Tuesday:
The day for Big Buddha. We woke up pretty early and started out for our trek to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. You may think the Buddha was built several hundred years ago by monks carrying huge chunks of brass up an entire mountain. But you would be wrong, because it was built 20 years ago as a tourist trap. The Buddha itself is pretty cool to see though so we took the cable cars up to the top of the mountain and then walked the steep steps up the rest of the way to the main himself. There isn’t actually much to do up there so after we walked around inside and outside, we headed back down to try and find a hiking trail.
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| Mother with Buddha |
We stumbled upon a part of the Lantau Trail that was called the Nei Lak Shan Country Trail. It ended up being beautiful! It was a trail in the wilderness with just a dirt path that followed the side of a mountain. The view was excellent of the surrounding mountains and eventually you could see down to the city far below. It was a peaceful walk, but still a decent workout. We did not want to go too far so we turned around to head back to the Buddha. We met up with Debbie and her family and watched a Parkour Show. It is basically a lot of strong guys that jump from huge box to huge box and do flips and hold themselves up in crazy positions. I had heard about it, but had not seen it so it was neat to watch. After a bit of shopping in the touristy stores, it was time to catch us a bus.
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| The Trail |
Tai O Fishing Village was our next stop of the day. This ended up being one of my favorite places I have been so far. The village is like a more rundown type Venice, with canals through the city and all of the houses are built on stilts. The most interesting place though. We wandered through the little village with dried seafood stands and lots of cats. For some reason there were lots of areas that looked like hoarding zones either for materials or random objects. Everyone we passed smiled and was very friendly. Houses were made out of very unique materials and seemed to have been built wherever there was a small amount of space available. This stop was definitely worth the trip! It is really hard to describe the area expect that it was just a very different, interesting village.
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| Tai O |
Back to Kowloon we went in time to shower and get down to the harbor for the Symphony of Lights (light show). We had prime seats away from the crowd, but still closer to the speakers. I see the harbor all the time, but have only been to the “show” once so it was nice to see again. Although this night’s production was in Cantonese it was still interesting. They first announce all of the buildings that are part of the show and they each do a special light up as they are mentioned. Then the music starts and the buildings light up to the beat of the music with different colors, lasers, and different patterns. Another peaceful little area in Hong Kong.
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| Light Show |
Some of you may look down upon this, but we did not have too long for dinner and I really wanted my mom to try McDonalds here. I REFUSE to eat McDonalds at home, but for some reason the chicken nuggets are delicious here! We even discussed this in textile class one day! We had a brief dinner at McDonalds with our delicious nuggets and sweet and sour sauce and walked down for another night at Ned Kelly’s Jazz Bar. Tonight we met Debbie’s family who really got a kick out of the show! The bar had pretty much cleared out so before the last set Colin, the bandleader, came and sat with us for quite a while and just chatted about his busy life and his life as a musician. I love this place more and more!
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| With Barry - the 84 year old |
Wednesday:
This day was devoted to school and a normal day of my life in Hong Kong. We started by going to the Student Halls for breakfast, where we eat every morning that we wake up early enough for it! It consists of scrambled eggs, bun with butter, and macaroni soup. After eating we walked around the district that is right next to the halls called Whampoa. We visited a very authentic local temple during peak time with lots of people inside and clouds and clouds of incense. Eventually we walked through the district down to the quiet, best part of the harbor. This is the spot closest to the halls so Andrew and I run through here, we have coffee here sometimes, or just walk down for a break. Some locals were fishing so we watched them for a while and continued on our day of wandering. I showed my mom PolyU’s campus which is just a MTR tunnel and footbridge away from the residence halls. The campus is blocked off from the city and all of the buildings are together which makes it feel like a real campus instead of buildings scattered throughout busy Hong Kong. I showed her the modern design labs and professor’s offices. It was time to eat again so we went for a snack at the school’s Dim Sum restaurant. From my understanding (which still might not be correct), Dim Sum is usually dumplings and is just a small portion for lunch (almost like tapas). We tried the barbequed pork bun, pork dumpling with crab roe, crystal shrimp dumpling, and the cream custard bun. It is one of those types of foods (like sushi) that are kind of weird the first time, but not too disgusting you want to gag. Overall, I think my mom liked it!
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| The good spot |
Next, we went to my most favorite place in Hong Kong… Starbucks at the harbor. Beautiful view and coffee, two of my favorite things. Too often Andrew, Debbie, and I come here to relax, work on homework, or just to procrastinate and talk. My mom wrote in her journal and I just people watched while we enjoyed yet another iced shaken black tea. You see some really interesting people at this spot on the harbor because there are some locals and lots of tourists that have come to see the skyline and the Avenue of Stars. Andrew joined us for a chat as it started to get dark so we decided it was time for yet another meal. We ended up going to a random restaurant near the halls which was traditional Chinese style and was okay, but not the best. You live and you learn I guess.
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| The favorite spot |
We had to get going to make it to Wan Chai district on the Island for the Happy Valley Horse Races! The races are very neat and have two totally different vibes. When you first walk in, the bottom floor is full of business people socializing, drinking beer, enjoying the evening. This is fun to walk around for a bit, but you really can’t see the races very well so we went up to the 7th floor for a better view. Up here is not nearly as crowded and is the area that most of the Chinese go to in order to bet and watch their horses. Very different atmospheres, but both fun places to watch the races. We watched about 3 races (there are a total of 7 or 9 I think) and decided to go meet some friends in Wan Chai.
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| Horse Track |
Wednesdays in Wan Chai is Ladies’ Night meaning all ladies get in free to the bars, but instead of going to a crazy club, we went to a hotel bar called Canny Man. They had HK$20 cocktails, pool tables, and a group of about 15 of my friends were there for my mom to meet! It is a calmer place so everyone just talked and laughed and compared me to my mom the whole time. One person said I saw Andrew talking to someone outside of the residence halls, heard her voice, and immediately realized she was your mom. Someone else said, I know you probably get this a lot, but you are exactly like your mom. Someone ELSE said, you are really American, but your mom is even more American (this has something to do with our loudness and excitedness I think). Anyways, we had a lovely time drinking cocktails and just hanging out with friends. Afterward everyone went to another bar and I decided to get my mom to just walk into Mes Amis which is a super packed, dancing club on the corner. We walked in... and out, just so she could see how insane it gets! Then it was bedtime for us.
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| In Wan Chai - Mom chatting with Benedicte |
Thursday:
For my mom’s last day in Hong Kong, we decided to get out of the city and have an extremely relaxing day at Shek O beach! We took the double decker bus (sitting in the front row on top, just to freak my mom out) to the beach that was almost completely empty! It is “cold” here for the Asian’s so there was a school group and about 5 other people on the whole beach. It was abnormally warm here so most people on the beach were in long sleeves and jeans and were looking at me oddly for sun bathing in a bikini. My mom and I both drifted off and some point, just taking in the sun, and were awakened by a furry little creature of a dachshund that was frolicking in the sand. We had been here relaxing for a few hours so we decided we had to move on. We took a taxi to Stanley Market (also has a little beach area) and got a Western snack of french onion soup and mojito for lunch. After rejuvenating we walked around the market and found some more souvenirs. The area of Stanley is pretty nice, but really touristy. After another few hours here, we started back toward Kowloon to go for dinner.
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| Shek O |
I have mentioned Jon Cordiano before. He was one of the most important people for my mom to meet while she was here as he is completely fabulous and will be in Australia when we go next semester. Fortunately, he had time in his super busy design schedule to come to dinner with us at a Hot Pot restaurant. They say Hot Pot is a must in Hong Kong/China. It is similar to fondue because you have a boiling broth and you cook your own meat, vegetables, dumplings, etc. We had a lovely meal and excellent conversation the whole time. Jon is just one of those people that can always make you laugh and makes you feel wonderful with one of his hugs!! Dinner was so good, but we couldn’t make ourselves go back just yet, so we stopped at Holly Cow (supposed to be Holy Cow we assume) and got frozen yogurt with fruit and stood outside continuing to chat! Finally we had to go back and get everything packed for Mom’s departure the next morning!
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| Hot Pot with Jon |
Friday:
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| MOM AND I!!!!!!!! |
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