August 02, 2007

HONG KONG

Hong Kong Island, the Star Ferry, and Lantau Island

When my train pulled into the Shenzhen station at 5am this morning I knew the wonders of Hong Kong were within spitting distance - Shenzhen is still China, after all, and spitting is more than allowable here. However, before the fun could begin I sat inside a noodle shop draining cups of hot tea while I waited for Chinese immigration to open at 6:30am. Fortunately, clearing immigration has become a pain-free process as I have a technique down pat and I have all my essentials memorized.

The picture to the right shows my last view of mainland China as I hopped aboard the KCR (Kowloon-Canton Railway) for the short ride to Hong Kong. I alighted at Fanling Station where I met Alvis, a great friend I made during my time in Hong Kong. He was doing me a huge service by pulling himself out of bed at the painful hour of 7am, and by the time we walked back to his mom's flat both of us were drenched in sweat from Hong Kong's 33C heat.

After a quick shower and a phone call to another friend, Tak, we caught the KCR to Hong Kong Island. At the top of my agenda was getting a Vietnamese visa, and we reached the Vietnamese consulate in Wan Chai by 9:30am. After forking over 500HKD, I received an express visa for 30 days and a huge burden was taken off my shoulders (Vietnamese visas are notoriously difficult to attain). I then followed Tak and Alvis as they sniffed out a local tea house serving a traditional Hong Kong breakfast of congee (rice porridge), barbeque pork, and milk tea. This kind of food was my staple breakfast during my time in Hong Kong, but it cannot compare to a good meal of dim sum - a meal I have been craving since I left back in January, 2007.

 

After breakfast, we did a bit more walking through downtown Hong Kong. Shown above and below are a series of pictures taken from the streets of Hong Kong Island - hopefully they give some kind of an idea of what an amazing city this is.

Rather than riding the MTR across the causeway, we decided to catch the famous Star Ferry to Tsim Tsa Tsui in Kowloon. The weather for the day ranks among the best I have ever seen in Hong Kong, so the views as we rode the ferry were phenomenal. Below are pictures of Hong Kong Island by day.

We couldn't linger in the dense crowds of Tsim Tsa Tsui (TST) because we were heading for Lantau Island, which features a massive statue of Buddha and is one of Hong Kong's traditional tourist attractions. Ashamedly, neither I, Tak, nor Alvis have ever been there before. It is strange, but when you live in a place the things you end up doing are entirely different from when you are just visiting. Today, we decided to all be tourists.

The MTR took about an hour to reach our desired station (passing the Hong Kong Disney Land en route), and from there we had another 30 hour mini-bus ride along twisting coastal roads to reach the Buddha. As can be seen from the picture to the left, the statue lives up to the hype in terms of size. Other than taking pictures, there wasn't a whole lot to do except walk around and the local temple and several nearby paths.

The one big bonus to my time here was meeting another American girl, Virginia, who is from Los Angeles. I picked up a conversation with her, and as she was traveling alone she decided to tag along with us. She arrived yesterday from Osaka (Japan), where she spent two years teaching English and loving every second of life in Japan. This was music to my ears, and I am now even more excited about my upcoming time there.

Virginia has been out of the States for roughly four years now, with a long stint in Thailand (she speaks Thai) and adventures all over southeast Asia. We naturally got along, and agreed to meet tomorrow morning for a trip to a nearby island that promises good beaches.

As for Alvis, Tak, and I, we headed for Mong Kok, which is the massive shopping district that ranks among the most densely populated places on earth. We met another friend there, Debby, and while others grabbed food I had a quick haircut at a salon. I suppose it is a good sign for my Chinese competency when I am able to get the exact haircut that I want.

Alvis' mom cooked dinner for us at 8pm, and there was a good group of people who came over to enjoy the food. His mom has always wanted to open her own restaurant, but being an only mother it has never been easy to make her dream a reality. Her food is still amazing, though, and I often joke that her cooking is the reason I come to visit. She knows my tastes well, and made some of my favorite dishes, including: sweet and sour pork, eggplant with mashed beef, fresh fish, chicken wings, prawns, vegetables with mushrooms, plus white rice and oolong tea.

After dinner I sat around the table with Alvis, Tak, and Debbie to play a game of mahjong. I was exhausted from the long day (I arrived at 5am this morning), but the Chinese love mahjong, and I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to play. Fortunately, luck and the slightest ounce of skill prevailed as I went on to win the first of several games.

I finally hit the pillow a little after 1am, and I was lights out within seconds.

In retrospect, I knew my first day back in Hong Kong would be full of fun, but I never expected for it to be this good.

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