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Published: August 30th 2011
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So, here we are on the road again, this time en route to Paris for a somewhat unique wedding celebration, then a bit of a trek around the UK, and finally across to the US to catch up again with Damon and Sarah. But first was a whistle stop through Hong Kong, ostensibly so that Joan and Greta could have tailored all their formal dresses for the wedding. And guess what? They decided a couple of months ago to have them all made up in Sydney instead (no doubt at twice the cost) so HK just turned into a tourist visit instead, and Greta even went off in a different direction and didn’t join us.
I have a confession to make. Similar to my Indian blog from last January, this is a retrospective blog rather than a live one. I was ‘banned’ from taking my computer on the trip with us (something about my paying more attention to the computer than my wife!), so we are now actually back on terra firma in Oz and I will post a blog on each country visited every few days.
Of the dozen or more visits I've made to HK over
the years on biz, I've never previously been there as a tourist, so it did have a slightly different perspective for me. Unfortunately, it was as ‘hot as hades’ while we were there, matched by a similar humidity, which made the air-conditioned shopping centres the best places to hang out. So Joan ended our visit considerably richer in jewellery, handbags and clothes, and I ended the visit considerably poorer in HKDs!
It has been about 5 years since I was last in HK, but I perceived a significant diminishment in the British colonial influence, offset by a similar increase in Chinese influence. There seemed fewer western tourists (and residents) than I remember and the place appeared to swarm with Chinese tourists, presumably the lower end of the nouveau riche from the mainland, who are now touring in much greater numbers than a few years ago. No manners, no courtesies, no smiles, but just a whole lot of hustle and bustle, with everyone just looking after themselves! Perhaps best illustrated by our last trip in a local train, when we had all our bags with us, and were just about to sit down in two seats that had just become
vacant, and as I stretched for my suitcase, a 10 year old kid jumped in and took the seat literally from under me. So, did his father reprimand him for his bad manners? No, he actually took Joan's planned seat instead! They travelled the rest of the 20 minute trip somewhat uncomfortably under my constant glare.
We did take on a couple of excursions, which were more enjoyable. We took the ferry over to Macau for a couple of days, and found that a much more enjoyable pace of life. While we were certainly not amongst the high rollers in town, it was hard not to be impressed by the bright lights and glitz of the area around the casinos (like a mini Las Vegas), in particular the very impressive Casino Grand Lisboa, which turned on an ever-changing colour scheme at night. During the day, we took in the historical part of Macau, with some great old Portuguese architecture along a number of cobbled streets – providing some nostalgic memories of South America. We took in a few ruins, as well as the mandatory monasteries and churches in what was a far more relaxed way of seeing the place.
Our last day was spent on Lantau Island, the island that houses the airport. While relatively undeveloped at present, I can see this changing considerably over the next few years. It already contains Disneyworld, and we could see signs of other planned major developments. But at the moment, it still has some memories of 'old Hong Kong' including a secluded fishing village (Tai O) and an old monastery (Po Lin), along with a giant sitting Buddha statue high up on a hill.
And so, it was then off to Paris for the gay boys’ wedding celebrations. Don’t move that dial!
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