Hong Kong

DAY 1

Last year we woke up early for the sail into the harbor at sunrise.  It was spectacular.  

This year, we elected to stay in bed, which turned out to be a good decision.  It was unfortunate that the weather was not like it was last year; today it was cool and foggy/hazy/smoggy with limited visibility and it stayed that way all day. 

    This picture was taken by Jan Groth as we sailed into Hong Kong harbor

We met Lillian and Adrian for breakfast and planned our day's outing.  Our first stop was to Apple, to buy Lillian an iPad Mini, and for Michael and me to update our iPads and iPhones.  

But first, we had to make our way out of the terminal building, which happens to be a very upscale mall that must be half a mile long.  Of course, the ship was docked at the far end of the pier, meaning at least a half mile walk to get out to the street.  Fortunately, once we got out to the street the Star Ferry was just a short walk away.  After getting Hong Kong dollars, we bought tokens for the ferry ride across the harbor to Hong Kong for the princely sum of 30 cents. These ferries have been around for at least 70 years and they certainly look it.  But they get the job done efficiently and fast. 

We took an overhead enclosed walkway to the mall where the Apple store was located.  There is soooo much shopping here it is unbelievable.  And too boot, there are no real bargains anymore.  We spent about an hour and completed our task. Lillian is so excited about her new iPad Mini, but has yet to try it out.

We walked over to the bus terminal and took the #6 bus to Stanley Market.  We went here last year, but I never got to really shop or even go into the market because the guys were bored.  Ladies, again I say, leave the guys home if you want to do some serious shopping.  After a very unsatisfactory lunch, we plunged into the market.  

Lillian was looking for a case for her iPad and I was looking for a little purse to carry my room key in when I didn’t need to haul all my other stuff with me.  We brought the walkie-talkies in case we got separated.  Michael had one, and Adrian had the other.  But Lillian and I were together and we lost the guys.  They eventually caught up with us.  So who do you think got the good stuff?  Adrian and Michael, that’s who.  They each bought 100% cashmere sweaters for around $32!  Lillian and I got our little stuff.

We took the #973 bus to the Kowloon central district; this way, we would take the tunnel under the harbor and avoid having to take the ferry.  Unfortunately, we got off one stop too late and had to get a taxi back to the ship terminal. The taxis do not stop just anywhere like they do in New York.  We had to go to a hotel in order to get one. 

We returned to the ship via the half mile mall walk and had about ½ hour to rest.  It was time to go meet Jan and Fred, cruising friends from past voyages that just got on the Sojourn.  We met up with Mitch and Shelly, who wanted to walk to dinner; Fred has trouble with his feet, and I have the bad knee so we opted to take a taxi.  Again, we did the half mile mall walk just to get outside and then had to go to a nearby hotel to get a taxi.  The drive to the restaurant took forever, what with all the traffic.  A donkey cart would have been faster. 

We finally arrived at the restaurant named a Very Good Restaurant. At least they are honest and didn’t call themselves the world’s most famous or best restaurant. We had to go down a step set of stairs (my favorite thing to do in the whole world – see my eyes rolling) to a huge restaurant that had nothing but Asians; we were the only Caucasians in the entire restaurant.  It seems that they were known for their succulent pig, which we all enjoyed. We all picked out a few other dishes and shared them family-style, and no one went away hungry.  

After a satisfying and filling meal, our goal for the evening was to go to the night market.  Looking at the map, it did not seem too far away from the restaurant. So off we went on foot salivating with anticipation of the treasures we might find there.  Fred, with his bad feet, could not keep up so he and Jan got a taxi to return to the ship. In the meantime, the four of us marched on like salmon going upstream. We could not believe how crowded the sidewalks were with people coming and going.  It was now after 10 o'clock and the stores were still open.  

After walking and walking and walking and consulting the map, and more walking, we finally found the Night Market.  It was not very big but they sure packed a lot of stuff in the area. Vendors here are noted for their nastiness in bargaining; but bargain you must do.  My big find of the night was a new case for my iPhone for a whopping $7 US. What I really needed was a new case for my iPad because it is falling apart; I forgot to look for one because I was so busy looking at all the other stuff wondering, hummmm, is this worth taking back home?  

The food vendors in the night market area did things that nobody in the United States would allow, like rinsing used bowls in buckets of water that had been standing out on the street.  Some of the food stalls smelled stinky, but others gave off a wonderful aroma. There were things here to eat that were quite exotic, but we were not sure what they were. In any event, one thing we have learned is that you never, never eat from a street vendor in some of these Third World cities, although you cannot consider Hong Kong a Third World city. 

We had finally had enough, we were dragging fanny as we were so tired from the days activities.  We walked out to a main street and found a taxi to take us back to the terminal to do the half-mile mall shuffle.  Imagine our surprise when we got back from the nights activities ready to drop from fatigue when we found an escort form for the next morning.  The tour was to go back to Stanley market where we had just been.  It had Michael's name on it, but I courageously volunteered to take his place if he did not want to do it.  After some discussion, it was decided that I should stay and rest after all the activity and walking and stairclimbing that I did today.  I collapsed on the bed and thought I would never get up again -- I was so tired. 

DAY 2

Should I or shouldn't I? Will she or won't she? I remembered something that I wrote a couple of days ago about using some common sense.   And for once I actually did it. I stayed on the ship all day!  I did not go to the shopping mall, I did not go out to McDonald's, I did not go out. Period.  

So Michael gets on the bus to go right back to where we were yesterday, and now I will let him tell you about his adventures for the day.

MICHAEL

This was a most unexpected excursion.  It began with a 30 minute ride, through the tunnel back to Hong Kong, and on to the tram.  I had done this before, but the tram ride up to Victoria Peak is a lot of fun.  Because of this steep incline, you experience an optical illusion that the tall buildings you are  passing are actually leaning.  The visibility in Hong Kong was not so hot today with the foggy haze, so the view from Victoria Peak was disappointing.

   This was the view from last year

It was now time for another 30 minute drive back to Stanley Market.  Even though we were here yesterday, I was sort of looking forward to going back to the market to see if I could buy another sweater.  Before I entered the store, I said to myself I would only buy a sweater if they had one in yellow.   It turned out that not only did they have one in yellow, but it was a better sweater than the one I bought the day before.  I even bargained a little this time and got it for a very good price.

It was now time for another 30 minute drive to Aberdeen.  Strange as it might seem, Aberdeen in Cantonese means Little Hong Kong.  Here, we boarded a sampan for a brief tour of the harbor.  When the tour was complete, the Sampan dropped us off at Jumbo's Floating Restaurant, which, by the way, is probably where I got sick (that's for another day's blog). 

Jumbo's is aptly named, as it can feed 2,000 patrons at any one time.  The food was mediocre, but we certainly had a lot of it, maybe too much.  Incidentally, I learned that dim sum in Chinese actually means "touch the heart."  Following lunch, it was on to a jewelry factory for the required shopping opportunity.  This was very boring, and only one of the 18 people on our tour bought anything.  On the way back to the ship, we passed a number of Hong Kong's sporting facilities, including the Happy Valley racetrack.  This track was interesting because the center of it was completely devoted to rugby, cricket and soccer fields, unlike most tracks which are empty in the middle.