Hong Kong was the perfect mix of east meets west and I'm grateful to have given it a go on a side trip. There was never a dull moment here. This is a place I would love to come back to visit for a longer period of time. The city is so vibrant and full of life, but manages to keep it's culture alive despite it's status as a global financial center.
Hong Kong
Wednesday, 10/8 -
My second day of Hong Kong was just as exciting and exhausting as the first day. What with the hills and and constantly losing my bearings, by nightfall, I was looking forward to the less frenetic pace of Taiwan again. I had tooled with the idea of doing a half day in Macao, to see the ruins. However, darting around for last minute looksies quickly used up my time, throwing any notions of an attempt at visiting another country (even if for a few exhilarating hours) aside.
Some of the things I saw my second day are edible bird's nests. How anyone eats this stuff is beyond my understanding. I try to be culturally sensitive, but this one boggles the mind. Man Mo Temple was cool but the incense coils burning throughout the place really did my lungs (and my eyes) in. Cat Street was a disappointment and the Mid-Levels area with its escalator system, was a cool neighborhood to walk around in.
Back on Kowloon side, looking for the Jade Market was tiresome. This included walking several blocks before realizing I was going in the wrong direction, getting on a bus, missing the stop, and thinking that it would only be a few more blocks past it that it would stop. Wrong! Instead, it went further to the bus depot and I had to wait awhile before it would restart it's route again. By the time I found the place, and saw what was actually for sale, I wasn't interested in the least.
My previous assumptions of the Jade Market were that there would be several purveyors selling unique pieces and I would hem and haw over which seller to choose. Not so in this case where each and every both sold almost identical pieces of beaded bracelets where you could easily see where it was tied off and cut. Plus the hard desperate sell got to me in my exhaustion. Yawn. All that time for this? Anyway, the benefit to this excursion, and I believe everything happens for a reason, was that I was now in a very non-Western part of Kowloon. We're talking I got some serious stares as to why I would be that neighborhood. I stumbled upon a market on Reclamation St, found a supermarket in which to peruse for some goodies, and most importantly, discovered another cool temple. Not too shabby.
The shopping here is amazing. There are several mall type stores which are really just rabbit warrens of tiny shops selling super cheap clothing. I had heard of this before from the girls at work, but seeing is believing. I left Hong Kong with a heavy suitcase a credit card without a dent in it. For once, I felt I had benefited from a shop till you drop excursion!
Tuesday, 10/7 -
Hong Kong was wild, and I'm glad to have considered a side trip there. For a little over $200 in airfare, it was cheap and well worth it. An exhilarating mix of East and West, the city was easy to manage but I totally lost my bearings a lot. This included finding my hotel.
Today was a pavement pounding day. My first stop was the bird garden. I'm petrified of birds and pretty much despise them, but this was a cool place to walk through. I followed a basic walking tour from my guide book which brought me through the flower market then on through the goldfish market. After a bit of souvenir shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui, and traveling from Kowloon (where my hotel was) to Hong Kong Island on the famous Star Ferry, I walked around the city taking as much as possible. What I didn't know until much later in the day, that it was a holiday on Tuesday. This explains why the area under the HSBC building and the street nearby was crowded with Filipino women. I was told that the city shuts down certain areas so that they can come together on holidays to commiserate among their brethren. Apparently, tons of women from the Philippines come to Hong Kong to work as maids.
The peak tram is a must do, but the lines to come back down were insane, so I grabbed the number 15 bus to get back down to the city. This is what I would recommend to anyone who does this trip, go up on the tram, come down on the bus. The bus experience is not to be missed because it spirals down the winding hills at break neck speed. I had the luck (or misfortune) to snag the top front left side of a double decker. When the bus turned the sharp corners, branches would slam into the window next to me. How there are any more branches hanging down from this route, I don't know. The views are just as stunning going down, if not better. Make sure you sit on the left side though.
I made it back to Kowloon in time for the Harbor Light Show. It's kind of tacky but a must see. Prior to the show, the buildings "talk" to each other before dazzling the audience with the laser lights and orchestra accompaniment.
At this point, I was in the mood for Western food and resigned myself to Pizza Express, a restaurant type pizza place I had been to before in England before calling it a night.
Monday, 10/6 -
I couldn't arrange departure for Hong Kong on the Sunday I arrived. This kind of sucked because it was a wonky way to break up the trip. I figured I would use the morning and afternoon to visit the National Palace Museum. First, I looked for breakfast, but had to settle for McDonald's (blech!). There is so much shopping in Taipei, but the pickings were slim in the area I was staying. Mostly junky Forever 21-ish clothes. Since I'm not into gold lame shoes and white plastic hoop earrings, there was nothing really of interest to me. I did pop into a store after seeing something I liked on the mannequin from outside, and ended up buying a nice sweater. Next, it was on to the National Palace Museum.
The National Palace Museum is really a miracle in the making. Most of the artifacts come from China and were carried into Taiwan for safety during the Chinese Civil War. When China turned communist, Taiwan kept the items. It's an easy museum to navigate, and the exhibits are quite small compared to the Met, considering you are only seeing a very small percentage of what they have in their possession. My favorite exhibit focused on the curios. I didn't care for the print room. I saw the jadeite cabbage and the meat shaped stone made from jasper; both items are supposed to be highlights of the museum.
A curious thing happened to me here. I stumbled upon a stamping station, which delighted me to no end. I looked up, startled, to see a young Japanese man who asked me where I was from. I told him and he immediately explained that he was from Japan and was learning English. The thing is, his English was terrible, but I totally understood his dilemma. The poor lamb is busting ass learning another language and works up the nerve to finally try it out on an native English speaker, only to realize right then and there that it's not up to snuff. I felt for him and tried my best to communicate, asking the most basic questions and giving the most basic answers, but it was futile. He went on his way and I was relieved to rid of the embarrassment between us two.
The gift shop was nothing to write home about. I like to collect a postcard or two of the exhibits I enjoy, and NPM doesn't really "do" this in terms of souvenirs. I chose a magnet and called it a day. I would have to retrieve my luggage back at the hostel and head off to Hong Kong.
My flight to Hong Kong was for 7pm. The journey went off without a hitch. After customs and traveling to my destination, I didn't arrive at my hotel on Kowloon side until about 11pm.
I've booked both the hotel and flight for my jaunt from Taipei to Hong Kong.
I almost (but didn't) ended up at the infamous Chung King Mansions. Cutting it so close, I was sure one of the gazillion hotels in that complex would end up being my only choice. This could have been quite the experience, or not. Either way, right now, I'm secure with my choice of the Dragon Hostel. I'm seeing great reviews on different sites. It's not really a hostel in the sense that you would know, the bunk beds with strangers experience and all that, but a teeny tiny totally no frills hotel room with it's own bathroom. Probably about the size of postage stamp. As with most of these types of hostels in Hong Kong, there is really no area to socialize, and no breakfast. I'm a big breakfast girl so I will have to find something nearby.
I chose Hong Kong as a destination probably because I work in a business that deals with the country on a day to day basis. Because of this, it just seemed to make sense. Plus, that equal marriage of East and West is appealing. Besides, who knows if or when I'll ever get to that side of the world again. My uncle had visited the Philippines and expressed his regret at not doing a quick side trip to a nearby country, and that really stuck with me. So, I took his advice and will forever be grateful that I did.
The countdown begins...
