Hong Kong

During the few days we had in Hong Kong, Dad, Kathy & I saw as much as we possibly could.

A trip to central Hong Kong and up to Victoria Peak , walking through the night markets, seeing the bird market and a walled city, visiting a tea ware museum and aviary, and returning to our hotels happily tired every night.

Of course, I stood head and shoulders above most of the locals! It was always easy for me to find the others in a crowd, or to see where we were going.

On the way to the walled city in Kowloon, Kathy and I were separated. I was sprinting for the train as its doors were closing. Thinking Kathy was close behind, I triumphantly stepped aboard and turned around, only to see the doors close in Kathy's face - while she was still on the platform! Through the doors I yelled 'I'll wait at the next station!' (to the amusement of many of the other passengers).

I waited for three trains at the next station, and then was afraid I had missed her (though the blond hair is pretty easy to pick out in Hong Kong!). Fortunately, I remembered the destination station we had agreed on, so I god on the next train and off at the right station. She arrived on the next train - which was the 5th one! However, it had been only one train for her.

We walked to the walled city in Kowloon. This area was a true walled city ruled by an emperor before the British occupation. When the British arrived, control of the area was disputed, and as a result, neither British nor Chinese law was enforced. The small area became a neighborhood of criminals and poor Chinese, where no building codes were enforced and no policing was done.

In the late 1990s, the government decided to demolish the slum housing, and erect a park. Amazingly, in the midst of all the slums, part of the original walled city still stood. The rest was rebuilt, and the area is now peaceful and green.

On the return from the walled city, we stopped at the bird market - where hundreds of birds of many different types were for sale. It was noisy! However, had I lived in Hong Kong, I would have purchased a little song bird.

The Asian Adventure, Part I

1:00 AM, September 19th, Dad and I boarded the Cathay 747 in San Francisco with sleepy steps but excited minds. We were embarking on a great adventure in a land thousands of miles away.

We received a taste - literally - of what was to come on the flight: Dad ordered seafood congee, a rice porridge, for breakfast. He was braver than his daughter!

15 hours on the plane dampened our enthusiasm for air travel, but not our eagerness as we arrived at 6 AM on the 20th. Hong Kong - the Pearl of the Orient.

My first impression? High rises. No, not your regular, 15 story, single block high rise, which bravely stands in the middle of other low rise apartments. Rows upon rows of 30 story blocks, endless numbers of apartments, humanity squashed into cinder blocks.

Amazing!

We took a taxi to our hotel, Booth Lodge, just off Nathan Lane on the Kowloon side. Now wide awake, we walked out of the hotel and saw Hong Kong as it awoke: children in uniforms going to school, merchants opening their shop doors, workers sweeping sidewalks. The heat, humidity and pollution didn't deter us from exploring our neighborhood. In a park we saw elderly people stretching and excercising. Busses and taxis roared down Nathan Lane.

We returned to the hotel for another breakfast - doesn't eating help overcome jet lag? My theory, anyway. The body needs fuel! We then decided to wait for Kathy, who joined us from Singapore in the early afternoon, and while waiting we enjoyed a buffet lunch at the hotel.