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Published: December 12th 2005
Possession Street
Variety store with wares on display. This merchant needs the sidewalk for his stuff because his store is so jam packed!Rest of the first week here…
March 22 Did some more walking around the neighborhood. Most of it went by in a blur as I became very disoriented (pun, ha) on my whereabouts. The streets are angled, and curve, so the direction I think is home is completely the opposite. Tony’s circuitous routes don’t help much. He travels in a "straight line" even if it takes you up 100 steps and down 50 and through an alley and back up.
Much of our neighborhood, and of HK, is the same pattern, so when you think you have a landmark, it turns out there’s one just like it on the next block:
DeVoeux Street East:
bank / 7 eleven / variety store / atm / cell phone store / bank / bakery / drug store / noodle shop / restaurant / cut tag clothing store / bank / 7 eleven / variety store / cell phone store / bank / bakery / atm / noodle shop / restaurant / cut tag clothing store - that’s just one side of one street on the first level
Queens Road
bank / 7 eleven / variety store / atm /
Possession & Queens Rd
Produce shop at the corner where we buy our veges cell phone store / bank / bakery / drug store / noodle shop / restaurant / cut tag clothing store / bank / 7 eleven / variety store / cell phone store / bank / bakery / atm / noodle shop / restaurant / cut tag clothing store - that’s just one side of one street on the first level
Hollywood Road
row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of antique stores / row of expensive ethnic restaurants / row of expensive ethnic restaurants / row of expensive ethnic restaurants (you are getting very near Lan Kwai Fong)
Each of these streets is parallel at some point, but then they all get wacky and run off in different directions. I am buried among the high rises, confused by the chaos, and jostled by the crowds.
Suffice it to
The Cavern
It's The Beatles! say, I just follow Tony because I’m lost most of the time. Blissful ignorance.
Early evening wandered somewhere west of our apt in an area that had almost no English signage. Stopped at a noodle shop with no English speakers. We were promptly seated at a table and then pretty much avoided for about 10 minutes till someone brave enough came back to take our order. I think there is a shyness when a westerner comes to a mostly Chinese place - maybe it’s because they don’t want to deal with the dumbbells who can’t speak Chinese? A very nice lady who sat next to us helped with the menu. I ordered fish ball soup and Tony, steamed eel that came in a cool looking cutout bamboo basket - everyone was having it.
Went to the show at The Cavern in Lan Kwai Fong to see Tony’s band. Too bad it was a slow night, but don’t think I could have handled a big crowd anyway…jet lag was chasing me down. Beatles, British Invasion, Beach Boys, Doors, Dancing Girls - a very good show!
March 23 Tony wants to go to China next weekend - he has
Wing Lok St
Walking towards the MTR on Wing Lok two days off in a row, rare for the band as they always do six nights. I need a visa.
Up and off to Wan Chai - we’re running late, of course. It’s 11:30 now. The China Visa office closes down at noon and doesn’t reopen till 2pm. Will we make it?
Race walk to the closest MTR station on Wing Lok, hop on the Island Line (blue one) and only have to go two stops to Wan Chai, no switching. At Wan Chai we exit and go up to an elevated walkway that goes over Lockhart and Jaffe streets, leading us to the HK Immigration Building. But we need to find the China Visa office, so around to the right we follow the corridor to another elevated walkway that leads to Fleming Road & Harbor Drive. Can either go down to street level and cross a “no light” street at our own risk, or continue into the building and take the escalator down. We opt for the stairs because it’s more direct. Front entrance is still open, bags in the basket for the guards to inspect (which they don’t), walk through the metal detectors and up the
MTR
Inside the Sheung Wan MTR station elevator to the 7th floor and into the China Visa office and it’s only 11:54!
I needed an expedited visa because it is Wed and we need to pick it up by Thurs because this office is closed for the holiday - Good Friday. Hmmm, single or multiple entry. Single because a. we don’t know if we’ll use the other one soon enough b. not sure US citizens can get them. Left that section blank - will ask.
This is a highly organized office, very impressive! You take a number, fill out an application, and wait for your number to appear on the overhead electronic display indicating which window to go to. It’s all very orderly and immaculate. The visa officer was very nice & helpful in answering our questions. No multiple entry.
Back to Sheung Wan and more wandering around.
Tony goes to work.
I’m sick. I have jet lag. Yuk. I sleep on couch and watch the only English channel we get which is one of three. What’s on? “Reptiles - Nature’s Brain Child” …or something to that effect.
March 24 Repeat yesterday, only we are sooo late that we can’t make
MTR train
The busy MTR the noon cutoff. We go to Wan Chai to pick up the visa, and talk to a guy outside the MTR selling Internet connections for PCCW. No we do not want an 18 month plan, nor 200 some cable stations. Just high-speed access, no contract, or at least a 12 month plan. No luck. Of course, this is all debated in the context of us knowing no Mandarin or Cantonese and he knowing about 100 English words. OK, Tony knows 9 Mandarin words. Of course, we know for a fact that PCCW does offer Internet access only and does have a 12 month plan but he’s not budging. Guess he works on commission.
More wandering around, this time in Central, to the harbor library - we need a Lonely Planet China guide and are not willing to shell out $40 US that the bookstores are asking. Nope, not there. Hungry we head to Lan Kwai Fong - I’m needing a regular old cheeseburger and fries fix.
Tony goes to work.
I’m sick. I have jet lag. Yuk. I sleep on couch and watch the only English channel we get which is one of three. What’s on? “Reptiles
Queens Road
Bikes lined up at the Sheung Wan Cooked Food Center. Usually not used till night - it's too dangerous to ride a bike on the streets of HK! - Nature’s Brain Child” Part 2.
March 25 Errands today. Laundry and shopping. Met Mr. Ping. He owns the laundry we go to which is just up and around the corner. Tony is testing his Mandarin on Mr. Ping, and each time he goes there Mr. Ping teaches him a new word. I am, of course, clueless. But he is a gracious man and is giving Tony great compliments about me.
OK. This is one of the lovely things about this whole setup. Here I am, just playing the lazy housewife, I don’t even have to do the laundry! Goes out icky and smelly and comes back warm, fluffy and spring-like, with no effort on my part except to open the door for Tony while he carries it out and down 5 flights (and of course, picks it up & carries it up 5 flights). I have a bum arm, you know.
Grocery shopping can be a bit of a chore. There are several markets that Tony discovered to get some things for less, or specialty items for more, or just regular stuff. But to do this, you have to trek from our place over to Central to the IFC Center’s City Super, wind your way back via De Voeux street and stop at the Gateway, then on to our neighborhood Park’N’Shop, and if you have enough hands left, fruit & veges at the open market ‘round the corner. Total distance about a mile roundtrip. Travel options are foot, via elevated walkways most of the way, or trolley, or bus. If you are a wimp, then take a taxi.
City Super is great if you are a millionaire and have loads of cash to overspend. They have almost everything a foreigner might want. Lots of western, and many ethnic foods, great deli with a huge selection of cheeses, wonderful bakery, sushi bar, fresh produce (packaged in plastic for the hygiene conscious), butcher, liquor & wine (more about wine later), high end cookware (Le Crueset) & accessories, coffees, a café, and a prepared food deli. Not that I’m selling this to you, but it is a treat to go now & then. This is what we buy there: flour tortillas. Can’t find them anywhere else. Of course, we smell the bakery, examine the wines, squeeze the tomatoes, and float by the French pastry. Tony nabs an inexpensive sushi thing on the way out. They’re not getting OUR money! So I buy a slab of aged white English cheddar, who’s to know?
The Gateway is on De Voeux & Wing Lok. From what I can tell they buy large lots of damaged canned goods, and family sized packages of western foods. You know, enormous jars of Miracle Whip, 12 cans of tuna shrink wrapped in plastic. With this store you have to be a bit careful or you might wind up with expired product, or overly dented cans. But there are some great bargains here, like the tuna - white albacore, and spaghetti sauce, beans, etc. This is the ONLY place to find white albacore. Not even City Super has it.
Park’N’Shop is where we do most of our shopping, it’s one of 2 major chains in the city, the other being The Wellcome Market - one, or both show up every couple of blocks. They have most everything, or things that will do. Prices are reasonable, certainly comparable to a lower priced market in the US. And it’s close. That’s the thing about HK - part of what makes it a bit frustrating is what makes it convenient. You never have to walk more than a block or two to get stuff or do things.
So, we made this trek, loaded with plastic bags that everyone is complaining about having too many of here. Trudge home, overloaded, and up 5 1/2 flights to our 4th floor apt.
Tony goes to work.
I’m sick. I have jet lag. Yuk. I sleep on couch and watch the only English channel we get which is one of three. What’s on? “Reptiles - Nature’s Brain Child” Final Episode. Oh no, I wuv my gators!
March 26 Went to the main public library in Causeway Bay. Looking for that LP China guide, plus Tony read that there are hundreds of Internet terminals at this main location. Haven’t checked email in a week. Yikes, I’m sure someone important is emailing me! Like an offer for my car, yeah right.
What an excellent library! Nine floors, escalators, of course, and elevators, lovely and spacious, clear signage, lots of English books, lots of terminals.
No Lonely Planet China book. Terminals are all occupied. We ask about it and they say the next available one is at 3pm. So we go higher and higher in the library, walk round and round each floor seeking out an empty terminal - all the way up to the 8th floor. It looks as though you can just sit down at an empty unused one and sign on. Not so. We relent and sign up for the 3pm slot - we’re here anyways. A bit of confusion signing on as the screen is all in Chinese characters. Like fools we don’t see a keyboard and start using some other object on the table thinking it must be used to operate the computer. Uh, HELLO, the keyboard is in the DRAWER!
Back home to Sheung Wan.
Tony goes to work.
I’m sick. I have jet lag. Yuk. I sleep on couch and watch the only English channel we get which is one of three. What’s on? “Big Honkin’ Millionaire Makes Fools Out of Social Misfits Who Risk Their Lives To Please This S.O.B.”. I miss my gators!
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anonymous
non-member comment
been there
went to hong kong 1994 with michele beck whom you met in singapore have you sent her blog we loved hong kong hope you can get pat to come over luv n stuff russ - Russel Stewart