Our last day in Hong Kong

We had a full day to enjoy Hong Kong one last time. We’re not sure when we will return next. We decided that we would go to Stanley Market and then just generally hang out. Prior to that though I had thought long and hard about when we might come back and figured it would likely be quite a few years later. So having thought that I decided to buy one last pair of glasses to keep myself happy for a while.

We packed up all our bags in the morning and took a taxi out to Stanley. It’s amazing to see this ocean front resortlike area only about 30 minutes outside of Hong Kong central. We took a taxi there and it only cost ~$20 USD. We drove though an area which was covered with trees and saw a dam with a lake on one side and the sea on the other. Apparently many foreigners or wealthier people live out in this area. At the Stanley Market we saw a lot of non-Chinese tourists. The area reminded me of a combination outlet mall and a boardwalk in California. We ate our first non-Chinese food on the trip.

After Stanley we went back to Aberdeen where my parents were staying. We ate at some Chinese noodle/congee place. A little hole in the wall with reasonably good food but no passion for napkins. You have to wonder how clean these places actually are. The city itself was packed full of these little stores, cafe’s, etc. After the meal we went to my parent’s apartment and hung out there before going to dinner and then the airport.

Getting to the airport was super easy with the hotel having arranged a mini-van for us. The Landmark Mandarin Oriental is just simply amazing with their service. All these people run around with bluetooth earpieces communicating with each other in black suits. You’d think they were Chinese secret service or something. At the airport Cathay Pacific really took good care of us. At 10pm it’s a breeze to get through security, etc. We hung out in the nice lounge, took a shower, ate some good food before boarding. In the first class section we were 3 of 4 people in there. You felt like you had this big A340 to yourself (the plane itself wasn’t even full, only 60% in coach class they said). The beds lie flat, they give you pajamas and to have 2 flight attendants taking care of just 4 passengers is amazing. Overall the service, flight and how peaceful it was to have Kaili sleeping in another berth while we ate and then slept ourselves was a real treat.

Overall I was really happy with our time in Hong Kong. It wasn’t long or short, just right. I was impressed by how the city has cleaned itself up a lot (it wasn’t even that bad when I was there in 1995) but many things have changed and seemingly for the better. The subway is immaculate and super easy to get around everywhere. Make sure you get an Octopus card (multi-use transit pass). We only paid $150 HKD (you can get $50 back since that is a deposit) and we used it all up near the end but traveled so much on the MTR. Getting around in Hong Kong has to be the easiest thing to do. A city block here is like 1/4 of a NYC city block. Everything (and I mean everything) is super accesible. You can find the best brand name things in stores so close by or even in one store itself. Good food virtually everywhere you go (compared to Seattle Chinese food this isn’t hard). Quite a few people speak Catonese, Mandarin and even much more English now. We accomplished the two main things I wanted. We got to see my grandma and for my grandma to meet Lucille and Kaili. The other was to get my new glasses. I didn’t expect to get so many pairs but when they are good quality, get the lenses done the way I want them and very reasonable price I just can’t resist. I thought about buying a new cell phone, a platinum chain but ended up deciding I didn’t really need that. Penny is trying to decide whether she wants to buy a camera there but I told her to wait and get it in the States. Lastly as if you can’t tell I highly recommend the Landmark Mandarin Oriental (http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/556000001.asp). Great staff, location and decore.

Tourism not Shopping in Hong Kong

Today signified the first day of actual site seeing in Hong Kong vs. just shopping and eating. Lucille’s parents arrived around noon from Taipei. We were starving and went to look for places to eat. It’s interesting that people eat until pretty late even on a workday. At 1pm it was supposedly pretty hard for us to find a place to eat. Another great example of the Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s service was for them to call a place called Cuisine Cuisine for us and get us a table for 9 people at the heart of the lunch hour. This restaurant was located in the IFC mall. This was my chance to actually get some good pictures in as well. The restaurant was really quite something. Somehow I just knew I was going to end up paying for expensive dim sum. At least the dim sum was amazingly good (it should be). This was probably my tastiest meal in Hong Kong the whole time.

After lunch we made our way to the Peak Tram. The Peak has changed quite a bit since I last went on it in 1987. They are undergoing a major remodel and will finish sometime this year. The view is still simply amazing and we were fortunate to get a day where there was no clouds to prevent the view of the harbor. There was a guy there with a rickshaw at the top of the Peak offering to have pictures taken with him for a fee. I could have stolen a picture of him behind. Later on I wondered how the heck he got that rickshaw up there or if I should have challenged him to ride down and back up.

We had dinner with my mom’s side of the family that evening. It was again at Causeway Bay. I saw a couple of my cousins and some aunts and uncles which I hadn’t seen since 1987.

Day 3 in Hong Kong

The day began with us going to the IFC mall. This mall has quite a few of the high end shops in it. What’s interesting is that IFC building 1 appears to be the tallest building in Hong Kong. You see this quite evidently in the central district of Hong Kong when you get there. You can’t miss it as it has spikes on top of the building. While we were walking to the mall and coming back from it we noticed there were lots of Philipino women hanging around. Some well dressed and others not as well. Apparently these women are the house servants of many people in Hong Kong. Sunday is there day off and they hang out with many of their friends. It was really quite a congregation. Some shop, some just hang out on the bridge, even some sat together in the middle of one road and had what was essentially a large picnic. Just an interesting sight to see.

Next we went to Causeway Bay and had dim sum at Times Square. After that we toured the electronics section on the 8th floor of Times Square. There is an entire floor dedicated to stores which sell nothing but cell phones, cameras, stereo equipment, appliances, tv’s, etc. Hard to figure out what to get or who to buy it from or if it’s every worth it to buy. At this point I have not bought anything as the prices didn’t appear to be that great and it wasn’t like you could only get it here.

We had dinner with my grandma again nearby her home. The food was odd tasting I thought as it was a restaurant that had food originating from some other area I’m not familiar with. At least Kaili was awake this time around but was squirmy as usual. I don’t think she does too well in large settings for dinner with people she doesn’t know.

Next after dinner we went to the Ladies Market on Nathan Rd and Arglye St. This market is essentially 5 blocks of stalls on both sides filled with vendors selling all kinds of stuff. This stuff includes fake watches, handbags, cheap clothes, shoes, toys, etc. Everyone loves to come here and bargain. When you think about it though the amount of time one spends bargaining probably isn’t worth it. ex. arguing for the difference between $8HK is just over a $1 USD. I think people do it for the fun and to walk away feeling like they got something out of the deal. We bought some slippers for Kaili and she has been longing for these.

A few things I’ve noticed in Hong Kong so far. The city seems to have really been cleaned up. The last time I came here 11 years ago it seemed much more dirty to me. The areas where we have been appear to be much more civilized and orderly. People have gotten taller (or am I shrinking?). The food isn’t at good as I thought it was going to be. I knew it would be good, as good as Vancouver but I was expecting somewhat better but have yet to experience it.

Day 2 in Hong Kong

Our day started at 5am. We suspected the jet leg to hit and it did. The hardest thing we found at 5am in the Central district was that there are no 24hr noodle shops, at least not that I could find. However we did find some that were open reasonably early, 7am I think. We ate at a good little noodle house across the street from Yung Kee. It was still reasonably warm and humid this early in the morning. We also went to a nice bakery across the street, I believe it was called Kee Wah Bakery. Very nice as everything is wrapped up and really fresh. You’d think it was a candy store. Yum.

We went to 3 or 4 glasses store until we settled on one Fox’s Optical at the recommendation of our friends. It worked out quite well. They were really helpful and Lucille and I bought glasses each. We’ll see what the quality is like on Monday.

We had a really busy day from shopping for glasses in the morning to then having to meet my parents and some of my mom’s relatives at noon for dim sum. We went to Unicorn in Causeway Bay. The food was just ok, I think I had higher expectations for the dim sum for some reason. Causeway Bay was extremely busy and full of lots of people. We went to SOGO Japanese department store as well to look for some things.

Next up was to go and visit my grandma at the nunnery/monastery. She has lived here for 11 years. This was the first time she got to meet Lucille and Kaili. My grandma was amazing for being 99 years old. She was walking, could see, hear and very lucid. We sat around and talked with her for a while. It was pretty amazing to think that there was almost a 100 years difference between Kaili and her. Also pretty amazing I think for Kaili to see her great grandma. It’s something I never got to do. Hopefully Kaili will remember it somewhere in the back of her mind and hopefully through our pictures.

The time was past 4pm now and Kaili had not taken a nap at all. We knew dinner was at 6:30pm that night so we were going to be challenged at dinner unless we were able to get her back to the hotel for a nap. We ended up all taking a nap and by the time we got up (7pm) Kaili was still asleep. In fact she stayed asleep for the remainder of the evening, even at the restaurant. We ate around Causeway Bay again that evening. it was again really crowded. Both Lucille and I commented on the resemblance of the Causeway Bay area (exiting from the MTR station at the Victoria Park exit) that it was like Tokyo. Lots of bright neon lights, electronic stores, tons of younger people walking around. I felt like it reminded me of Shingjuku. Anyway, the dinner was reasonably good. We went to dinner with my dad’s 7th younger sister and her husband. Going form the hot humid air to blasting air conditioning and being cold can be a shock. I think we were back at the hotel by 10am and all went promptly to sleep.

Next up is Sunday and here I am blogging at 4:30am as Kaili obviously finally got up. We are watching Chicken Little and waiting for the next day to begin. We’ll see if we can squeeze in some more sleep since it’s Sunday and stores don’t open til around 10:30am