Hong Kong and Macau: Yum!

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Yes, I’m lazy. And yes, it’s been like 2 and a half months since I got back from Hong Kong. But better late than never.

Brittney and I left after my last class on Friday, with what we thought was enough time to get to the airport bus. So we got dinner and then left. We were quite wrong and missed the last bus to the airport by 15 minutes. Whoops. Luckily, we were still in Suwon which is a city we know well enough to solve our own problem. So we hopped in another cab and went to the train station. We had to take a subway into Seoul and then changed to an airport express subway. We hoped that once we got to the airport, the jjimjilbang would still have spaces left. (In Korea, a jjimjilbang is a sort of a spa, but you are issued pajamas and you can sleep there on chairs or on the floor. This is useful when you have a very early flight in the morning and you live far away from the airport.) We were lucky to get there when there were a few spots left, so we didn’t have to sleep on benches like we did last Christmas.

We had a fairly long layover in Shanghai, which is not an experience I recommend. The signs that advertise free wi-fi are just teasing you and there is no place to pick up snacks. You sit down to a full Chinese meal or you eat nothing. And our flight was delayed, which we were lead to believe was not uncommon. But we met a really nice American couple working for the State Department in the Chinese consulate and embassy (one each) and they told me about working for Foreign Services which just made me insanely jealous.

We took the train into Hong Kong, which was a bit overwhelming once we got out of the subway station because there are a million hostels in one building, but they’re all on different corners and you have to find your specific elevator by making your way through heavily-crowded hallways filled with shops selling Middle-Eastern food. Not that I don’t like Middle-Eastern food. Because I do. It just made the whole experience much more confusing.

We managed to find Analynn and David by the Lantern Festival (always travel during cool holidays) and we talked about what they had been up to (traveling South East Asia for several months) and what we had been up to (…working…). We got to eat a lot of Western food while we were there. Which doesn’t seem exciting. But when you live in Asia, it’s more like “OHMYGOD IT’S A T.G.I.FRIDAYS!!! LET’S EAT EVERYTHING!!!”

Analynn was working to get her visas for China in order and she had already been to Hong Kong, so the next day, David, Brittney and I went to see the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. The Buddha is really cool. The cable car ride to get there is absolutely spectacular. You get to see many of the islands and watch the poor saps who decided to hike up through your window. There are temples and hiking trails at the top of the mountain. Along with strangely-dressed actors who wander through the shops, posing. So there was that.

We met up with Analynn again and got ready to see the parade for Mid-Autumn Festival. All we knew was that it was a Fire Dragon Parade. Which is enough to base a decision on. We were first in line. Best. Spot. Ever. We just happened to stand in the space where they were lighting the dragon. This is a time-consuming process. They bring out this massive rope dragon. It really is just the barest frame possible. There are maybe 20 people holding it up and various points. Then, someone lights a bunch of enormous incense sticks on fire and people have to run around pushing the incense sticks into the dragon as fast as possible. The head and tail are particularly covered. This makes them particularly heavy. It was very stressful to watch because the people holding these positions would have to change constantly when someone couldn’t handle the heat or the weight. And at the tail, where we were stationed, they also swing it around constantly, which exhausts them. And they just might drop it on your face. We had to move back because we were right in the path of the first swing. I’m pretty sure some of my eyebrows singed off. We were really lucky that there was a police officer standing nearby us who could explain everything to us. He told us that if you get one of the incense sticks from the dragon, your family is supposed to have good luck for the whole year. In return, he wanted to know if Koreans are just like they seem in all of the dramas that he watches. Fair trade. He also explained why there were vegetables tied to the awnings of all of the shops. They offer the vegetables to the dragon so that it’ll bless their buildings. So once the dragon moved on, we moved right under some vegetables. When the dragon gets to the vegetables, the head has to move to look at the vegetable and a helper throws the vegetable to the dragon. And they shred it and make it look like the dragon is eating it. It was really REALLY cool to watch.

After the parade finished, we made our way over to another part of the lantern festival, where there was this gigantic artichoke looking thing. Definitely the coolest description ever. Anyway, it was a giant lantern that lots of people could fit in at the same time and then they’d put on a show. There was no way I was waiting for that though. So we walked through a park where a bunch of families were sitting with small fireworks and candles. We don’t know why exactly, because there weren’t fireworks that night. But it was really interesting to see.

The next morning, Brittney and I went to take a free Tai Chi class outside a museum, on the waterfront, with a Tai Chi master. Pretty much the coolest thing I’ve ever done. It’s always really impressive how people can speak three or four languages so well. I feel like such a slacker when I see that. We got Dim Sum at a really famous restaurant which is in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. But they’re famous for the pork buns and they were so amazing! And we only had to wait about 45 minutes. So, we got quite a deal.

After lunch, Brittney, David and I took a tram up to the top of the highest peak in Hong Kong where there’s a cool mall and some exhibits and really great views of the city. There was also a lot of really interesting history about the city and the tram from when Hong Kong was still a colony. We met up with Analynn again later and we waited for the fireworks to start. We waited for several hours and then maybe 30 minutes before the light show started (obviously you need to begin a fireworks show with a laser show. Duh.) This old man tried to put his chair down really close to the water. Even though we’d been sitting and waiting 30-people-deep for several hours. Chinese people do not like when this happens. It had to be broken up by police. And Analynn missed this while she went to get water, so the man then tried to sit down in her seat. Luckily, another old Chinese man was looking out for us and chased him away, again. I felt bad for the police officers because what do you say/do in that situation? Where do you take him? They looked just as confused as I would. The fireworks were really cool, but personal space at mass events continues to be a problem in my travels in Asia. Let’s please not trample any children. Your view of the fireworks is not improved measurably by your pushing one foot closer to the wall. It’s definitely one of my pet peeves here.

Brittney and I went to Macau the next day, where Analynn and David could not join us because their passports were in an office somewhere. The ferry did not seem problematic when I first made this plans, but that was foolish. First of all, they were very difficult to find. Because obviously they’re on the 3^rd floor of a mall that’s past the signs that says Ferry ->. Right. That took us a while to figure out. Next, make sure you have some Dramamine with you. Because they have pharmacies inside the ferry terminal. But it doesn’t sell motion-sickness medication. Obviously. I’ve never been seasick before, so I didn’t think this was a problem. I was very wrong. On the way there, I was just very sick and spent my time listening to music and concentrating on my breathing. On the way back, I was ill. Violently. And copiously. I felt like I was in a club though. It was me and a bunch of Chinese girls, puking on a boat. So much fun.

But Macau, the city, I loved. It’s such a cool mix of cultures and influences. You can see how the Chinese and Portuguese cultures combined to make unique forms of architecture and food. Both of which we focused on. We got to see a fortress that has no cannons pointed at China. Which I found very interesting. And we saw the Ruins of St. Paul’s (the building where only the front of the church survived). We also managed to get quite lost on Macau’s bus system, which was a challenge to fix, but not particularly stressful (the best kind of travel problem, I think! If nothing ever went wrong, what would my vacation even look like?) And I ate everything. Egg custard tart? Yes, please. Barbecue pork bun? Don’t mind if I do.

The next day, we were on different flights home (we discovered this ON the flight there. Geniuses.). So I flew to Beijing, which has a significantly better airport than Shanghai. There’s a Starbucks, so I was fine. Unfortunately, I got out of security about 10 minutes after the last bus had left to my city. So I took a cab into the city and ran to catch the last bus from Seoul Station. Literally, I was running across this major street waving my arms wildly for my bus to wait. But, whatever. I got on. And that was the end of my vacation to Hong Kong.

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