Day 10 So much to do, so little time part 2

After spending the day with the ladies, Teresa gave me instructions to another tourist must do- the Peak.  I caught the ferry to the other island and took a bus to the top of the mountain.  We drove through neighborhoods and I got to see a lot of nicer neighborhoods.  The drive was nice it was so green and lush. Teresa told me to keep an eye out or the Philipaean maids gathered outside a mall we would pass.  Sure enough there were lots of them.  She explained it is manadory for all maids to be off on Sundays so the all gather and play cards etc.  I thought it was odd that their maids were from Philipeans. Why wouldn’t the use maids from the mainland.  It turns out that one of the only things China will not export is their people.  It is illegal to hire a mainland Chinese maid.  Hummm.

I got to the top of the peak just as the sun was setting.  What sunning views- in every direction.   It was quite chillier way up there so I grabbed  grande carmel maccanito form good old Starbucks and headed back to the other island.

At 8pm every night, Hong Kong’s cityscape turns into a laser light show.  Each building is lit up and flashes lights to the sound of music.  It was even more dedicant because of it being Christmas time. There were so many people who gathered around to watch.  I was looking from Kowloon Island onto Hong Kong Island and the people on Hong Kong Island viewed the building behind me on Kowloon Island.  Pretty neat.  I dont think we have anything like this in the states.

Day 10 So much to do, so little time

I am so grateful that my supervisor suggested to reach out to a coworker that lady she knows well  from our Hong Kong office.  She had made plans for me to join her and a few other Brown Shoe ladies for Dim Sum.  Oh boy, what a treat.  Dim Sum is style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food that is traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates.  This is a common communal style of eating.  Every culture has some sort of dining customs that are different from others.  Here is no different, the most obvious is the use of chopsticks and the spinning lazy susan.  But when we were getting seated, Teresa, the Hong Kong co-worker, was given a small bowl of water to rinse off the tea cups that we were about to drink tea from.   I asked her why they do that and she  explained that it is mostly customary.  But sometimes the restaurant setup the night before so just to be sure the cups are clean they clean the cups themselves. Drinking tea is very important in their culture and it was amazing- this one was a jasmine blend- yummy. 

After Dim Sum, we walked over to the Jade market.  It was divided in two parts.  One of which was the more expensive side where wholesalers and jewelers can be seen.  The other side offered more of costume jewelry.   It was all very colorful and pretty.

Then we were off to the bird market!  I had never been to a bird market and was a little scared.  I hoped it was not a bird meat market- I am sure there is such a thing in China. Fortunately this was more of a bird park.  It was so different and cool.  Birds have long been pets to the Chinese.  They bring their birds to the park just as we would bring our dogs to the park.  They bring the bird in the cage and hang it up under a tree or such.  Then the sit and read the paper and enjoy the bird.  Other park goers walk by and admire the birds and when we stopped to check out a bird, the owner would get the bird to sing by whistling calls to it.  The market part of the park was for buying birds or bird food, including live crickets and other bugs.  Totally fascinating.   Later we ate a light meal and Teresa pointed out the hooks in the restaurant so that people could bring their birds inside while they ate.  She then explained that it became illegal to bring the birds in 5 years ago with the outbreak of bird flu.

Skeeto traps

Nearby was the flower market.  You could smell the sweetness of the flowers blocks away.  There was every kind of plant and flower possible. And the holiday wreaths, they were real and smelt just like Christmas.  There was lots of arrangements to check out and plenty of plants I had never seen.  The one pictured below is called a mosquito trap.  They get trapped in the flower part because its filled with water.  We also passed a few bridal parties getting their photos. And a bakery, where they displayed peach shaped cakes- the peach is a symbol for long life and a peach looking cake is a normal birthday cake!

Day 9: Serenity found

After the night, I let myself sleep in a bit and lounge around.  Later that morning, I took the subway out to Lantau Island to spend the day visiting the Big Buddha.   The line to get tickets was insanely long, but I pulled out the ipad and just read through the line….about an hour and that was just to get to the ticket window.  The wait was worth it. 

I took a glass bottom gondola to the top of the Buddha Mountain.  6 people fit in a gondola and in my gondola there were 2 girls from Canada who were on their way home from spending 3 weeks in Thailand….we shared stories and they gave me some tips on where to go while in HK.  The gondola was cool and the views were awesome!

Once we got to the area, I was already super happy.  The sky was a baby blue and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  The temperature was an awesome 65. I hiked up the Big Buddha and took lots of pictures. 

I had found my serenity; there was defiantly peacefulness in the area.

After walking around for a while I bought a meal ticket for a late lunch at the local seminary.  All the food is vegetarian.  And really really good vegetarian.   Isn’t it amazing how in different parts of the world the same items of food are cooked completely different and have an entire new taste?   The white thing below is made from radishes….and it was DELICIOUS!  The other thing, had peanuts and coconut. 

After the wonderful meal I checked out the temple.  I love the smell of temples, the aroma of incense and cloud of smoke rising to the heavens.  So peaceful. 

At about 6pm I took the gondola back to the subway.  I was lucky to be in the gondola as the sun was setting- the perfect way to end the day. I took the train back to the area I was staying and of course, I got lost.  I got turned around and turned around.  I was going to check out the night market, but  I thought I should just end the nice day and go to bed early. 

Day 8, Zai jian Shanghai, Ni Hao Hong Kong!

We officially ended our class at breakfast so we had the afternoon free to do what we wanted.  I didn’t have to catch my flight to Hong Kong until 3 so we decided to be tourists and check out the Hunpong River sightseeing tour.  The day was sunny and not completely freezing so it worked out well.  I took lots of pictures.

Then I had to say good-bye to the classmates and make my way to Hong Kong.  The flight was delayed and I didn’t land until 10pm.  Hong Kong has an amazing logistics structure.  Hong Kong was a British colony up until 12 years ago. Which means they are very catering to the English language?  I wouldn’t go as far as to say they all speak English well, but all signs/announcements/educated people were in English as well.  Oh and unlike mainland China, they drive on the left side of the road, like the English! 

Aside from the delays and normal amount of anxiety of traveling solo, I didn’t have much of a problem finding the hostel/apartment I would be renting for the next few days.  They have a wonderful subway system (travels above the ocean) and among the 3 main islands that make up Hong Kong.  The first thing I noticed once I was there was the wonderful temperature.  Aww… I have decided that anywhere that palm trees can survive- I want to be. 

I caught a taxi from the subway and handed him the instructions in Chinese to the place I want to go…after a bit of confusion we took off.  Then after a bit, he points and tells me I am there.   Uhhh….i get out and look around and clearly I am not there.  Hummm.  Now with my luggage and probably 11:30 at night, I don’t know where to go.  UGHH.  I find another taxi and try again.  Finally I get to the right place.  Then I realize in order to get inside the the building you need a keycard and that the office is closed because I have arrived so late.  After holding back panic and I stood there for a bit, eventually some guys let me in as they are coming back to their apartment. They took me to the common room and called someone to let them know I was there and wanted to check in.  The problem with the situation was that hotels in Hong Kong are CRAZY expensive, so booked this place through a hostel website because it had good reviews.  Now it’s not really a hostel , but a serviced apartment for mid to long term leases and when they have vacant rooms, they rent them by the night.  So they don’t really have a 24 hour check in/out service.  After waiting a bit, a lady showed up and told me I had to pay in Cash….wha?  I only had about 50 in Hong Kong dollars (lucky I even had that).  After agreeing that I would put a deposit down and pay with CC in the am, she took me to my room.  Now I can finally pass out, Oh but WAIT it couldn’t be that easy.  The room was not cleaned.  So by this time, it was almost 1 am.  This is the only vacant room and I was tired and stressed.  As I was standing there the smell of pot was filling the hallway, apparently my next door neighbor was a Chinese stoner.  When she offered to help me find somewhere else to stay, I couldn’t hold back tears of annoyance any longer.     And if you read my earlier post, you would know crying in Chinese is absurd- it’s just not done.  I tried not to, but the tears came out.   I think out of shock from the crying, she offered to clean the room.  Yes please, just give me some clean sheets and put me to bed.  SIGHHHH.  After all that though, the place was nice and fitting for me. 

  

Day 7, Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Thursday’s class began as a lecture.  Our guest speaker was a Middle Eastern guy in his late 30s who imports diamonds from S. Africa.  He was a fascinating speaker.  He arrived in China only after attempting to import diamonds into the US about 10 years ago.  He was dressed to the Tee and on his ear he sported the fattest rock I have ever seen.   He told the story of how he pretty much developed the diamond market in China.  Before he arrived, the Chinese did not buy diamonds, there was no demand or understanding for what diamonds represent.   He had to build relationships, teach people the desire for diamonds which would create demand for his product.  He said he spent lots of time at dinners and late night karaoke bars earning “Guanxi”- the central idea in Chinese society that represents a person’s networks of influence through relationships.  Understanding guanxi, is crucial for anyone wanting to do business in China.

After class we headed out for some shopping. We checked out the fake market.  As we arrived, the shop owners said it was the day that the police were having a surprise visit so all the “good stuff” was put away.  Hummm……..I like how they schedule it out.  A classmate got a couple of the rosetta stones for like $10. I keep meaning to email them and ask if they actually worked!

Then we were off to “Old town” or Nanshi.  I loved old town there were pagodas and traditional Chinese style buildings as far as the eye could see.  It’s exactly what I pictured China to be like.  I could have spent several hours there, but like everywhere else we were on a tight schedule. However we did have time to walk across a famed zig zagging bridge and take a peek into the local temple, were I snapped a pic of the monk secretly texting by holding his phone in his desk- BUSTED!!

 

That night a few of us checked out the Shanghai Circus World.  Chinese are known to be very flexible and this was certainly the case at the circus.  It is crazy how many people they can fit into a basket- seriously.  OMG, then there was the motorcycle stunt that took place inside a mid-sized sphere thing… they put in 3 people on motorcycles and had them drive around inside the locked bubble thing, not just driving but going as fast as possible in circles upside down.  Then right when I was thinking, god they have to be getting motion sick, they pulled in another motorcycle.  And then another.   I couldn’t even look- there was 5 motorcycles in the ball only about 6 inches apart, tire to tire, flooring the gas, flying in circles….nail biting.  No pictures allowed and just like everywhere else, we were highly under watch so I didn’t get sneak any shots.