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Published: March 4th 2009
Beyond the fun hotels and the swimming pool, we really did get out and see the sights quite a bit.
Saturday, we set out to explore Kowloon. We walked from our hotel to a bird market we read about in the guide book. The walk took us about an hour and we spent time along the way exploring some street markets. These markets seemed to be on every spare stretch of sidewalk. Similar to Shanghai markets, there were vegetables, meats and fish for sale. We saw a lot more seafood at the HK markets and Mark got up close and personal with a fish head when he was hit by one during a photo shoot of a man chopping up a fish. He came running up and said "I got hit by a fish head!" and pointed to the spot on his jeans where the fish head made contact. Luckily it was him and not one of the kids. That could have ended the market tour right then and there.
Emily got a little freaked by the smells and quantity of fish. The markets were also very crowded with people shopping and we had to navigate through the crowds
and wet streets. The streets seemed to be in a constant rinse cycle. Probably due to the number of fish being chopped and cleaned on the street.
We found the bird market and it was quite a scene. Based on what I read, locals like to bring their bird cages to this market/park and take the birds for walks. From what I witnessed, these "walks" involved people walking with the cage to the park, sitting down and hanging out with the birdcage nearby. I guess it's nice that they take the birds out for fresh air. This outdoor market was full of colorful caged birds and all things bird related. Food (seed and live insects), cages and perches. There were also birds from the nearby trees zipping around and in my opinion risking their freedom with all these bird keepers with empty cages standing around.
We chatted with a Chinese woman who lived in the area but was from Canada. We tried to pick up a few Cantonese phrases from her, but our retention was poor and we learned nothing. Nice chat though.
Then it was back to the hotel via a quick subway ride since we needed
to check out and switch hotels that afternoon.
Next stop was Hong Kong Island. We had a free night at a hotel there--used points. The location was great--steps from Hong Kong Park, which was the home of a huge and impressive bird aviary. The park also had beautiful landscaping, fountains and a playground. We spent a good amount of time exploring. The trees and lush greenery inside the aviary were gorgeous and we were amazed at the variety of birds under one netted roof. They had a brochure with all the birds we could see there and Emily and Nathan worked to check off all the ones we spotted. I just realized, after writing this up, that there was quite a bird theme to this trip. No idea how that happened. Anyway, the aviary was great.
On Saturday night, we bowed to the pressure from our spaghetti loving children and ate Italian (small sigh) and went to the hotel pool after dinner. We met some nice people in the hot tub and when we heard them speaking Mandarin, we struck up a conversation. The kids performed (for a price) and it was nice to use our language skills
at least a little bit while in Hong Kong. Even though the city was easy to navigate and it was fine not speaking Cantonese, it was always more fun when we met people who spoke Mandarin.
We may have done Italian on Saturday night, but on Sunday we were all about the Hong Kong dim sum! Per several recommendations, we ended at Maxim's at City Hall for dim sum. We arrived just before the rush and were seated immediately. By the time we left, the place was packed.
The kids tried a bunch of the dishes and the rolling carts and loud restaurant filled with families enjoying the fresh, hot food was a great time. We ate a lot. At least Mark and I did. The minute we left, however, the kids asked if we could go get a snack.
Back to the hotel to pack up and change clothes, and then down to the harbor (where we had actually been for dim sum earlier) for a ferry ride. The total price of 2 adult and 2 kid upper deck ferry tickets was less than $1 USD. Talk about a bargain. We took the ferry from HK
Island to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), located at the Kowloon peninsula. Again, no agenda, just wandering around. We explored the area, ended up in a nice sculpture park where we played in a maze for a bit before stopping to listen to some women singing church songs in the park.
We did a photo shoot on the famous Nathan Street with our very own Nathan. He was less impressed than his proud parents. That seems to be the way things are trending these days. We're gearing up for the big 10th birthday in June when I expect his eyes may become permanently fixed in the upright, locked position.
We squeezed all we could out of our time in HK and it was time to head back to real China. Hong Kong felt like London with a splash of China to me. It was easier. Lots of English and people were very helpful whenever we needed directions or information.
We went to a really nice market in the mall near our hotel and stocked up on fresh sandwiches and salads for the flight home. Emily impressed me by asking for a salad from the salad bar and then
actually eating it later on the flight. We got sucked into all the fun foods and spent a little too long. Mark bought me an In Touch magazine for the journey home--so romantic, that man.
We took the train back to the border this time--no more buses. It went fine, but took a while and we were getting a bit nervous about the time. After going through customs and all that business again in Shenzhen, we raced through the train station. While heading out to get taxi, we were approached by a gypsy taxi driver, and we were encouraged by the man in uniform who seemed to be some sort of official train station guy to go with this strange man. So we debated looking for the taxi queue but knowing we were pushing it on the time, we went with him. Oh man. He had our number. We were obviously late, we told him our flight time and he said we'd have to pay more to get there on time by taking the "fast" way. Maybe it was true, but it felt scammish. We didn't really have a choice. We paid the man (about $25 USD for an
hour taxi ride) and got there just in time and raced to the gate. Oh and get this. We're in line for security and I see 2 moms I know from the kids school. At the airport in Shenzhen. Same flight. Seriously. This stuff keeps happening and I know very few people here. Really. And it is CHINA and there are gazillions of people here and yet I see people I know wherever I go. Madness, I say. Madness!
When we landed in Shanghai, it was all very smooth to get our bags, get a taxi and get home. Kids were tucked into bed by about 9:15pm which was late, but not horrible. All my rules for traveling with kids have been thrown out. While we would normally get home early, because the next day was a school day, we figured a longer day in Hong Kong was worth more than the lost sleep. We are writing a new book these days. It's title: getting the most out of our time in China.
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Linda
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The Slaven Way
You Slavens sure know how to do a weekend! Skip the direct flight and experience back-to-back customs and the fun bus rides...pay your wait-in-line dues early so you can skip them at Disneyland...rush through the airport but never through breakfast. PLUS...miss It's a Small, Small World but discover, as you keep running into people you know, that it's a small, small world indeed! Loved reading all 3 HK blogs and seeing the pictures.