We arrived in Hong Kong!
What a wonderful city! I could easily spend a whole month here! Not only is there tons of shopping, basically everywhere you look, but there are markets galore, things to see- temples and buddhas, places to visit - Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, New Territories, Lantau Island, and so much more!
I was up early for the sail into Hong Kong. We arrived just as the sun was coming up and the fog covering the buildings. The sail in was amazing. Rows and rows of tall buildings lined the water - the next one taller than the one before! There was commentary on the speakers about what we were seeing as we sailed in. Eventually we docked at Kowloon Peninsula, at Ocean Terminal. Since we had done our research prior to getting to Hong Kong, we had mapped out a great plan on how to tackle the city.
Karen, Jonathan, Jane, Barry, Linda, Gary, Mom and I had booked the HAL Hong Kong Highlights tour! We started out with a overview of Kowloon Peninsula and then went straight across to Hong Kong Island via the underground tunnel and under Victoria Harbor. In order to enjoy the panoramic views of Hong Kong, you need to be up high! So we took a ride on the Peak Tram funicular to the top of Victoria Peak to see the amazing views of Hong Kong and Kowloon Peninsula that were spread out below. The tram ride was about 10 minutes and parts of the tram were almost vertical! It was impossible to stand up! I felt like I was on a ride! Once we reached the top of Victoria Peak, there were several lookout points to view the city! Although we were above the clouds!!! So our view was of clouds! It was hard to believe that we were up so high that we were in the clouds! Since there was not much to see, Linda, Gary and I walked around the top of the peak and found a path that was just great to see with the fog rolling over the hills.
We then continued on for a drive past Repulse Bay to the south side of the island. We saw the panoramic views of one of Hong Kong's most popular and beautiful beaches. Next we continued on to Aberdeen where fishermen and their families live on thousands of junks and sampans.
We took a sampan ride through the fishing village and we were able to see the fishing boats up close! Then we zipped around looking at the remnants of days gone by to see the old poor fishing boats and house boats.
At the dock, we saw the sign for the Jumbo restaurant - it was a floating restaurant.
Then they took us to a high quality jewellery factory where they could guarantee the quality. The pieces of jade were exquisite!
Next we were on the way to Stanley - one of Hong Kong's oldest settlements - named for the same British governor as Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C. The British had control of Hong Kong till 1997, and the official handover to the Chinese government was in 1999. The entrapreneurialism of these people is evident everywhere and they are among the hardest working people anywhere. Sita, one of our new ship friends was born here, and she believes the discipline of British school system had a lot to do with the work ethic here. She went to mainland China during the Olympics, where her grandfather's home was confiscated from the family by Mao. This was her first visit and she was very excited because she had heard so much during her life about the glories of China. When she saw the results of communism, she wept for all that had been lost - so vastly different was it from the "China" she knows and loves in Hong Kong. One hopes that Hong Kong, which is designated as S.A.R (Special Administrative Region) will be the catalyst, and model for China to develop into a truly modern nation. It is a fishing village nestled picturesquely on the sandbar of Stanley peninsula, on the southeast coast of Hong Kong Island. A century ago, it was notorious for pirates and their smuggling activities. Today it is best known for its markets which specialize in shoes, clothing and Chinese handicrafts. There was brand name clothing, as well as faux brands, hand painted porcelain and souvenir items that overflow from the shops in the bustling market's narrow lanes. Shopping in Stanley was so much fun and there were many bargains to be found!
We decided not to take the transfer back to the boat, so the men and the women separated at the market, as we snooped around for bargains. Maxine also joined us at 1 p.m. as planned. We spent a couple of hours in this place and each bought the same silk jacket, albeit in different colours, Linda being the only one sane enough to save her money for other goodies. We decided to grab lunch, and figure out our game plan for the rest of the day. The restaurants around here are just like in any other world class tourist area, and as it was Sunday, it was crowded. I had this bowl of wonderful noodles!
Sights around the area!
Sunday is the day off for the servants and there are 1 million of them in this city of 7 million. The nannies congregate in parks, which was not a option today, so they were apparently in indoor malls on the floor, visiting with their friends. Everyone is out here all the time, because their living space is so small. The average apartment is 325 square feet and that would include 2 bedrooms, a living area, a bathroom, and a kitchen area. To put this in perspective it is about the size of our ship's cabin!! In Hong Kong a family of 5 would live in this space. No wonder they are out all the time. Space is precious here and so not only does everyone live in a high rise ( except for the super rich), but they also excel at the concept of the pop up store - hence markets that appear daily and that is quite a production. I think they are extremely respectful of each other and their surroundings, because of the need to share their space. Hong Kong is quite mountainous and all of the buildings are constricted by this fact. This city is extremely clean. The parks and the streets are washed daily and we did not see any garbage anywhere.
Over lunch, with the help of our waiter, we ditched going to Western Market, and jumped into 2 cabs and went back to Kowloon to the Ladies Market, which had been our Day 2 plan. This proved to be a great decision. The market is about a mile long, and consists of tent stalls filled to the brim with stuff. It is a bit overwhelming at first and if you even give a glimpse of interest the stall owners are like pirahanas - wheeling and dealing. After a day spent bartering, one really gets the hang of it and I got into it. They offer a price shown on their calculator, which they wave in your face, (so no one else can see what price they are willing to give you), you swoon and say no way, then you offer the price you are willing to give them, they swoon and exclaim horror, and the dance continues till you reach a price. If you walk away, they chase after you and tell you ok - its a deal. Of course this is all part of the fun of shopping here, because you really feel like you have won something quite terrific, until you get home, and wonder why you bought it! We just tried not to lose one another in the sea of humanity. We dragged ourselves away at 5:30, hopped into 2 cabs so we could do a quick change and meet Jeff by 7 for the night market.
Jane, Mom and I got dropped off miles from the right place, so we dragged Jane's cart on wheels, through the halls of these upscale malls, mouths on the floor at the opulence of them, asking ourselves why we had been slumming it at the markets, when we could have been shopping at Balmain, Dior, Luis Vuitton, Baby Dior et al. Of course we also looked quite a bit different from the other shoppers as we had been out all day, so we sort of slunk back to the ship. We also could not believe how many people were shopping (shopping bags proved purchases) in these higher end stores- and how crowded it was. When we returned from the night market at 11 pm there were people in the upper end jewelery stores still dealing.
A quick change, and we were ready to meet Jeff for the night market. So Linda, Gary, Karen, Jonathan, Carol, Barry, Jane, Jeff, Mom and I headed out to the Temple Street night market. Presto another street transformed.We realized pretty quickly that the cab drivers had dropped us at the far end of it, and that we were the only tourists in this part of town, and lots of people were staring at us... so we scouted out the real area, and by this time we were starving. Jeff directed us to the street restaurant where we ordered the blandest meals we could find, amongst the choice of "large of small bloody clams, light or regular frogs legs, and pigs intestines). I got noodles - nothing too suspect about those! The tea tasted like spinach water. Surprising how your appetite shrinks. We had a laugh though. Then we shopped for an hour, and cabbed it home to the ship, exhausted, but ready to hit the streets again by 7 am. on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment