On the South China Sea

Easter Tuesday


Ed was doing his tapping; I don’t know if it was tapping out Tums or something else. I could feel the ship change as we got closer to the city. It is so foggy outside that we couldn’t see the city as we came in, a real shame as Hong Kong has one of the world’s most distinctive harbors. We see the Star Ferry regularly plying it’s route between Kowloon and the island.
They didn’t announce the clearance of the ship. I guess because some woman complained that she was sleeping soundly when announcements would come on in the passageways waking her up. So now the only announcements are the REALLY important ones.
I suppose we got off some time around 8:45 or 9. The ship terminal is part of an enormous shopping complex. Think a triple sized Glendale Galleria with all VERY expensive shops: Versace, Louis Vitoun, etc. Ed was searching for an ATM and after walking for a mile perhaps (and I’m not so sure that isn’t accurate) we found one and he got some Hong Kong dollars. As we were searching for an exit, I saw the Tourism office and went in to pick up some current maps and such. Ed talked to the ladies and found out that the Star Ferry is free if you’re over 65! Wow!
I had marked out several museums that I thought would interest Ed and if we had time, the Stanley Market, one of the premier (well that’s not really the right adjective) local stalls with varying quality of products to hawk. So he says why not go to Stanley Market first and then do other things. So we looked around for the busses that take you up there and finally I capitulated for a taxi. The ride is a long way; I was surprised as it took us 30 min at least and several tunnels to get there. So we looked around the stalls to see what we might be interested in and to compare prices and see what kinds of haggling was possible. We saw many of our shipmates there; their tours had given them an hour to shop. That’s an exercise in frustration.
So when it was almost noon, Ed said we should eat. To condense a long and somewhat subtle set of behaviors on his part, we wound up in a restaurant for dim sum. It reminded me of an old opium den so it must be authentic. But it was clean and they were pleasant enough. Ed was delighted with what they offered. I will say I’ve had much better dim sum and much less expensive too. For dessert we hared a mango pudding that came in the shape of a fish, kind of like a small salmon mousse. We spent some time walking along the waterside before going to check out some things to see how badly we might want them. Along the way we picked up a couple of modest sized bags of things that caught our eye including a lined silk set: jacket and slacks, for me.
By this time it was time to head back to the ship and I was expected to locate the busses we looked for in the morning but Ed simply headed toward a taxi so off we went. This time we were right at the ferry entrance and walked right on and it left immediately. At the other side, we stopped for a soft swirl ice cream at McDonald’s. I said soft swirl: Ed got a McFlurry so I kept my mouth shut. I don’t know if his hearing is that bad or if he chose to ignore more.
Folkloric show.
I was ambivalent about going to see this as the last time we saw a Chinese folkloric show, it was mostly young girls who contort themselves into unbelievable positions. We all talked about whether this constituted child abuse or not. But the show this afternoon involved a gorgeous dragon dance followed by a fantastic lion dance. Both done very well especially considering the small space they had to contend with.
Then we had various magic and bull whip demonstrations. And finally a very tall man in an elaborate cape and costume (if the cape had been purple with it’s red lining, he’d have lost it in a heart beat). I can’t recreate everything he did but he would snap his head and his face would be a different gory look. Absolutely amazing.
Sail away
The ship did a huge photo of everyone they could spare on the pool deck. Even the officers were out in full white (no winter garb now) uniforms. We spoke briefly with Wendy, the nurse who was in Dancing with the stripes, and it was fun to hear what the experience meant to her. Back to the photo: they gave us all free champagne (don’t be jealous: it’s cheap, and not very tasty, champagne) so we’d be ready to smile broadly. The photographer was way up above deck 11 right under the funnel on the front. It should be a great shot as she also used a fish eye lens. But herding that many people for a photo, especially while they were drinking, was an ordeal.
Dinner
Norma and Neville had a big vegetarian lunch at a monastery on their tour so they decided not to come to supper. The rest of us laughed and talked about hair color, losing your hair with treatments, who looks old and who doesn’t…it was a hilarious, at times, conversation.
The dining room was pretty empty and it’s probably because everyone was out all day and the overland folks came back exhausted. I’ll bet the Panorama Café gets it’s share of business this evening.
Housekeeping
Ed and I had to rearrange some of our stuff in the luggage under the bed. This involves him lifting up the side of the bed and me pulling the pieces out. Then we take our backup supplies and shift other stuff so that we can minimize the effort to find things.
Entertainment
The lounge entertainer, the same guy who does the choir, is doing a Broadway musical selection show so Ed went down. He’s quite good so I know Ed will enjoy it. I have lots of hand laundry to do. I feel like Chinese laundry lady these days since I’ve learned I can hang some of them in the shower and some from the airconditioning outlet in the room.
Hong Kong itself
It’s an amazing, vibrant place. The English spoken here is not as good as it was in Beijing! Tribute the Olympics I suppose. And I saw many fewer whites this trip it seems. It was hard to find an English paper and there were almost no English magazines. My how things change. And I saw more Phillipinos this time than I recall in the past. And there wasn’t as much jostling and rushing as I’ve noticed before. Perhaps all of this is a function of the places we went more than the city as a whole.
The high rises here are straight up! I guess they can do this because it is bedrock like New York. And women hang their laundry out the windows no matter how high though you see this more in the old buildings than the newer ones.
The architecture is astonishing here. Such variety. We never saw much that was less than 4 stories high including residences. The race track (in an area called “happy valley” which I find funny) is the larges flat area of land I recall seeing.
The harbor is wildly busy and I’m amazed that they don’t have frequent collisions. I’ve never heard of two vessels colliding in the harbor but I can’t believe it’s a rarity the way they ply back and forth, some zipping quickly, and others, like the ferry we took, lumbering and bobbing across the water.