Good times in HK

Hey,
I just got back from Hong Kong on Tuesday night. Everything went really well!!! It was so smooth at the Visa office, thank God. I heard all sorts of horror stories before I left, like, "we had to wait for three hours", "they declined my visa on a whim", "there was a women screaming and crying in line ahead of us", etc, etc, etc. So, I got there early, dressed nicely, did my hair so that I didn't look like a complete hobo, smiled, was incredibly polite, had my papers in order, and guess what? the entire process took no more than 15 minutes!!!

But that's really the boring bit about HK, the best part was the CITY! I arrived in the airport and met up with Elise just 1.5 hours later. It was great to see her again. For those who don't know, Elise has been traveling through Asia for close to two months and we were really hoping to see each other. Unfortunately our traveling schedules just didn't jive so we thought that we wouldn't be able to hook-up. That is until I had to go to HK for an unexpected visa run!

Her uncle picked us up at the airport and we headed to his place, which is situated about one hour outside of downtown HK. The family was so friendly and accomodating. I still can't believe how lucky I am. Not only did I have a place to stay but the family really took care of me!

The next day we woke-up super early and headed to the visa office. Once that was done, Elise and I headed up to the Peak Tram. This brief ride took us up to a stunning view of HK. Even though it was a beautiful, blue sky day, the pictures are not the clearest due to the haze generated by smog. Still, it was spectacular.

After taking the tram down we hit the markets!!!! Hong Kong is a very wealthy city and much cleaner than Kaohsiung. Although there was smog, I found the air quality to be better due to the lack of scooters. Those little hogs are terrible polluters! Anyways, back to the shopping: HK is kinda like downtown Toronto but picture every little alley way jammed with open air markets and vendors. You'd think that a cosmopolitan city like HK would be incredibly expensive but it's just the opposite! I found the most beautiful things for next to nothing! The markets are everywhere and I had a great time haggling. Never except the first price! I want to thank Rebecca for teaching me a little bit about the art of barganing.

Elise and I went out for Won Ton soup in a little dinner where we sat with whoever happened to arrive. Then it was back to her uncle's house after a long process of trying to find the right bus stop with bad directions, ridiculous!

We all went out for dinner that night to the country and yatch club, believe or not. The food was amazing, totally unlike any Chinese food I've sampled in Canada. Much, much better. Her uncle ordered a variety of dishes, all of which were delicious. Afterwards we hit another restaurant for dessert. I find that Chinese desserts are much better than the typical North American ones; they're not as sweet and tend to feature fresh fruit. I think my favorite are the rice balls (kinda like a gelatenous goo wrapped in sesame seeds with various kinds of filling).

The second day we headed downtown again to take a ferry ride through the HK harbour, got some great shots of the cityscape. We then went out for dim sum after a brief tram ride through the downtown core. Transportation is so efficient! We never waited for more than a few minutes for either the bus, tram, or subway. It's also very inexpensive, only $2 USD for an hour long ride!

After shopping a little bit more we had a few pints of cider at a British style pub, laughed a lot, and then had to say goodbye. Sad to do, but I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to see Elise, what an unexpected treat.

After the farewell, I headed to the beautiful Man Mo Temple just in time to light some incense sticks before they closed for the night. Then, I headed to the Central Station to catch a subway to the airport.

I'm left with a really positive impression of HK. Picture ultra-modern architecture snuggled up beside shops in the dried seafood district. Picture a red taxi cab driving on the left hand side of the road at a break-neck speed. Picture older couples waltzing in a dinner theater inspired restaurant at 3 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon. Picture smoked ducks hung up in a shop window while the butcher on the other side prepares a customer's order. Picture an elderly woman haggling with another local over the cost of a vibrantly coloured silk pashima scarf. Imagine this and you will be able to share in my sense of this fantastic city.

I will post pictures soon, our computer is down at the apartment so it might not be for a little while.

Love you all,
Rach