Feb. 26-27 - Hong Kong

Feb. 26 – Hong Kong

Hong Kong was all that we wanted it to be. The weather was warm and sunny without being hot, everyone was in a week-end mood wherever we went, and all the changes which we feared may have changed the city since the re-unification with China were not visible. Our ship was docked on the Kowloon side of the harbor right next to the Star Ferry Terminal which made life amazingly easy. As one left the ship, the gangway actually led us right into the second level of the Ocean Terminal Shopping Mall – a very upscale emporium where every HK citizen seemed to be shopping or window browsing.
This being the first of the cities which actually is part of Daddy’s trip, we read over his and Walter’s Hong Kong letters before we arrived. The letters pretty much drove our two days, from our arrival (where we were up on deck at 7am snapping pictures), to the evening departure where we were again on deck enjoying the sound, laser, and light show, which outlines and highlights all the high-rises that dominate both sides of the harbor.
Our first stop was the underground Metro station to buy our “Octopus” transit passes…similar to the ‘Oyster’ cards in London. These would allow us easy access to all the buses, trains and ferries in the city. From there we walked through the back streets of Kowloon to the HK Museum of history, which outlined the story of this magical city from its beginnings through the reunification. We were focused on the period in the 1920’s and 30’s, so aimed directly for those areas. The museum has recreated a ‘typical’ street of the time, complete with the pedi-cabs, advertisements, store fronts and costumes that would have been appropriate. There was a great video taken at about the time ‘the boys’ were here, and we could get a real sense of the city in this grainy black and white film. I had hoped to find a knowledgeable archivist who might have identified the pictures which I had carried with me, but it was Saturday, so the young girls at reception volunteered to have someone call me on Monday (when we’re at sea), we’ll see what happens. But I concluded it really didn’t matter since if we took pictures of the modern streets and its bustling business area, we’d be doing the same activities as the boys. The one wonderful piece in the museum we were to find was a 1920’s advertisement for the Hong Kong Hotel, which is where ‘the boys’ stayed. The hotel is history, but the poster lives on…so of course, it was photographed, along with other memorabilia of the time.
After the museum we walked back towards the harbor, stopping for a refreshing glass of beer, under sunny warm skies, with a magnificent view of Hong Kong Island. The “Avenue of the Stars” promenade has been built along the harbors edge, and its goal is to mimic the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where well known Chinese movie actors and actresses have placed their hands in wet cement to be memorialized for all time. Most of the names were unknown to us, but of course we recognized Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. It was fun to watch Chinese tourists stopping to put their own hands in the memorialized hands of their favorite stars. It being a Saturday there were tourists galore, mostly Asian. We speculated that they could have come from the mainland to tour, or other parts of Asia (but as all our guides reminded us, they may look all alike to us Caucasians).
Refreshed and fortified, we walked past the Museum of Art, and Symphony Hall, and hopped on the iconic Star Ferry to take us across the harbor to HK Island. The ferry just doesn’t change. It’s a simple, efficient system, which with its strangely shaped, double-ended boats leaves every 10 minutes to carry people on open-decked, hard benched seats. No fuss, no muss. Pay your way (mere pennies, or Octopus), rush on board when the gates swing open, find a seat, enjoy the 11 minute ride, and reverse the process on the other side. While there are now three car tunnels, and the Metro, underneath Victoria Harbor to whisk you from one side to the other, there is something wonderfully archaic about using these old-fashioned wooden boats. Daddy spoke of using the ferry in his day, and I’m sure it was a very similar process (minus the automation of the ticketing process).
Our goal was to find the narrow streets which Daddy had photographed along Queen’s Road in the Central district. However, since 1928, Hong Kong has risen up as a brand new city of high rises, glittering neon signs and upscale modern shops. One has to look down narrow alleys and in hidden corners to find that ‘old feel’, which we were trying to photograph. But I realized I simply had to take pictures of modern day people, and modern day storefronts, and I would be replicating the trip appropriate to the year 2011. And so we did. Instead of climbing lots of stairs, there are now moving walkways that carry one straight up narrow steep streets and instead of Pedi-cabs there are millions of taxis, but the sense of mercantile success is everywhere. Hong Kong is a shopper’s paradise and on a Saturday afternoon it was bustling. To keep people off the streets and allow some sense of traffic flow, there are efficient elevated walkways that carry one through the neighborhoods right into the high rise buildings, and luckily all signage is in two languages: Cantonese and English. I think this is not only because this was once a British colony but because the Chinese recognize that this is a tourist Mecca, and they want one to feel comfortable.
After a good two hours of meandering around looking for what we hoped might be familiar sites, we were exhausted. Rather than return to the ship, we hopped on an inter-island ferry taking us, and a great many Asian tourists, to the wonderful little island of Cheung Chau. We had been here in 1995, where we had enjoyed the preparations for the Bun Festival, but this time we simply wanted a relaxing boat ride on the harbor and some fresh sea food. And we accomplished both. We walked from one side of the island harbor to the other, the only Caucasians to be seen. What makes this island so charming is that there is no way to get here but by ferry, and once here there are no motorized vehicles – cars or cycles. The only way to get around is by foot or by old-fashioned bicycle – a welcome change to the hectic world of the metropolis nearby. After looking at all the sidewalk stands selling fresh fish, fried fish, grilled fish or McDonalds, we landed at an open-air, dockside restaurant, where the signage had some English but absolutely no one spoke anything but Chinese. Our menu was a picture book, which we used to point out our choices: a fabulous feast of scallops & broccoli; fried shrimp in hot and sour sauce; and vegetable rolls, washed down with Tsingtao beer (A pilsner based on a German ‘recipe’ from the time when the Germans had concessions in China). Cleanliness at the restaurant was amusing: as we sat down, a bowl of hot water was placed between us – we weren’t sure if it was soup, but we watched others washing their hands, their cups, and bowls, before it was whisked away. Since we weren’t offered napkins, at the end I made the motion that I would like to wash my hands having eaten a bit with my fingers…and we were provided with a nice roll of toilet paper. We smiled, paid our vast bill of $175 HK dollars (Approx. $25.00 American) and headed back to the ferry for a wonderful open-deck, star-lit ride back to HK Island. From the boat we watched the sound and light show, watched the ferries darting through the vast harbor, and felt very content.
After weeks of ship’s tours taking us hither and yon, it was nice to be on our own, in familiar territory doing what we wanted on our own schedule. We rode back to Kowloon on the Star Ferry, and headed immediately to bed. A very full day with lots of walking, lots of photographs, and a delightful series of rides on the water.

Sunday, February 27 – Hong Kong

Another gorgeous sunny warm day greeted us and we knew our mission: go to Repulse Bay, on the other side of HK Island, where ‘the boys’ had stopped for tea at the Repulse Bay Hotel. We ferried across the harbor, hopped on a 6X double-decker bus, and were whisked to the bus stop at the base of the steps of the old hotel. We had been warned in guidebooks that the original structure that had existed now was a re-creation, using some parts of the old hotel, and it is no longer a hotel. At this vantage point overlooking a beautiful bay, and many sandy beaches, there are now two thirty-floor towers holding condominiums. At the exact location of the old hotel are two elegant restaurants and a series of upscale shopping arcades. We had hoped to find some old postcards or memorabilia, not unlike what existed at the Raffles Hotel, in Singapore, or the E&O Hotel, in Penang, but it didn’t exist. What still remained (or has been copied) is the grand set of stairs leading up from the street to the entry of the ‘hotel’ entrance. The same lamp fixtures, planters, and statuary line the stairway leading the guest to the level of the stores and restaurants, and it is there that we took the pictures which closely resemble the ones taken by ‘the boys’ in 1928.
Having accomplished our mission, we shared a cup of iced coffee, hopped back on the 6X bus and headed back to Victoria Harbor, the Star Ferry, and our ship. Our two days were a lot more successful than many of our fellow travelers who were ‘whinging’ about the poor ship’s-tours offered in HK. Some had been promised a shopping adventure and high tea on the Veranda at Repulse Bay, which turned instead into a visit to the very touristy Stanley Market and a cup of tea at a nearby restaurant (no scones or cucumber sandwiches, thank you very much).
There have been many ship’s tours on this journey which have left something to be desired. They are not inexpensive, and it is clear that this is where the ship makes a good deal of money (other than the bar bills), but the quality of the tours has been distinctly mixed.
Since we wanted to watch the light show from the top deck of our ship, as we pulled out of our berth, we enjoyed a late dinner at a ‘shared table’ at 8:45. We have done little of this since we’ve been with our friend Doris, but she was not with us so we joined two Danish couples and one German couple for a lively dinner. Everyone is well-traveled, everyone had a good sense of humor and the common languages were either English or German. It is these serendipitous dinners that allow for wonderful new connections and very interesting conversations.
Tomorrow is a day at sea, as we head to Taipei, so we will mail this off before Japan where use of the ship’s satellite system is forbidden and therefore internet, cell and telephone service will be unavailable for two days. (I could haul the laptop on shore to an internet cafe, but being lazy, I’ll probably wait until we’re back to Shanghai, on mainland China, to send the next blog entries.