that hotels in Malaysia won't even let them inside. On the outside, they smell ok.
I'd seen these before, but hadn't had a chance to try one. I never did get to try the real thing, BUT one store had durian fruit pops! I bought one and shared it around. It didn't smell or taste nearly as bad as I thought it would. It just had a sort of odd flavor that I wouldn't buy twice, but once was acceptable. Sort of.
Plus, they had classy napkins as you can see:
But I chose not to look in the direction of the kitchen which made the meal pretty good. Normal stuff--hot soup, hot water, hot platters of meat and fish and rice. The bus hadn't arrived yet when we were done, so we got to look at the fruit stands next door. We bought some apples and an orange! Also, I saw heaps of Durian fruit. These are famous for smelling so bad, that hotels in Malaysia won't even let them inside. On the outside, they smell ok.
I'd seen these before, but hadn't had a chance to try one. I never did get to try the real thing, BUT one store had durian fruit pops! I bought one and shared it around. It didn't smell or taste nearly as bad as I thought it would. It just had a sort of odd flavor that I wouldn't buy twice, but once was acceptable. Sort of.
From here we were driven to the Museum of History. This was really neat. Hong Kong history from before the dinosaurs to the present. There were huge dioramas and displays.
Inside an old-fashioned Chinese home.
My goal was to learn a little more about the opium wars, which I did. There was a nice movie about culture too that we sat through three times, once to see the show and twice to nap.
Inside an old-fashioned Chinese home.
My goal was to learn a little more about the opium wars, which I did. There was a nice movie about culture too that we sat through three times, once to see the show and twice to nap.
After this the schedule had us go to the Mikki Shopping Mall and to dinner. Some of the LDS members of the group opted to go to the temple (lds temple) again instead. We should have gone with them. The shopping mall wasn't anything special--just another American mall. We actually left the mall to see if there was anything interesting in the area, and found a local Chinese mall. Since this was a real Chinese mall, they weren't selling stuff for tourists, but at least it was interesting to look at. The jewelry store was very expensive and featured this hideous golden necklace of a pig and her piglets.
Then there were some English schools--these had student grades posted right there in the open, only the first name was blocked out and it was still easy to read. The employment agency was nearby and it listed all kinds of stuff about their job seekers, name, age, occupation of parents, children' s names and ages, religion, height, weight etc. Try posting that in America!
On the way back to the boring mall, we stopped at a t-shirt store. No decent t-shirts, but some very nice men's shirts. Daddy bought a few.
Then there were some English schools--these had student grades posted right there in the open, only the first name was blocked out and it was still easy to read. The employment agency was nearby and it listed all kinds of stuff about their job seekers, name, age, occupation of parents, children' s names and ages, religion, height, weight etc. Try posting that in America!
On the way back to the boring mall, we stopped at a t-shirt store. No decent t-shirts, but some very nice men's shirts. Daddy bought a few.
We met the others at the Japanese restaurant. It was a beautiful meal. But I think there was some miscommunication. There were cards at each table and we were told to order whatever we wanted, but nothing that we ordered ever showed up. Instead we just got plate after plate after plate of expensive random foods. I felt especially bad about this gorgeous bowl of sashimi that none of us ate.
I've come to the conclusion that the Japanese people are so slim because even they don't like their food.
I've come to the conclusion that the Japanese people are so slim because even they don't like their food.
Friday
The last day of the conference--it seemed to go on forever, then end all of a sudden. I will not miss the breakfasts! The sun shone at last so I used my faithful umbrella (this trip was the first time in my life that I carried it faithfully wherever I went) as a parasol. Lots of people do this and it really helps.
The last day of the conference--it seemed to go on forever, then end all of a sudden. I will not miss the breakfasts! The sun shone at last so I used my faithful umbrella (this trip was the first time in my life that I carried it faithfully wherever I went) as a parasol. Lots of people do this and it really helps.
I was scheduled to go on the "downtown tour." The first site was a real Hong Kong traffic jam, but once we finally got downtown we went to city hall. Alas, no brides that day, but a cool statue representing a dragon (male) and a phoenix (female).
They also took us to St. John's Cathedral which is either the oldest or largest or both Christian cathedral in the area. Very pretty--and it had the BEST Noah's ark carved out of wood in the gift shop. We also saw the Court of Final Appeal--like the supreme court, and learned that the three major banks in Hong Kong print their own money! It's regulated by the government of course, but still! We dropped in at the post office and they took us by Duddell street for a group picture. I was glad for this--Duddell street is famous because it has old fashioned gas lamps. It's very English looking. the Big Bus Tour drove by Duddell street, but I blinked at the wrong time and missed the lamps.
Just one of the many many many many group pictures
It was boiling hot (again), but we all had begged for some time at a Chinese street market and were granted 25 whole minutes. Frustrating! But at least I finally found some t-shirts. From here we took the Star Ferry back to Kowloon--Daddy and I had done this too--everybody takes the Star Ferry, it's really fun. So we got to see the Rubber Duckie again, and also down the harbor a ways some other artist? created an inflatable pile of excrement as a sort of reaction to the duckie. From here we went to lunch near the cultural center at an upscale place called Muse. It had a SALAD BAR with fruit!!! AND cold water. We also got to order a fancy main dish (I had lamb) but most importantly, it had watermelon and pineapple! For dessert there were jello things rolled in coconut.
One of the best sights I saw in Hong Kong
Then we walked to the space museum to watch an IMAX movie about Polar Bears. Too bad Daddy wasn't there for that! We didn't have any time at the museum--it was IMAX only, but we did have time overall, so they took us to the Avenue of the Stars, which was just like Hollywood's walk of fame, with Chinese actors names and handprints in the cement. The only two I knew were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
They also took us to St. John's Cathedral which is either the oldest or largest or both Christian cathedral in the area. Very pretty--and it had the BEST Noah's ark carved out of wood in the gift shop. We also saw the Court of Final Appeal--like the supreme court, and learned that the three major banks in Hong Kong print their own money! It's regulated by the government of course, but still! We dropped in at the post office and they took us by Duddell street for a group picture. I was glad for this--Duddell street is famous because it has old fashioned gas lamps. It's very English looking. the Big Bus Tour drove by Duddell street, but I blinked at the wrong time and missed the lamps.
Just one of the many many many many group pictures
It was boiling hot (again), but we all had begged for some time at a Chinese street market and were granted 25 whole minutes. Frustrating! But at least I finally found some t-shirts. From here we took the Star Ferry back to Kowloon--Daddy and I had done this too--everybody takes the Star Ferry, it's really fun. So we got to see the Rubber Duckie again, and also down the harbor a ways some other artist? created an inflatable pile of excrement as a sort of reaction to the duckie. From here we went to lunch near the cultural center at an upscale place called Muse. It had a SALAD BAR with fruit!!! AND cold water. We also got to order a fancy main dish (I had lamb) but most importantly, it had watermelon and pineapple! For dessert there were jello things rolled in coconut.
One of the best sights I saw in Hong Kong
Then we walked to the space museum to watch an IMAX movie about Polar Bears. Too bad Daddy wasn't there for that! We didn't have any time at the museum--it was IMAX only, but we did have time overall, so they took us to the Avenue of the Stars, which was just like Hollywood's walk of fame, with Chinese actors names and handprints in the cement. The only two I knew were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
A miracle picture--taken almost without tourists.
Along the way were Disney-style snack booths where you could buy some shredded squid. Also, there was a real Disney ticket booth--so I was able to get our tickets for Hong Kong Disney a little early after all. They even came with a "free" umbrella. By this time we were all cooked to medium-well and really needed to get out of the sun. The bus wasn't due for awhile so we went willingly to a mall this time just for the sake of the air conditioning. One of the things that is different about even the American style malls, is that they all seem to have grocery stores on the bottom level (Tasty's). Eventually, we all made our way there. The grocery stores are interesting because they're really Chinese. I found Chinese Spam.
But I also found the Godiva chocolate counter where I paid some insane amount for a single chocolate truffle. Worth it.
At last it was time for the bus. We were taken back to the hotel so we could freshen up for the big farewell dinner. That meant a nap AND a shower. I even made an attempt with the curling iron it felt so good to be clean and cool and dry. We all (about 60 of us total) got on the bus and were driven somewhere or other. HOLY COW! I didn't think it was possible to beat the opening 12 course dinner, but they did! The dinner was held in a very large white air conditioned tent with huge chandeliers and very fancy place settings. In front of the tent there was a whole lamb roasting on a spit
as well as a pig and tables set up to receive a whole turkey with stuffing, BBQ ribs, prime rib, roasted cheese and more. Inside we all sat waiting for the program to start--the program was about what you'd expect, thanks to everyone, special awards and so on. Pretty boring, but we did get to give our guides a standing ovation. And then we got to eat! In addition to the stuff outside, inside there was a very fancy seafood buffet (I tried oysters on the half shell), a salad bar with good blue cheese dressing, and a Chinese American style buffet that I never even got to. Then they came out with the desserts and a tray of fancy cheeses. Heaven. After this came a fun little video and then came the dancing. I've never had so much fun! There were a lot of Turkish people at this conference, and the dancing was more folk dancing-ish. Anyone who wanted got in the circle, we were taught a few simple steps and then we just went for it. It was a little like being in kindergarten again with everyone holding hands and running in a circle.
We did traditional folk dances, and silly dances like the YMCA and the Macarena. Everyone danced with everyone, nobody worried about doing the steps right, the lights were on and the music didn't drown out the people. We got back a little later than we had hoped considering we had to get up early to go to Disneyland the next day, but it was worth it.
Me with Helen, my favorite of the "accompaning" person
as well as a pig and tables set up to receive a whole turkey with stuffing, BBQ ribs, prime rib, roasted cheese and more. Inside we all sat waiting for the program to start--the program was about what you'd expect, thanks to everyone, special awards and so on. Pretty boring, but we did get to give our guides a standing ovation. And then we got to eat! In addition to the stuff outside, inside there was a very fancy seafood buffet (I tried oysters on the half shell), a salad bar with good blue cheese dressing, and a Chinese American style buffet that I never even got to. Then they came out with the desserts and a tray of fancy cheeses. Heaven. After this came a fun little video and then came the dancing. I've never had so much fun! There were a lot of Turkish people at this conference, and the dancing was more folk dancing-ish. Anyone who wanted got in the circle, we were taught a few simple steps and then we just went for it. It was a little like being in kindergarten again with everyone holding hands and running in a circle.
We did traditional folk dances, and silly dances like the YMCA and the Macarena. Everyone danced with everyone, nobody worried about doing the steps right, the lights were on and the music didn't drown out the people. We got back a little later than we had hoped considering we had to get up early to go to Disneyland the next day, but it was worth it.
Me with Helen, my favorite of the "accompaning" person
We spent the next day at Hong Kong Disneyland, then flew to Tokyo and spent two days at the Disney parks there. To see details about our adventures at the happiest places in the world. Take a look at the Disneyland link on the main page of this blog.
Back Home in Utah
Right now, I'm paying for the trip in the form on the worst head cold I've ever had in my life. I'm about two days behind Daddy in sickness, so there is hope I may survive, but combined with jet-lag this is awful. I'm constantly being woken up--either because I can't breathe, or because my body just thinks it's time to get up. Last night was better--I managed to sleep until 4. And then doze till 7. Daddy just got up--it's a quarter to 10! so you know he's dying.
The thing from China that I wish Americans would adopt is the idea of community exercise in the park. I love Tai Chi--which is what the videos seem to show the most. But I've also seen ballroom dancing and Kung fu and all kinds of neat stuff.
Technically we left China at the end of June, but since the Chinese are also famous for fireworks and the 4th of July was here--we said goodbye and thanks to China with a bang. Fireworks get better every year!!
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