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Published: August 6th 2008
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Hong Kong from the Air
Living on the edge. Or not. I'm not sure. Even though we had to get up at the unearthly hour of 3am to catch our flight from Mumbai to Hong Kong, I was so relieved to be leaving for somewhere we could walk down the street without being harrassed or horrified that I was almost upbeat. It was Ross' 28th birthday, meaning he was more than just upbeat, he was positively excited. At 3am.
The flight was uneventful, other than me surreptitiously taking photos out the plane window. Is this allowed? I've never seen anyone do it before. I was slightly paranoid my camera would somehow interfere with the workings of the plane and we would end up doing an emergency landing in whatever sea surrounds Hong Kong (I had hoped my geography would improve but apparently not). Anyway, I took a couple of photos and we landed safely.
Hong Kong was as we remembered it: very hot and humid (although nothing on pre-monsoon Delhi), busy to the point of saturation, clean, efficient, friendly and - because we were so used to India - pretty much a haven. The first night's meal was down to Ross as it was his birthday. Obviously he chose the restaurant with "HAPPY
Happy Birthday Ross
The saddest part is nobody forced him to have this photo taken. BIRTHDAY" draped over the walls. The food was Balinese, the cocktails absurdly alcoholic and the owner, Eddie, very sweet. He spoke good English and seemed genuinely delighted it was Ross' birthday. Soon the classic song was being boomed over the speakers throughout the entire restaurant, much to Ross' slight mortification (it would have been worse if it hadn't been for the cocktail). Well, if you will choose a restaurant with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" draped on the walls...
We stayed almost a week in Hong Kong, becoming experts at the Metro system and taking in the sights we missed last time. These sights involved numerous temples and scenic gardens. We also went by tram up to "The Peak" (the highest point in Hong Kong) to take the obligatory photos of the skyline, which is actually very impressive. My favourite part of Hong Kong though, is just wandering through the markets and sitting in local noodle bars (ok, coffee shops in the SoHo area, but local noodle bars sounds better).
During our time in Hong Kong, I decided to have my hair dyed. I was fed up with the colour and saw a sign for what seemed a reputable hairdresser with
Serene Garden 1
This garden was very nice, although Ross was hungover and I was wearing jeans in almost 40 degree heat so we didn't appreciate it properly. cheap prices. In hindsight, I have no idea what I was thinking. Anyway, no-one spoke English and, surprisingly enough, I don't speak Cantonese. I had 4 hairdressers round me, seemingly delighted by my skin and eye colour and determined to dye my hair blonde. For a moment I decided to go ahead, until I picked up the words "platinum" and "ash" amongst the rapid Cantonese. Now, no offense to anyone reading this who may have platinum, ash or platinum-ash hair, but I immediately got a vision of women from Dynasty and backtracked quickly. I pointed to my natural hair colour and suggested they just go for that. Which they did, but at least 2 tones darker. I'm getting used to it, although am still at the "getting a fright at my reflection" stage. To anyone who is wondering - no, I don't look more like my mum and yes, I'm surprised too.
We left Hong Kong for Macau, a former Portugese colony. Macua is a poorer version of a hybrid of Las Vegas, Hong Kong and a Portugese village. Imagine that if you can. It's a strange place - one minute you're surrounded by huge casinos (it's the only
Me and a Skyscraper
This involved Ross lying on the ground in a not so glamorous way. place in China where gambling is legal), the next by an ancient cathedral and stone fountain, the next by little Chinese-style backstreets with washing hanging between buildings. We wandered round the colonial places (it was a bit weird seeing signs in Cantonese and Portugese) then went to one of the massive casinos. I gambled the equivalent of around 3 quid and won back 2. I'm sure the casino owners were quaking in their boots when I approached the slot machines. Anyway, it's easy to see that in 20 years or so, Macau will be more like Vegas and less like a Portugese village or Hong Kong. Which is quite sad in a way.
From Macau we took a bus over the Chinese border and then an overnight train to Xiamen, a large city on the south-east coast. The border was interesting. Our bags had to go through more security checks than at any airport and the moment we crossed the border we were taken aside by an official who wanted to look through our books, in case we were carrying anything subversive. I managed to hide my "Free T*bet and leave T*iw*n alone" book (that's a joke, in case
Macau by Night
The Vegas part, obviously. Big Brother is watching). We were asked lots of questions as to why we were in the country and why we wanted to go to the Olympics. In a way it's reassuring that security is taken so seriously. In another it's a bit intimidating.
Xiamen was great - we stayed in a studenty part of the city and the hostel was nice. For some bizarre reason the place was overrun with kittens which pleased me, although I think one might have had fleas. We went to a working Buddhist temple in Xiamen and saw monks chanting. We also spent a couple of nights on Gulang Yu, a little island a short ferry journey away. It's a beautiful place, but completely full of Chinese tourists. They move in packs. The leader has a flag and a microphone; the tourists all wear baseball caps of the same colour in order to distinguish them from the hundred other groups. We would turn one corner, see the "yellow hats", retreat and run straight into the "red hats". It was a noisy place as a result which was a shame as - given no cars are allowed - it should have been peaceful.
The Chicken Head
Lovely. He didn't eat it. I didn't even touch it. We are now in Huangzhou, a city further up the coast, and plan to go to Huang Shan which is a famous mountain, on Thursday. We are gradually making our way to Beijing and should arrive on 12th August. By all accounts Beijing is crazy at the best of times, so with Olympic fever it could be quite intense.
So far I've loved China, although the language barrier is tiring. I suppose I have the arrogance of a native English speaker when I say I'm surprised at how few people have even a grasp of English. We spend most of our time pointing at symbols in our book and playing Russian roulette at mealtimes. We only know how to say "hello", "thank you", "Scotland", "I don't understand" (helpful) and, courtesy of a Californian called Jared, "down the glass". Hopefully it'll be easier in Beijing.
Food of the fortnight: Ross ordered "half a chicken" without heeding my warnings and got what was exactly half a chicken, beak and all;
Quote of the fortnight: Jared, the Californian on my & Ross' reaction after trying his strong drink and declaring it "quite nice": "you ScAttish folks sure are sick and
Hong Kong Harbour
For some reason I have lots of photos of this boat. twisted". Probably fair.
Bye.
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Wilma
non-member comment
Gutted
Do you mean to say that I watched the entire Olympic opening ceremony looking for you, and you weren't even there! Never mind, neither was Gordon Brown.