HKG – the aftermath

The trip was really fun and gratifying, even though I felt lonely at times with no one to talk to. I do wish that I had been a bit more outgoing and talk to a lot more people, take more photographs but I will definitely visit Hong Kong again, so no worries.

Very glaring : Between Hong Kong Island…

Hong Kong December 2004 - a building in Central district

… and Jordan/ Yau Ma Tei/ Mongkok.

Hong Kong December 2004 - typical scene in Kowloon

The latter were also full with these posters, heavily photoshopped and in-your-face…

Hong Kong December 2004 - risque posters

Total travel expenses, not including air ticket : HKG$287.50
Total hotel expenses : HKG$1623
Total expenses for H20 : HKG$44
Total expenses for food and beer : HKG$159.50
Total personal shopping : HKG$217
Miscellaneous : HKG$119

Total cost incurred : HKG$2036.50

There are some things in life that money just can’t buy. Thank you my sponsors for giving me a chance to experience it all.

Read more:

Day 1 : To Hong Kong
Day 2.1 : In Search of Tin Hau
Day 2.2 : The Octopus Strikes Back
Day 2.3 : Flower Crazy
Day 2.4 : Central; A Different World
Day 2.5 : Night Time, Light Time
Day 3.1 : The Buddha Beckons
Day 3.2 : To The Peak and Back
Day 3.3 : This Girl Needs a Beer
Day 4 : Leaving Hong Kong
Some thoughts on Hong Kong

HKG day 4 – leaving on a jet plane

Woke up at around 0530, showered and lugged my stuff downstairs to check out. I had earlier booked a coach from the hotel to the airport, because I did not want to have to find my way to the Airport Express station in Kowloon at this hour of the morning nor take a taxi.

They gave me back HKG$86.40 and I chatted with the receptionist a bit before my coach arrived 10 minutes early. Chuen from my first day was on duty and he took my bag to the bus and asked if I had a nice trip, because he remembered that it was my first time in Hong Kong. Very nice and friendly of him to have remembered.

The coach was actually a small bus that takes people like me to the airport. Since I was the first one on the bus, I had to follow the detour to a few other hotels to pick up some more guests. It was not bad; we went past Mody Road which I never had a chance to explore but basically the whole street had a lot of shops selling watches. Then went to Hung Hom area which was more like how Hongkies live and lead their everyday lives.

We reached the airport at around 0715 – it was definitely windy at this hour of the morning. I took a photo of the sunrise from the airport, then went inside to check in. Got my window seat, yay!

Hong Kong December 2004 - Sun rising, view from airport

After that was waiting around for 1.5 hours before boarding the plane. There weren’t a lot of people onboard the 0915 flight so the guy who was sitting next to me moved elsewhere. I was tired but could not sleep, so I watched ‘Anaconda : The Hunt for the Blood Orchid’ on the small LCD screen.

Reached KLIA 3+ hours later, hello Malaysia.

Read more:

Day 1 : To Hong Kong
Day 2.1 : In Search of Tin Hau
Day 2.2 : The Octopus Strikes Back
Day 2.3 : Flower Crazy
Day 2.4 : Central; A Different World
Day 2.5 : Night Time, Light Time
Day 3.1 : The Buddha Beckons
Day 3.2 : To The Peak and Back
Day 3.3 : This Girl Needs a Beer
Day 4 : Leaving Hong Kong
Some thoughts on Hong Kong

HKG day 3.3 – this girl needs a beer

1930 – Again without a map (actually I had one, just didn’t feel like taking it out) I found myself facing a Clock Tower. The Clock Tower actually, it was just beside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. I spotted a Watsons nearby and decided to buy something, anything to freshen my mouth as it felt moldy; most likely due to the weather. The Listerine film pack cost HKG$13 – how much is it here?

I had no idea where I was going and very wisely decided to go towards the sign that said ‘To Nathan Road’. It was ok, there were many people walking also (duh). Here there here there and I passed by the YMCA Salisbury. Walked a bit more and I saw a mall with shops selling international branded stuff. Only it wasn’t a real mall, but The Peninsula Hong Kong. As I walked past the hotel I was totally blown away by its grandness, fountain, marble and all its poshness. One day, just one day!!

Made a turn at the Peninsula and hey! I was at Nathan Road again! Basically just a heck lot of shops, shops and more shops on both sides of the roads but one thing was for sure – everywhere you go there is bound to be a 7-11, Watsons, Sasa and Mannings (our Guardian). Well for more scenes of Nathan Road, feel free to rent or buy Wong Kar Wai’s 1994 cult classic, Chungking Express.

Something big and red caught my eye and I had to check it out. Half an hour later I emerged with HKG$217 worth of Esprit goods. Heh.

I turned into Peking Road, though I did not know it was Peking Road at that time. Went past a few shops then turned into Lock Road, just walking aimlessly looking at people and shops. I walked past a shop with the sign ‘Internet Cafe’, did a double-take and went inside. The small shop was really a cafe with tables and it was quite full with people having their dinner. The Internet part was around 4 or 5 flat screen iMacs. The Indian shopkeeper was friendly. Of course, charging your customers HKG$15 for 15 mins of Internet usage; there is no room to be unfriendly. I decided to write an e-mail to Ronny telling him the exorbitant charges for the Internet. Come to think of it, using their Internet service to complain about their Internet service – I must have been really bored.

Ten minutes later I paid and left the Internet cafe and walked around some more. I’d read about a couple of Irish pubs along Peking Road but I passed by only one. There was a pub along Lock Road called Red Lion or something, but there were two women standing outside the pub and their clothes decidedly needed more material, so I decided to head back to Peking Road.

Tired, alone, aimless, lonely, I walked into Delaney’s.

I sat at the bar and ordered a pint of Kilkenny for HKG$42. My bartender was a tall Caucasian with a ponytail. I asked him, “Are you a real Irishman working in an Irish pub?”

He grinned, “No, I’m Scottish.”

Minutes later I asked for the menu and proceeded to order something to eat. Fifteen minutes later a HKG$90 lamb’s shanks with mashed potato and vege arrived; I ate all the vege, some of the mashed potato and two bites of the lamb. As the Scot took my plate away I had a sudden yearning for Jaime’s mom’s BBQ lamb.

A Caucasian male had taken his seat at the bar beside me. From his conversations with the bartender I gathered that he had been in Hong Kong many times before. So I asked him if he had been to the Temple Street Night Market and if it was worth a visit. He said he had not been there but he had been to a few street markets in Mongkok, and that was all the street markets he needed to see.

His name was Alan and we began to talk for a bit. He was from Seattle, married with two kids and he works for Microsoft. Apparently Microsoft has factories in China making keyboards and such and Alan is the QC for the designs that material into real stuff. It was really interesting because he had seen and met many people; we talked about the weather, Seattle, Malaysia’s cultures, races, politics and food, America’s recent elections and ‘conspiracies’, the Middle East war and Iran. Really mind-opening because he had friends from Iran and he related to me the status of females in Iran; still really Stone age.

Four Guinness (him) and two whisky coke (me) later, he insisted on paying for my later drinks and then we said goodbye.

I left Delaney’s around 2330 and decided to walk back to my hotel. So I went to the Tsim Tsa Tsui MTR station to return my Octopus card to get back my deposit and any remaining value. At the customer service area there was a man in a suit, from his accent he was obviously from China and boy, he was having a rough time communicating with the younger fella behind the counter.

The whole thing was about the man in the suit asking if one Octopus card could be used for 3 people. The young customer service guy was a bit impatient and after some miscommunication he angered the man. It was interesting to see; the man suddenly stood up very straight and in sing-song Mandarin told the guy, “I want you to explain to me how to get 3 people on the MTR.” The young fella wrote down the price on a piece of paper and the man said stiffly, “I can’t read.”

They stared at each other for a while and then the man asked his questions again. The customer service fella answered and then finally the China man said, “Na bu jiu shing le ma, wei shen me gan chai bu neng jiang qing chu” (isn’t that all it takes? Why couldn’t you explain it clearly earlier?)

The man left and the young fella grumbled unhappily under his breath, when it was my turn another guy took over his place.

After returning the Octopus card, I walked along Nathan Road back to Yau Ma Tei. It was around ]0000 and most of the shops were closing but there were a lot of people walking around. I passed by Park Lane Shoppers’ Boulevard, it was a really pretty sight with little lights all around.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Park Lane Shoppers' Boulevard
Park Lane Shoppers’ Boulevard along Tsim Sha Tsui

I was at Jordan waiting to cross a street when I decided to take a photo of buildings with neon signboards. Quite a common scene everywhere, actually.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Jordan
Random photo of random street

It was a nice walk actually. I didn’t feel unsafe because there were people around me everywhere. A little bit before reaching the Tin Hau Temple I turned off into one of the little streets behind Nathan Road. I wanted to see if the Temple Street Night Market was still operating; it wasn’t. There were a lot of eateries still open for business and there were tables and chairs in the open air; apparently the mamak culture in Malaysia takes on a yellow form in Hong Kong.

I wandered into a VCD/DVD shop and just perused the many many many titles in front of me. Hong Kong movies, Hollywood movies, France, Italy, Paris – you get it all in this little shop, some legal and most not-so-legal, especially the whole rack dedicated to x-rated movies. I was looking and looking and suddenly realised that they might want to close for the day, seeing that they were the only shop around the area still open and not selling food. So I asked the shop owner what time he would close the shop. He replied in Cantonese, “Oh 3 a.m., man man tai lah” (feel free to browse). I bought ‘The Truth About Cats and Dogs’ and ‘Love Actually’ then walked back to my hotel.

The walk from Tsim Tsa Tsui to my hotel in Yau Ma Tei took less than half an hour, not including the detour to the VCD/DVD shop.

Back in my hotel room I took a shower and packed my stuff since I had a 0615 coach to the airport. Fell asleep around 0330 and had two hours of sleep on my last night in Hong Kong.

Read more:

Day 1 : To Hong Kong
Day 2.1 : In Search of Tin Hau
Day 2.2 : The Octopus Strikes Back
Day 2.3 : Flower Crazy
Day 2.4 : Central; A Different World
Day 2.5 : Night Time, Light Time
Day 3.1 : The Buddha Beckons
Day 3.2 : To The Peak and Back
Day 3.3 : This Girl Needs a Beer
Day 4 : Leaving Hong Kong
Some thoughts on Hong Kong

HKG day 3.2 – to The Peak and back

Upon reaching Pier 6, I walked all the way back to the main Star Ferry pier but this time it seemed shorter since I already know where I was heading to. Bus number 15C takes you from the Star Ferry to The Peak lower tram station for HKG$3.20.

Hong Kong December 2004 - tram tracks
The Peak tram tracks

Around 1630 I reached The Peak’s lower tram station (no idea what it means but that was what it said). Bought a return ticket for The Peak’s tram for HKG$30 and then waited along with quite a bit of people. Then the tram came with a host of people coming back from The Peak. Got myself a seat and while waiting for the tram to go, I saw a huge poster advertising the Hong Kong Madame Tussaud Exhibition. There were photos of random people posing with the wax look-alikes of famous people. For some reason the wax statues looked fake to me. The one of Michelle Yeoh looked uneven and unnatural. The poster was a big mistake – I for sure would not visit the exhibition.

After a while the tram started going up the hill. The view uphill was spectacular. At a certain point we were leaning back 45 degrees and to us the buildings outside were all Pisa Towers. But I did not get the enjoy the view so much for there were two very excited females; one next to me and the other behind moving their heads around so much, it was difficult for me to see anything.

We reached The Peak and I just went along with the crowd. Most of them headed to the next building. I decided to go up to the highest level to see the view.

Hong Kong December 2004 - view from The Peak 01
View from Victoria Peak

It was very windy and cold, and my thin cotton jacket was not doing much. So after snapping a few pix with shivering fingers I decided to go back downstairs to the adjacent building, passing by a nice fountain (as if it wasn’t cold enough).

Hong Kong December 2004 - The Peak
Victoria Peak

Bought a lip balm at Sasa for HKG$21 – my lips were dry and crackly; they deserved herbal butter instead of more saliva.

I went upstairs at the next building and headed for the West section, for the sunset of course. There weren’t a lot of people at that time so I just took in the view and played photographer to two chicks. I then walked to the upper section and again took photos for a Chinese couple and realised that their digital camera was more superior than mine – it could snap the sunset as the eye sees it at that time. My camera could not produce such realistic effects. It can only be an old Sony.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Suanie at The Peak 01
Suanie at The Peak

The couple took a photo of me against the backdrop of the sunset then went off. I stayed around some more admiring the mountains and the setting sun. Felt a bit cheated though, it was quite misty and instead of dropping behind the mountains the sun just disappeared amidst the colour palate of the sky.

Hong Kong December 2004 - setting sun
Sunset at Victoria Peak

But the view was admittedly stunning, and I took a photo of the area between the main Peak building and the one I was at.

So after the sun went off to the West, I walked to the East section and FUCK! It was real cold – the Northeast wind blew like it has never blown before! Hair was all over the place; once again I became photographer to the Chinese couple I met earlier.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Suanie at The Peak 02
I was SHIVERING…

After the couple left there was only one other person besides me. I stayed for a bit and dropped a coin to use the binoculars – with difficulty since I was shivering so much and my fingers were like ice. It was so misty that the binoculars didn’t do any good.

The sky turned darker and I managed to take a couple of night shots of the city.

Hong Kong December 2004 - view from The Peak 02
View from Victoria Peak at night

Couldn’t take the wind and cold anymore, I was sure that my face was as blue as it felt. I went downstairs in search of McDonalds, since Janice had earlier insisted that I try the McDonalds in Hong Kong. Like an obedient slave girl I bought a (real) hamburger and tea. Just so you know, it tasted like beef burger.

After dinner I went back downstairs and passed by a nice restaurant that looked like a cosy little cottage. The menu displayed outside offered nice-sounding food at very high prices. Another time (when I am freaking rich and famous) maybe.

I’d seen enough of the famous Peak. I was ready to go back to Kowloon.

Went down by the tram again and this time I was able to see the view more clearly. At night Hong Kong Island transforms into a city of lights, it was most spectacular to see. As mentioned earlier Christmas spirit was definitely in the air; some buildings had light displays of Santa Clauses in various poses with his bag, with his reindeer or just standing there laughing.

Again I took bus number 15C back to Star Ferry but this time the top of the double-decker bus was wide open. Of course I sat there even though it was a bit chilly. We passed by buildings after buildings after buildings; I even managed to snap a shot of the cars behind the bus.

Hong Kong December 2004 - from the bus
Lots of cars

We reached the main Star Ferry and out of nowhere I decided to take the ferry back to Tsim Tsa Tsui instead of the MTR. Queued up with a lot of people, apparently the Star Ferry management does not believe in proper queuing-up lines. I stood behind three well-dressed Caucasian ladies who were talking about someone’s birthday; she got this that this that. Then on to clothes; one of them was wearing a very expensive Yves Saint Laurent skirt. They smelt very nice.

Too bad about heels on wood jetties though.

So everybody grabbed a seat on board the ferry. I was one of the earliest and was happily shifting in my bench when someone in front of me flipped the back leaning wood over. So now everyone was facing the opposite; everyone was facing me. A bit red-faced I turned the wood over as well; hey now I am facing the same side as everyone! Only that some people remarked in Mandarin, “no, she was sitting at the wrong side.”

Nothing much to be said about the journey back except that the display of lights on all the buildings were marvelous. Well, there was a black woman sitting next to me and she defined perfection. Beautifully sculptured face, tall, great boobs, even better booty in her tight blue jeans – too bad her man was kind of old and not so good looking. Love is blind; her diamond engagement ring was certainly glaring. My eyes my eyes!!!

Then we arrived at Tsim Tsa Tsui near the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, but that’s another story.

Read more:

Day 1 : To Hong Kong
Day 2.1 : In Search of Tin Hau
Day 2.2 : The Octopus Strikes Back
Day 2.3 : Flower Crazy
Day 2.4 : Central; A Different World
Day 2.5 : Night Time, Light Time
Day 3.1 : The Buddha Beckons
Day 3.2 : To The Peak and Back
Day 3.3 : This Girl Needs a Beer
Day 4 : Leaving Hong Kong
Some thoughts on Hong Kong

HKG day 3.1 – the Buddha beckons

Woke up around 0900, showered and had breakfast at the hotel. Pretty much your standard everyday hotel breakfast serving sausages, eggs and the lot. After a solitary breakfast (sniff) I went back to room, got ready and went out.

Took the MTR to Central and walked to the Star Ferry. Got confused for a bit – there were no signs to Pier 6 where I could take a ferry to Lantau Island. Tried asking a guy who looked local but didn’t really understand what he said. In the end I decided to follow a couple of tourists who seemed to know where they were going. Walked quite a distance, passing by the bus station and finally reached Pier 6. I could see the magnificent Four Seasons Hotel which would be completed in 2005.

Bought a ferry ticket to Lantau Island, it costs HKG$21. Bought another bottle of a 500ml mineral water for HKG$5 before boarding the ferry. On the way I could see lots of small islands – nice view for sure but I decided to take a short nap instead. Woke up 35 mins later at Mui Wo (Silvermine Bay) and queued up for Bus 2 to get to Po Lin Monastery. The bus ride costs HKG$16 per journey; you have to have exact change. I didn’t want to end up like a few tourists in front of me who had to get off the steps to get the change so I used my Octopus card.

The bus ride itself was an experience. I sat next to the window; very beautiful view but also felt very unsafe. We were going up a mountain and the roads were small and winding and the bus driver wasn’t exactly driving slowly. We passed by the Shek Pin Reservoir, very blue water and from there we could see the back of the Giant Buddha atop a mountain.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery- Giant Buddha
Tian Tan Buddha from afar

We reached Po Lin Monastery around 1200, there were quite a few people around. I was already feeling very calm and serene. I headed for the temple first. Bought a handful of incense for HKG$18, lit them with difficulty for 3 of the incense were rather huge, prayed for a bit then stuck them to the few pots. Or at least tried to. Of course I got burnt by the falling ashes; one week later I still bear the marks.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery 03
Temples temples temples

After offering the incense I went inside the first area and made a small donation. There and in a couple more temples there were large and beautiful figurines that included Gautama Buddha, Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva and a few of her manifestations, the four cardinal deities and Amitabha Buddha. I could recognise some of the Buddha’s disciples though I couldn’t name them then. One of the figurines was definitely Manjusri.

At one of the areas you could do stick fortune telling. Never done it before and it wasn’t easy, trying to get one stick out and keeping the others in. So maybe it’s either luck or your own fear – the stick that stood out the furthest, please fall out so I don’t have to embarrass myself by doing it all over again.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery 04
Where I stuck my incense

I got Lot 29 and asked the woman what it meant since I couldn’t read Chinese. I didn’t understand her Cantonese so she led me to a younger guy sitting nearby, who showed me a translation book of all the lot numbers. Twenty-nine… twenty-nine… there you are. Something about a sword and bravery and a play and… stuff. I think it said I would be successful in my undertakings but would have to watch out for my family members’ safety and health. Love life would be good. I peeked at Lot 30 and decided that Lot 29 was a heck lot better.

Walked out of the temples, there were the impressive archway and a giant incense burner.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery 01
Said impressive archway

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery 02
Giant incense burner for the giant Buddha statue?

Bought a HKG$23 pass to visit an exhibition which was not open to the general public; unless you pay of course. I had no idea what the exhibition was about, but what the heck.

Hence began the climbing of the many many many steps (all 286 of them) to reach the Giant Buddha. Was a bit exhausting, then again I know I am far from fit. Overheard a girl from China telling her partner she couldn’t climb anymore. Her partner started to meanly berate her in a very rude manner about her fitness and how she should exercise when they get back home. What a man bitch.

At the very top, the Giant Buddha wasn’t very huge… duh. There were a few statues around, female deities offering flowers etc to the Giant Buddha. Walked around the inside hall, saw a plaque in memory of Anita Mui and there were flowers and bears and stuff left behind by her fans.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery - Giant Buddha close
Tian Tan Buddha, as close as I could get

The general exhibition was basically large paintings about Gautama Buddha’s life. I went upstairs to the paid exhibition; on the second floor there were a lot of paintings of Buddha and generally about Buddhism, calligraphy and stuff. Another floor up was 2 of the Buddha’s relics. According to the information board, when the Buddha passed way there were 84,000 relics in the form of tiny crystals and today Po Lin has 2 of them. I couldn’t actually see the relics; it was roped off so you couldn’t get too near. Luckily the understanding committee of the temple decided to take a large close up photo of the relic and place it at the altar. I have heard of people breaking down and cry upon seeing the Buddha’s relics. I think they are either dramatic or overly emotional. Of course it is an important thing in Buddhism history but it was never an important thing in Dharma. A relic just reminds you of the Buddha, that he lived and taught, just like all the figurines carved in memory of the Buddha in their various representations. All this… holding on to an image thing is pure nonsense. In the same way we bow to the Buddha because we respect Him and His Teachings, because we aim to be like Him and free ourselves from Samsara. And all your Boddhisatvas are elevated beings, they do not really have a form, a self but only mind. When we recite a Boddhisatvas name the effect was to connect our minds with the particular Boddhisatva’s energy so s/he could assist etc.

I am not making any of this up. There IS a connection between different realms in form of energy and connectivity. For example I have never seen a spirit or if you like, a ghost before in my life. That could be due to that my ‘vibes’ are not too much in tune with their vibes. It’s really all physics, one way or the other. The best person to explain this would be OYW, one of the most logical and practical Buddhist speakers I know.

Of course being human we are naturally weak and more often than not need a god-like memory to hold on to, be it your assorted gods and deities, power, status or money. And I’m not saying that it is a bad thing; in a way it builds and inspires faith. So long you don’t harm other people and make their lives absolute misery or distorts the real purpose of learning the Dharma, you can jolly well do anything you want. We all need something to hold on to at times.

I can feel spirituality anywhere — in a Christian church with the choir praising the Lord or in my room alone by myself contemplating life. The reason I take on Buddhism philosophy was because it proves to be more scientific, logical, responsible and sensible.

The Buddha was a very logical man.

I don’t mean to diss the relics; it’s just a culmination of how I feel about such things and never got to writing them. In his book ‘Funny Monk’s Tales’ Venerable Sujiva related an incident with Venerable Dr. K Sri Dhammananda:

“So one day I asked the Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda what he thought of relic claims. He gave me a distant look and with bulging eyes said, “These are things concerning the devotional aspects of Buddhism. We do not need all these to study and practise the Dhamma.”

That jolted me up a bit. So it’s not so important after all. It’s true, as the Buddha himself said: “He who sees my teachings sees me.” What is important is that we follow the Buddha’s exhortation and practise the Dhamma. So the Venerable Dhammananda’s answer was a good one but I wonder how I can get the message across to those people who still get frenzied over relics. Ah, faith, good faith, you should always come with wisdom, otherwise it can be dangerous.”

But it was a great honour for me to be able to see the Buddha’s relics, even though it was quite a distance away from the roped-off area.

Walked out of the exhibition and it was quite windy. After all we were at a peak. The view was breathtakingly beautiful, oh the surrounding mountains just took my breath away! Not that the steps didn’t do the job but this was in awe rather than exhaustion. I could recognise a couple of the mountain elements, thought to myself, hey that’s a fire mountain. Wished I had paid more attention in my Feng Shui classes.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery 05
Very beautiful view

Then began my descend to catch a bus back to Mui Wo.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Polin Monastery 06
Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look…

As the bus had yet to arrive and there was already a queue I decided to look around at one of the stalls selling post cards, souvenirs and such at high prices to unsuspecting tourists. I approached an old woman and in my broken Cantonese, asked if she had anything for my burn marks. She was rather nice and toot-toot, and handed me a small jar of something which I was quite sure would do the job. The Chinese always has these ointments and stuff for cases like mine. As I was applying the balm, a Caucasian female was asking the price for the displayed postcards. The old woman asked me to relay the price information to the female which I willingly obliged.

Since the old woman was so nice to me I decided to stick around her stall a bit longer, pretending to be interested in the dusty souvenirs of qilin and Chinese fans and played interpreter for her and the Caucasian female. When the female left I too decided to take my leave and queue up for the bus. I asked the old woman if I could take a photo of her and she laughingly but adamantly refused, claiming, “hou yok shun ar” (not presentable). Finally I gave up, said goodbye and made a beeline for the queue.

The journey back to Mui Wo was just as scary. When we reached Mui Wo (in one piece) I bought a ticket back to Pier 6 on Hong Kong Island. Basically the ferry journey was uneventful but the sight was pretty nice.

Read more:

Day 1 : To Hong Kong
Day 2.1 : In Search of Tin Hau
Day 2.2 : The Octopus Strikes Back
Day 2.3 : Flower Crazy
Day 2.4 : Central; A Different World
Day 2.5 : Night Time, Light Time
Day 3.1 : The Buddha Beckons
Day 3.2 : To The Peak and Back
Day 3.3 : This Girl Needs a Beer
Day 4 : Leaving Hong Kong
Some thoughts on Hong Kong

HKG day 2.5 – night time light time

Said goodbye to G at the Central station and took a train to Tsim Tsa Tsui. I saw a really hot chick and instantly thought of the friends back home. So I asked her and her friend if I could take a photo of them. I told them the reason too; my male-hormone driven friends back in Malaysia would appreciate some cun chicks’ photos. They laughingly agreed. I don’t think the photo captures what I felt was beautiful about her though. Her almond-shaped eyes really sparkled (natural sparkle, not the contact lenses crap you get these days) and just a general feeling of cheerfulness and innocence.

We chatted for a while and I found out that the other girl was her sister. Same eyes definitely. They were both Hongkies studying in Perth and were on their way to Mongkok for some shopping. We talked about her Malaysian housemates and how they would occasionally do a pot luck and she would get to taste some Malaysian food. And how she loved roti telur which she would buy frozen from the supermarket to be pan-fried. I was like, adoi… but never mind, she would definitely go to Malaysia one day. She also told me that a can of Coca-Cola in Hong Kong costs HKG$6. That, my friends is roughly RM3. Malaysian Coke lovers, be glad.

We said goodbye at the Tsim Tsa Tsui station. I wanted to go to Mody Road at Tsim Tsa Tsui East and ended up getting lost for 30 minutes. There were quite a few construction works being carried out from Tsim Tsa Tsui to Tsim Tsa Tsui East, road signs telling you to follow this path and ended up leading to another path, stuff like that.

Sounds like KL eh? Only on a smaller scale.

Also when I changed my clothes earlier I forgot to take out my map. But it was not that bad; the redeeming part was when I accidentally located Tsim Tsa Tsui promenade, something like Singapore’s Esplanade but bigger (duh). It was late afternoon, around 1700 and there were joggers, families and such taking an evening stroll.

Then lo and behold, I found Mody Road! I also found John! Actually he found me. Was very surprised but in a good way. So we went to his hotel; Grand Stanford Intercontinental which was just beside Mody Road on Salisbury Road and had coffee at the lounge.

Hong Kong December 2004 -John
John, wahey!

We talked a lot, then met up with two Filipino friends working in Hong Kong. We had dinner at the hotel, thanks to John who decided to belanja. We took some photos but I realised that no one really knows how to operate my Sony digital cam, except for a selected few. The waitress who took a group photo certainly didn’t even after 3 tries. So most of the photos came out blurry. Sien x100.

We chatted some more then the girls had to leave. John and I decided to take a walk at the Tsim Tsa Tsui promenade. At the hotel entrance we saw this baby…

Hong Kong December 2004 - Lamborghini
Would you like a Lamborghini with that?

Apparently it costs a cool US$5 million. I can’t help but wonder, how could they bear to spend so much money on a car and where can I meet these people?!?

John and I walked across an overhead bridge to get to the promenade – there were lights all around us! It seemed that every building was partaking in the Christmas spirit. A light feast and a most beautiful one at that.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Promenade
The Tsim Tsa Tsui Promenade

Hong Kong December 2004 - Christmas lights 01

Hong Kong December 2004 - Christmas lights 02

Hong Kong December 2004 - Christmas lights 03

It was around 2220 and a bit windy. The view of Hong Kong Island just right across was so grand and glorious and entrancing. So to our left was the sea view and to our right was again the gigantic displays of Santa and his reindeer.

We walked a bit more then decided to sit down on the pavement and just chill. Of course there were quite a few looks our way but my philosophy has always been: I am a tourist, I don’ fuck care. We talked quite a bit there, then walked back to his hotel and had coffee at the lounge again, chatted some more again. He gave me some chocolates… hehe I am a very happy camper.

Hong Kong December 2004 - view from Promenade
View from the Tsim Tsa Tsui Promenade

Left at around 0115, decided to take a taxi since the MTR was closed and I didn’t feel like walking back. My young taxi driver could hardly speak English and I could hardly speak Cantonese, so it was quite fun (and funny) telling him that I wanted to go to 7-11 before returning to my hotel. Finally he understood, ‘chat sap yat‘. He was quite surprised that I was traveling alone. I told him that my friends said Hong Kong is pretty much a safe place, and like everywhere you just have to be careful. He agreed and said that it was pretty daring of me to go to a foreign place all by myself.

Stopped at a 7-11 in Yau Ma Tei – by the way the entire Hong Kong is littered with 7-11 – and bought two 1.5 litres of mineral water for HKG$23.20. Definitely much cheaper than the HKG$35 for 500ml I saw at the Flower Market. A couple of turns later we reached the Yau Ma Tei public park where I had to cross the road to get to the hotel. Would be pretty silly if he made another huge round to end up at the hotel door, seeing that there were still quite a few people walking around, mostly tourists I would guess. My taxi fare came up to HKG$30 (it was after midnight). The taxi driver told me to take care of myself and be careful since I was alone. He refused to accept a tip.

Where are all the rude taxi drivers I have heard and read so much about?

Not really complaining, but it is a well-known fact that Hong Kong people are not the friendliest lot around. But according to Jaime much later, SARS (the disease not the return to China) hit them quite bad and everyone’s income was so affected, they decided to be nicer to other people.

The hotel locks its main glass doors after 12 midnight as a safety measure, which I was quite happy about. I had to produce my key to show them that I was staying there. Showered then tidied up my stuff a bit, wrote my entry for the day and now watching the Oprah Winfrey show with the cast of Bridget Jones 2.

It is now 0315. Time to sleep.

Read more:

Day 1 : To Hong Kong
Day 2.1 : In Search of Tin Hau
Day 2.2 : The Octopus Strikes Back
Day 2.3 : Flower Crazy
Day 2.4 : Central; A Different World
Day 2.5 : Night Time, Light Time
Day 3.1 : The Buddha Beckons
Day 3.2 : To The Peak and Back
Day 3.3 : This Girl Needs a Beer
Day 4 : Leaving Hong Kong
Some thoughts on Hong Kong

HKG day 2.4 – Central; a different world

The Flower Market had one thing in common with our Petaling Street – after a while everything looked the same. So G and I left the Flower Market Road in search of a place to have lunch. We walked quite a bit, went past a few street markets when he finally decided to take me to one of his favourite restaurants on Hong Kong Island. So we walked back to my hotel, I had a change of clothing and then we walked to the Yau Ma Tei station and took the MTR to the Central station.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Central 01
Central district

Hong Kong Island is nothing like Kowloon. NOTHING! At least Central was not. It even outstrips Singapore city – higher and higher skyscrapers, offices for famous companies and shops for world-famous designer names. Massive billboards were all over the place. It was quite intimidating, really. Of course you can see photos of the buildings on postcards and what-not, but seeing it on print and being there to feel the proximity of the tall and impressive buildings are two very different things.

By the way have I mentioned the tram? It was cute.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Central 03
Said tram…

We were at Charter Road where there was some kind of activity for kids going on.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Central 02
There’s no escaping from kids

There were also a lot of Filipinos sitting on the sidewalk. I mean, literally sitting, asses on the hard tar and everything. A lot means the whole street. I have seen KLCC with lots of foreign workers on Sundays before but this was something else. Basically they sat on mats or newspapers and they had all sorts of bags with them, which G told me later was food; snacks and stuff. The majority of them were playing cards sprawled on the floor, just little groups everywhere talking and playing cards. I didn’t dare take a photo of them but here’s a random one of a couple girls with a huge luggage bag. Honestly speaking the whole scenario was as if they all just arrived on boats.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Central 04
Notice the girls…

We walked to Lan Kwai Fong; the Bangsar/ Sri Hartamas of KL (old Bangsar at least), the Boat Quay of Singapore. But I suppose it could pass off as an area in London – the atmosphere was just so… elite-y. The pubs were rather quiet though, then again it was a Sunday. The roads were a bit uphill; I was panting and whining and G just looked at my unfit state and shook his head. At least I think he did, I was too tired to look up and see. Christmas is definitely a big thing especially in this area.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Central 05
There be uphill roads…

Hong Kong December 2004 - Central 06
The obligatory tourist photo

G took me to a restaurant called the Yung Kee Restaurant. According to him it is the most famous restaurant in Hong Kong, all the important people eat here. He personally knows someone in Malaysia whose craving for Yung Kee’s roasted duck see him perform A-list movie stars actions; the person would occasionally call the restaurant and ask them to fly in a roasted duck the next day. A lot of money can’t hurt.

Hong Kong December 2004 - Central 07
Food in Yung Kee

We had dim sum and fried noodles with beef. Erm, it was nice. The problem was that the food gets cold rather quickly because of the outside weather and in-house air-conditioning, so unlike in Malaysia you can’t leave it for 10 mins to chat then eat, unless you like your food cold. But I was not lying about it being nice though I know a place in Taman Megah that serves equally good dim sum.

In case you were wondering, the bill came up to HKG$240 (thank you G).

While walking back to the Central MTR, we saw a couple of Hong Kong police. Like most Hongkies they were small in size. They should meet our Malaysian police force, learn some tricks and gain some weight.

Read more:

Day 1 : To Hong Kong
Day 2.1 : In Search of Tin Hau
Day 2.2 : The Octopus Strikes Back
Day 2.3 : Flower Crazy
Day 2.4 : Central; A Different World
Day 2.5 : Night Time, Light Time
Day 3.1 : The Buddha Beckons
Day 3.2 : To The Peak and Back
Day 3.3 : This Girl Needs a Beer
Day 4 : Leaving Hong Kong
Some thoughts on Hong Kong