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Published: January 5th 2009
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Addendum to Day 1: Chelsea reminded me of a tidbit I forgot to mention in the previous blog. Our hostel is on Nathan Street. To get to the museums and the harbor, one only has to walk a block down Nathan and make a right onto Salisbury Street. Further down Salisbury there is an underground pedestrian crossing. On my previous visits to Hong Kong, that particular crossing has always been peopled by 'unsettling beggars', the ones who are the most pitiable and who often have maladies or malformations I'd rather not see. I know that sounds terribly callous, but it's the truth. In the States we are not often confronted with the most wretched of our citizens. They exist, but we rarely see them. In this particular crossing I have seen amputees, double amputees, elderly, and I twice saw a man whose foot is rotting (the smell of which can be detected before seeing why the man is begging). I wanted to warn Chelsea of what she might encounter so before we descended the stair I took her arm and very seriously said, "Chelsea, you should know that a lot of scary beggars hang out down there. I don't want you
Uh...
Merry Christmas from Buddha? to be surprised by what you may see." We walked down the long stair case, passed the place where Rotting Foot Guy normally begs, passed the place where Guy with No Legs usually sits, even passed the place where I saw Man Who Walks on His Ankles. Nothing. We heard music further on and there we saw the only beggar present that night. It was Begging for No Apparent Reason Karaoke Man. Chelsea raised an eyebrow at me and said something like, "Oh, REAL scary, Tiffany". I can't remember her exact words because I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants.
Day Two of our Hong Kong Adventure began with something that doesn't exist on the mainland: real breakfast. We stopped at an Irish Pub that was near our hostel and had ourselves a full English breakfast: eggs, english bacon (i.e. a slice of ham), sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding, baked beans, and (the thing I was most looking forward to) toast! It was heaven. Toasters here are expensive and I've been holding off buying unnecessary things to save for my winter trip. The night before I had begun to lose my voice. By Friday morning it
was gone completely. It was torture! Four months without my sister and when I finally have her here I can't talk to her! After breakfast we had to walk back to a store we had visited the previous day to make a return. Chelsea purchased an awesome pair of one-size-fits-all leggings without trying them on first and they didn't fit. Apparently, in China, OSFA mean One Size Fits Asians. Junk in the trunk, as it exists for the women of my family, does not exist in China....at all. Trust me. I've been here four months now and have seen a million pairs of cheeks. Women here cannot shake what their mother gave them. There was nothing to inherit.
Chelsea was feeling better rested that day, and although I was feeling like hell we went on our more strenuous excursion: The Giant Buddha. This is also something I did last September. I thought it was so cool I wanted to take Chelsea there. I was kind of in a fog, so if there are gaps in the story, you'll have to check out my sister's blog, if and when she ever updates it, for any missing pieces. (love you, Chelsea!)
And I call this one...
...sucking it up for my sister. I probably should have been in bed. ;) We took the cable car to Ngong Ping Village, a fake Chinese town full of shops and restaurants, perused the souvenirs, then walked over to the Giant Buddha. I was looking forward to the climb being easier than the last time given the more comfortable temperature, but I was so congested that I think it actually took me longer to walk up the 280+ stairs. Oh well. The Giant Buddha and all it's attendants are beautiful and well worth the effort, no matter how one might feel. And the view was impeccable that day. I saw islands that were not visible during my previous visit. After we did the headbob 'n' uh-huh around the Buddha, we loped back down the stairs after which I needed a sit down to calm the wobblies that had settled in my legs.
After our brief rest we headed over to the temple. On my last visit my friends and I had paid HK$60 to eat at the monastery's restaurant. I liked it a lot, but I'm a veggie girl. My sister, however, is a hardcore carnivore and I knew she would not enjoy the vegetable and tofu smörgåsbord the monks have to
Posing
Saying 'Cheese' in front of the man/woman thing. I never did look up whether these were male or female. offer. I remembered there was also an a la carte counter and that there'd be something she wouldn't mind eating there. I really like this temple. I know it's all decked out for the tourists, but it really is a functioning monastery and it's lovely. After we checked out the temple building we went around to the deli counter to see what we could snack on. Mercifully it was cheap. We got a plate of noodles to share, some taro thing, spring rolls, and some sort of fried dumpling thing. While we were eating we could hear singing, drums, and chimes coming from the temple we had just left. It was enchanting. After we finished our food we hurried back to the temple to see the source of the music. Naturally as soon as we reached the top of the stairs the monks were filing out. *sigh*
On our way back to the fake village there was a small cow hanging out with some tourists. To my horror, the woman giving the cow a friendly pat on the head bent down and kissed the animal! Yuck! Gross! Blah! After they left, Chelsea and I approached the little guy. He
In front of the temple
Chelsea learns how to pose in China was, I admit, adorable. Not adorable enough for a kiss, but definitely deserving of a pat. We picked up a couple souvenirs on our way back through Ngong Ping and took the awesome cable car back to the city.
Now this part of the day is slightly hazy for me. I think we went back to the hostel for a quick rest. Not sure. Chelsea? What did we do between the cable car and the light show? Yes, I think we had a lie down. We walked down to the harbor, picked up a Starbucks and went up to the observation deck for the famed Harbor Laser Light Show. Words cannot fully describe it, but I will do my best. Um.....let's see.....LAME.....WEAK......GINORMOUS WASTE OF TIME AND RESOURCES. Yeah, that about sums it up. The music sounded like they ripped it off a twenty year old video game and the lights were just not that impressive. After about ten minutes of waiting for the real show to start, Chelsea and I chuckled and pushed our way out of the crowd. We had more important things to do.....it was time to shop.
The Temple Street Night Market is fun. It
doesn't have a lot of variety. Most vendors have the same junk. But it's got a cool vibe and has some great outdoor restaurants. And there are some good deals to be had. I know full well that because I'm white I overpay for everything here. That's just the way it is. But stuff it still a lot cheaper than in the States, so I'm not too resentful. Chelsea and I went from one end of the market to the other, managed to pick up a couple of cheap purses, and had a late dinner. My chair was in traffic, so every couple of minutes a vehicle passed within about two feet of me. I was so tired I didn't really care. I was sitting down, eating a good hot pot of something, and sharing a cold Tsing Tao with my sister. Getting grazed by a bus wouldn't have phased me at that point.
The next morning we packed up our belongings, which had by then acquired the lovely Slim Jim scent that permeated our 'room' and began our trek into the mainland.
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Chelsea
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Light Show
I would also describe the light show as...rink-a-dink-a-dink-a-rink-dink-dink!