Trip to Hong Kong

March 29 - April 4, 2005

( <-- PAGE TWO OF TWO)

CONTENTS:
(Most of the pictures are linked to larger versions)

THURSDAY, MARCH 31 (CONT.)


I was a little apprehensive about gambling in China alone in an unfamiliar casino, but it turned out to be the best part of Macau! My guide books said that the casino with the most personality was "Casino Lisboa" and since it was also easy to find due to its garish design and the fact that it was at the corner of a large intersection, I chose that one and walked in the front doors. Before the airport-style security at the entrance, I had to leave my backpack at the counter, but they didn't want me to leave anything valuable so they gave me back my digital camera to put in my purse, even though no photos are allowed inside the building. Heh. After I exited security, there was an empty blackjack table on my left still in the entranceway. Huh? Anyway, I walked through the doorway to get to the main, central Area of Gambling.

Since the circular room was a few steps down, I could see the whole room at once. It was fairly crowded, but I could still walk through easily enough. I found myself not uncomfortable at all for two reasons, one: there were plenty of women my age present and two: being a spectator was perfectly fine. In fact, there were more spectators than players. I spectated on a blackjack game for a while. It seemed fairly similar to blackjack everywhere. I did not understand what was going on at any of the other tables, mainly because the names of the games were generally not in English. Lots of chips and squares and dealers tended to be involved... one may have been craps since it was the right size, but I'm not positive since I've never played that. One English sign I did spot was that for Baccarat. I watched that for about 10 minutes, but I could not figure out what was going on, how a winning hand was figured, and what all the players were keeping track of on their little sheet of paper. I saw no roulette at all. I wandered around some more and discovered a basement with slots and video poker (the only other slot machines were along the outer circular corridor) and I discovered the Second Floor. The Second Floor is identical to the First except that smoking is allowed. Of course I would much rather spend my time not smelling burning tobacco, but what can I say, I found a good table on the smoking floor.

Minimum bets ranged from HK$100 - $300 (US$13 - $40) in the main area. (I imagine the rooms along the outer edge and the "VIP" rooms on the upper floors had higher, but I did not wander there.) I was hoping for less, but oh well. I sat down at a $100 table and gave the dealer HK$900. I started out nice and strong but managed to have a communication mishap almost right away despite that there really isn't much verbal communication in blackjack. Luckily, it was not a big thing. Here's what happened: I was dealt a blackjack (yay) but the dealer only matched my bet and didn't give me one and a half. I was confused and he was trying to explain something in Cantonese; I did not understand one word. (Another player at the end of the table helpfully said, "You win!") I finally understood when I looked at the dealer's hand and saw that he had an Ace showing. He was offering me the chance to take my won chip and be done with it or risk that he had a blackjack, too, and I wouldn't win anything. I took the risk. I got my one and a half. (This and other surrender-early options - where you stop playing and only lose half your bet - are not in the online blackjack game I wrote. I'm pretty sure surrendering doesn't help your odds, but the players around me did it a lot.)

Another random option the table had was this extra betting square that said "any pair" which you could put money on and win a lot back if you were dealt a pair. I only saw someone win it once. I don't remember if they have these back home or not. A cute old couple sat next to me at one point, the husband betting and the woman watching, but with her own chips that she occasionally put on her husband's hand. Once, I guess her husband wasn't doing so well, so she put it on my hand! Sadly, I lost that hand and felt bad, cause she was so cute. It seemed to be a normal thing to put chips in other people's betting circles.

I stopped when I had bet all my original chips and then cashed in my "winning" pile, which was taller than my original pile had been. I was up 350 dollars! Well, Hong Kong dollars. But still! I gave the pleased dealer a nice tip.

I should have expected this, but I got totally lost trying to find the exit. (I could find other exits that led to shopping, but not the front doors where my backpack was waiting.) I walked around and around and around that circle, not seeing anything that looked like an exit. I finally asked one (of the many) guards. He pointed and I followed, but it did not look like an exit. Then I did a double take when I realized it was indeed the exit and that the Random Blackjack Table I had seen by the entrance was really a foil for those trying to exit - it makes it just look like another of the outer rooms. Sneaky bastards! But I made it back out. I wish I could have taken photos inside, especially of the "Typhoon Warning" sign (since I heard the Lisboa is the last to close during a storm) but I did not want to risk the wrath of all the guards.

And that was my China Gambling Experience.

I walked back to the ferry down the main casino street, but it was a lot longer than I thought. Even though I was distracted by what looked like The Coliseum in Rome in the distance, my feet were exhausted by the time I returned by ferry. I ate a 7-11 sandwich for dinner as I watched Prince of Egypt on TV (it must have been edited strangely since I didn't remember it being quite so silly) on a station's Blockbuster Weekend. There is a decent amount of English programming here I've noticed, but the commercials are still in Cantonese.

FRIDAY, APRIL 1

No Steeenking Observatories


If Actresses Were Lampposts
and
Not The Sydney Opera House
 The weather continued to be chilly and rainy with cool dramatic fog effects, but not much of a view. A guard kicked me off the brick ledge where I was sitting (fairly close to where I took this picture - in fact, if you are looking for the tai chi class, try to find this statue), consulting my guide book and waiting for the Tai Chi class to begin. So, I stood while consulting instead. Then I Tai Chied. It was fun, but it was exactly the same script and the half I missed turned out to be a warm up and breathing exercise. They didn't remember me from two days ago, though. I overheard some other late tourists talk about how they got lost trying to find it, too, so it wasn't just me and my over reliance on outdated books.

I found the best place to eat! This internet cafe served me eggs and toast (and baked beans in case you are British and find that normal) right at my computer where I got a half hour free for ordering. Yum, yum, yum and I got to check my email to boot. AND it opens at 8am, which is almost reasonable! (Notice I'm gloating about it while I can because today is the last day I don't sleep in...)

I took the subway over to the Island and decided to, despite the fog, check out the observatory at the Bank of China building (both my guide books promised a panoramic view on the 47th floor.) Luckily, it is a very easy building to find, being so dramatic, angular and familiar because it is in so many Hong Kong advertisements.

Like in many tall buildings, there were lots of different elevator lobbies that served different floors. I had to take an elevator to the 43rd floor to get to the ones that would reach the 47th. Inside the elevator, there were two buttons: 1 and 43. I took a picture because I found that amusing, but it came out blurry. Then my batteries ran out and I had to switch. I will have to buy more since I'm running out - when did I turn into such a shutterbug? I exited at the quiet 43rd floor, went to the other elevators, pressed the button for 47, and nothing happened. I pressed it again. Nothing happened. I came out and the guy at the desk I saw earlier was already approaching me. "Where is the observatory?" I asked. "This is the observatory," he said. Hmm. Well, I guess there were a couple (kind of dirty) windows I could look out in two directions. And there was a nice place to sit. But this was not panoramic by any definition. I took a photo anyway (see left) but I was really confused. I finally approached the guy, with my guide books in hand, and said that BOTH mentioned an observatory on the 47th floor. He said "Lots of books say that. But the 47th floor is empty." Um, WTF? My books were both published in 2002. Is this some kind of 2002 promise that was never actualized? Or did they just close it. Argh. I went back down (past a Starbucks) and walked around in Hong Kong Park instead.

Hong Kong Park is pretty and lots of fun to stroll around and take photos in; I saw a wedding party doing just that. It has bridges, turtles, caves, flowers, a tai chi garden, an aviary, and a tower you could look over the park from. Very pretty, though my feet protested quickly after the last two days of nonstop walking.

The "We Don't Have No Steeenking Observatory" Building

HONG KONG PARK


Tai Chi Garden

Water Imitating the Building
or the Building, the Waterfall?

Central Hong Kong
No, Really

I Can't Resist A Spiral Stairway

Playing With My
Camera's "Flower" Setting

I had lunch at a nearby all-English non-Starbucks coffee shop and, unlike all the Starbucks I've run across this trip, they actually had Chai Tea! (And here, I thought being closer to India would help, but it appears that Chinese tea is the only usual option besides black tea here.) Then I taxied (I'm getting lazy) to the top of the Pedestrian Escalator that my guide book mentions. The Pedestrian Escalator (see photo) is to make it easier for locals who live in the hillside residential high-rises to reach downtown, where most of them work. They would otherwise have to navigate confusing, narrow, twisty streets. Along the escalator are all sorts of shops and restaurants (and Starbucks) making it a fun journey for tourists, too.

What I didn't realize was that it was a singular series of escalators. That means, there is only one at a time and they can only go in one direction at once and, except for morning rush hour, that direction is up. So I didn't actually ride the escalator. Instead, I walked down the stairwell next to it for many blocks. It was still a cool walk, but I was hoping for a more elaborate escalator given how the guide books go on and on about them (will someone just take these books away from me?)

In the middle of my escalator ride, my camera informed me that my memory card was full. If I wasn't mistaken, I was exactly halfway through my trip at this point. I was able to do some selective deleting (and I still have my backup 16MB card if I get full again) but I will have to start to exercise some self-control.

I wandered down Hollywood Street and Queen Street (these are apparently famous streets) and ended up at "Man Mo" temple. Although the spiral incense burners on the ceiling look cool, it also means ash piles up on the floor. When I visited, the workers were spraying the floor clean of ashes and nearly splashing the few tourists there in the process, including me. Luckily, I had a rain jacket around my waist (as it has been the whole trip.)

I returned to Kowloon (which means "Nine Dragons" in English, isn't that cool?) and searched for dinner. I was going to try the famed el-cheapo Indian restaurants in the giant dilapidated building of really budget accommodation called "Chunking Mansions" but kind of got creeped out by the clientele inside and did not make it all the way to the elevator before turning tail and fleeing. A few doors down, though, I ended up actually TALKING to one of the many people from India and Pakistan trying to sell me tailored clothes. I think he was really bored because he didn't try to sell me anything again although we chatted for about 10 minutes. He told me he was "a fan of America" (well, that makes one of us) and that he had lived in Hong Kong 7 years, but couldn't speak Cantonese (he did speak a little Japanese, however.) He directed me to some restaurants around the corner. I picked one. It was cheap beef curry, but not very good. They served me water in a blue, plastic cup. But I remembered to tip. I've been tipping everyone like crazy ever since I realized I had forgotten (except for the restaurants with a service charge already.)

For my evening's entertainment, I followed signs to something not listed in my guide book (sacrilege!) It was called the "Avenue of Stars." It was impossible to get lost finding it. When the signs stopped, you were there. Unfortunately, it was very silly. The Avenue walk along the harbor is nice, but its Hollywood-style "Stars" with famous people's handprints is a little cheesy. I found Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh and lots of Chinese actors I'd never heard of (I didn't see Jackie Chan, but his face is everywhere here. "Come to this sushi restaurant because Jackie Chan ate here once and we have a picture to prove it!").

At 8pm, they started this light show. At first I was really impressed that they got a half dozen buildings across the harbor to participate in showing cool lights in synchronicity. But I think the effect was diminished by four things, one: the very low clouds - the tops of the International Phinance Center and the Bank of No Steeenking Observatories were shrouded in clouds (see picture); two: the general misty weather, which made it all blurry anyway, three: the fact that the lights didn't seem to do much other than blink in patterns though this might be related to reason one, and four: being forced to listen to this awful narration that sounded like a 15-minute advertisement for Hong Kong and music that sounded like the intro to an awards show that went on and on. Not what I call "symphonic" as was advertised. No wonder none of my guide books mentioned it. I guess it made my evening walk along the harbor more entertaining, but it's not worth actually taking time out for. A whole lot of other people seemed to be enjoying it, though.

SATURDAY, APRIL 2

Dim Sum, Po Lin, and a Foot Massage


I saw the sun for the first time today! Well, let me rephrase... the sun was deep in the mist, but I saw my shadow! An effect of this newfound sun was that it was HOT out. Too hot to walk in Kowloon Park like I planned, so I walked on the shady sidewalk instead.

Very quickly, I was approached by a cute little girl who couldn't have been more than 9 years old wearing a girl-scout-like uniform. She said, "Excuse me" and that was the last thing I understood. One of her adult chaperones appeared instantly, explaining in decent English that they were asking for "one or two dollars." Ah, donations. But no Thin Mints or Peanut Butter Tagalongs in return? I gave her a nice donation in her little bag and she put a little flower sticker on my shirt that said "Girl Guides" which was a great aid in diverting the next three girl guides who tried to flag me down. I don't know... does 'Girl Guide' seem to have more unpleasant connotations than 'Girl Scout' or is it just me? Either way, she was really cute.

I finally had dim sum! I tried a fresh shrimp dim sum basket and a fried dim sum with pork basket at a restaurant by the ferry. Yum, yum, but for some reason I was imagining dim sum to look more like meat buns when they were more like wontons. Still very yummy, but it was $103 (US$14ish) which is sort of pricy for brunch I thought, though it was cheaper then the Holiday Inn Buffet.
I thought I got lucky (always a sign of doom) when I saw a bus going exactly where I wanted to go upon exiting the restaurant. Well, I boarded and it did eventually get there... but took a 45-minute tour through Kowloon first. At least I got to see parts of Hong Kong I would have never seen, but it was ironic when the bus, about 30 minutes in, passed my hotel.

I took the subway to Lantau island near where the airport is in order to get to the remote Po Lin Monastery. I thought I was being clever taking the subway because the train station was a lot closer than the ferry station to the monastery. However, it was only physically closer; there were no roads. The bus had to go over the middle of the island and use the same road the bus from the ferry used, so I didn't save any time there.

The Po Lin Monastery was fairly interesting, though not all that big. The Buddha was by far the most impressive thing, but the misty weather made it difficult to get a clear picture. The exhibit inside the base of the Buddha was air conditioned. I am impressed with how quickly and strongly Hong Kong applies air conditioning. I don't think it reached over 70 degrees the whole time I was there (though the humidity made it feel much hotter) but every bus and most shops and restaurants I was in were blasting the a/c.

Po Lin Buddha
and Me



Po Lin Buddha from Afar and Up Close and the Complex at the Bottom


At the bottom of the stairs to the Buddha was a triple-tier platform thing identical to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. (See above.) The rest of the temple was nice enough, I guess, and one building had cool dragon columns (see photo), but the 'veggie meal' they offered was rather unimpressive. I killed off my Octopus (card, that is) on the bus back to the ferry station. Ironically, because the ferry back to Hong Kong was slow, it took nearly as much time as the ferry from Macau, much further away. But, luckily, it wasn't crowded, even for a Saturday afternoon.

My guide books, which I burn incense and sacrifice a lamb to every night at midnight, said to avoid the Peak on Sunday. So I realized tonight was my last chance. I followed the signs and got in the very long line for the tram car that went to the Peak Tram. After a tram filled and left without the line getting significantly shorter, I was just figuring that it would be faster to walk when I saw a regular city bus that said "The Peak" pass by. The line for that bus was MUCH shorter. As I boarded, I joked to myself "I'll probably get a tour of Hong Kong island before it goes the half a mile to the Tram station." Only, it turned out to be not so much a joke. After being on the bus about 10 minutes, I saw the few other tourists come down the stairs (apparently, all the other tourists on the bus were together in a group) to consult with each other. It turned out that this bus went all the way up to the mountain, to the actual Peak itself, which would be a half hour ride. Grrrr. I wanted to ride the tram like the guide books ordered. So did the other tourists on board. But it was too late. Luckily, the bus made a stop at the top of the tram before continuing all the way up to the very tip. On the way, I chatted (trying not to be grumpy) with the friendly Chinese guy next to me. He lived in San Diego and randomly recommended that I go to Vietnam during the Chinese New Year.

Upon exiting, I got turned around, but eventually found the viewing area, took the escalator up and attempted to take the elevator up to the top. The elevator was not for public use. I tried to take the stairs. Blocked. It took me a while to wrap my mind around it, but I soon realized that I was already AT the overlook despite that this giant eyesore of a concrete structure was blocking a great deal of the view. (I swear, is Hong Kong the Land of No Observatories?) I don't know what the big white building is for, but its giant columns make it hard to get a panoramic view. Anyway, this so-called observation platform was packed (mainly full of Japanese tourists, so I had fun listening in on them when they had no clue I could understand what they were saying -- not that they were saying anything interesting) so it was hard to find a place to just lean against the railing and admire a view without getting in everyone's photos. After I was there for a while (finally finding a spot out of the way) I noticed something funny. At 8pm, some of the buildings (mainly the very visible Bank of China) started blinking in such a way that made it hard to get a photo. I realized I was seeing the Avenue of Stars show from a different angle and wondered if the people understood why the Bank of China kept disappearing and reappearing at random.

A little ways off was a smaller area with a more full view. I decided to get a 'professional' picture from two Chinese guys with their laptops and a photo printer set up on the spot. It's probably the best picture of me on this trip:


Hong Kong Island at Night
and Me
After a while I realized that I really did have to get in that long, long, long line if I wanted to ride the tram. Luckily, the line moved relatively fast and I had brought an entertaining book. The tram booked it down that hill, I was impressed! I walked back to Star Ferry from the bottom (no more buses!) and tried to see if I could find the 'lower deck' just for fun, but I couldn't find it, despite that I could see people entering down there. Once in Kowloon again, I wandered up the street to this Foot Reflexology place I had passed earlier. (There may be more foot reflexology places in this city than 7-11s. Or Starbucks.) Now, my personal philosophy is that if people have to try really hard to sell me something, then I probably don't want it. However, this pamphlet I took from a woman about this Foot Reflexology place (something which I had been curious about the whole trip because my Top 10 book said it was a way to "experience the Real China") inspired a lot of confidence. It was elaborate and in good English and Japanese, since the place seemed to be aiming for Japanese tourists, which I didn't think of as a bad thing. After some debating, I decided to go for it. I walked in and got a discount... US$15 instead of US$18. It was a little cramped, but comfortable and professional. It didn't hurt like the book said it would, it was just a nice 30 minute foot massage (15 minutes on each foot.) I was so exhausted - it was about 10pm by this time - that I nearly fell asleep on the recliner. My set also included a 15 minutes back massage, but the nearby room was being used and she took me to this odd back room where I wonder if massage is all that goes on here. But I didn't have to remove any articles of clothing. In fact, she put a towel on top of me and massage through that. In the end, I don't know what effect, if any, it had on my organs but it was a really nice cheap massage.

My best dinner of the trip was this night at 11:30pm at a packed restaurant called "Macau" (which presumably served Macau-style food.) The waiter asked if I would share a table, but I wasn't feeling social so I stalled and he found a table for me. I ordered Macanese Fried Vermicelli. YUM. Cheap and delicious! I avoided creep in crowded subway and made it back about midnight.

SUNDAY, APRIL 3

Church Bells, Markets, and Things Closed On Sunday


I slept in again because of my late night and was unsuccessful in my walk down Nathan Road in search of breakfast. On my walk, these church bells kept ringing. It was around 11:00, but it rang way more than 11 times. I ended up at the same Delifrance from before then I ferried to Hong Kong Island and witnessed first hand the Filipino-world described in my guide books. Apparently the many Filipino (and Indonesian and other southeast Asian) maids in Hong Kong have Sunday off and hang out in Central for the day. It was true! Every available space on the ground was taken up by groups of women sitting on blankets eating or playing cards or chatting. It was a very happy and festive atmosphere. This was made even more so by a random road race happening on the street near Statue Square. I tried to see what was going on but some guard made me keep walking. I did find a place and saw people in matching shirts and families, which was very cute.

I subwayed to Wan Chai, determined to see an observatory since my guide book said the 46th floor of "Central Plaza" had one. And I really wish people would not think I'm saying "toilet" when I'm asking for an "observatory." Do the words sound that much alike or are tourists always trying to find clean loos? The man at the desk said "observation?" so I guess that's the word I should use, grammatical or not. This is when I found out that it is closed on Sunday! BASTARDS!!

I found Mrs. Fields cookies in the subway station, but wasn't allowed to eat my purchase in the subway station (as they announce repeatedly in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. I'm getting to the point where I can tell Cantonese and Mandarin apart if I hear them together. Or maybe it's because Mandarin is always second.) Nearby, I found the Tourist Information Center. It was very small, but the staff were polite and I found out it would be impossible for me to catch any opera tonight (another "Top 10 Way To Experience The Real China"). I picked up lots of pamphlets and then went outside to try to find this mini-bus to Stanley, but got lost on the way to the street. I found something called Times Square, but all over the (rather small) square were signs that said "No Sitting" on anything remotely sittable. Me, with tired feet, cookies to eat, and a map to look at did not want to do it standing up, so I sat in the corner near a stairway. I had barely started looking at the map when some guards came up and made me stand up. I got really upset at them because I was really exhausted and frustrated because all I wanted to do was sit down and and figure out where I was and overlook something and eat my cookies but I couldn't sit and I couldn't figure out where I was and I couldn't overlook and I couldn't eat my cookies. I stomped off. If I looked transient or had been loitering there for, say, half an hour, I understand, but I'm obviously a lost, tired tourist looking up something in a map. Let me sit down for five minutes, sheesh! I was so sick of being lost and turned away from everything, even a stairway, I nearly decided to go back to the hotel, but I knew I would regret that later. I mean, it was nearly 3 and I had done almost nothing today.

I subwayed back to Central to find a Real Bus (not a mini bus) to take to Stanley market despite that it was at the bottom of the island and far away. It was the best decision I made. The bus was comfy and the top deck offered some fantastic views as it went over the pass. I wish the bus could have stopped long enough for me to take a picture 'cause it was WAY cool! And the market was great! I loved the market! The guide book warned it would be packed, but it wasn't too bad. I bought SO much stuff. I spent all the money in my wallet. And, it must be fate, in the first store I went into, they were playing "Melissa" (the Japanese song) on some Chinese radio station!!

I had no problem getting a bus back as there were three lined up. I returned to Kowloon and ate at a random Chinese restaurant called Jade Ocean. It was my most expensive dinner coming in at HK$192. The food was fine, I guess, but my favorite part was, strangely, the coke. I could not figure out why it was so yummy. It was kind of like Mexican coke (where they use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup). I turned the can around and it was in Arabic! I must now look into where I can get Arabic coke.

I decided to spend my last night in the same way I spent my first: at Temple Street Night Market. Good thing I did. I realized I had missed 2/3 of the market during my last wander! (See photo on right for a part that I missed.) D'oh. I passed a Chinese Traditional CD stand and they were playing the SAME CHINESE TRADITIONAL CD that I randomly bought at a temple in Beijing a year ago. Weird!

This time, I had my fortune told and for the second time today, got a good discount simply because I didn't have enough money in my wallet to pay full price. He gave me my fortune in strongly accented English. First he asked the year, month and date of my birth. The first comments he made to me were kind of obvious. He said I wasn't very social and should exercise more. Gee, what gave that away? An overweight girl walking alone in a market. You think? Later, after looking briefly at my palms and explaining, sort of, a few lines, he said that my first love was a failure (which was true, but really, if it had been a success, I wouldn't be traveling alone, now would I) but that my second love would be more successful. Well, that's good news 'cause I'm getting too old to have multiple failed love stories. More interestingly, he said that I would never have any problems with money, but that I would still have to work for it, which in my life, has been true so far. He said things that seemed half true. He said that I was impatient and headstrong (huh?) and that I was honest and stubborn (I guess.) Maybe he was just describing Americans in general who I have come to think are perceived as People Who Whine. Becuase we won't put up with Crap, basically. This is good and bad, I suppose.

On the way back, I passed a Mah Jong parlor lit up like a casino then I attempted to pack and fit everything I bought into my bag. Luckily, I left a lot of room. I had the TV on in the background and the news came on in English. Apparently the pope died; that explains the bells. (I had seen the pope on a few giant TV screens while walking around today, but just assumed they were reporting his condition every half hour or something because that is something the news would do.)

MONDAY, APRIL 4


I had the smoothest flight out ever, no problems with buses, no lateness, nothing. About time something went right. The Hong Kong Departure Terminal is probably the best (I might be biased by the breakfast place) and least confusing terminal I've ever been in. Go them! I was surveyed twice in the airport about my experience in Hong Kong and one of them gave me a dim sum pin for my effort. It made the wait go faster at any rate.



GENERAL HONG KONG MUSINGS

(and random photos that did not fit anywhere else)


Near Wan Chai's Central Plaza


Well, the three things I missed immediately about Hong Kong while driving home from Fukuoka were:
My Impression Of Hong Kong:
If you put Beijing and Tokyo on a spectrum, it was a lot closer to the Tokyo end. It was safe and clean, I wasn't hassled every five seconds by people trying to sell me things (except for the commercial area closest to the harbor) and men spit into garbage cans instead of on the street. There were a few places I felt a little uncomfortable (on side streets and such) but usually so many people were around that it wasn't a big issue. It was, unsurprisingly, a lot like Singapore, another Chinese-with-British-influence city. The markets were where it felt more like China, with lots of strange and cheap things to haggle for (including, though they were harder to find, bootlegs.) The main high-rise area near Central was so fancy, clean, and full of English that I thought I was in the west for a moment there. The main area of Hong Kong is so compact that it is hard to get that lost, though the non-grid streets, some with overhead walkways, sometimes made for unpredictable navigation.

I Want to Eat Here!

'Cause Jesus is
Da Bomb?

Um...

"Clean Public Toilets
Are Possible"

Yummy!

Food and Convenience
Restaurants (especially cheap restaurants) were numerous and usually had menus and/or pictures outside so you could tell before you walked in whether there was English or not (most had English) and what the prices were. Lots of western food was available. Big chains I saw were Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and Burger King. There were 7-11s and Circle Ks everywhere but those were the only two convenience store chains I saw. ATMs were all over the place and took my U.S. card with no issue.

Prices and Getting Around:
The transportation, including buses, trains, subways, and taxis were all very clean, easy to understand, easy to use, on time, and reliably priced. I have no complaints (even if I did get stuck on the wrong bus a couple times.) Cheap food was easy to find and you could bargain a good deal in the markets but other than that, the prices were pretty typical of a big city. It's not necessarily a cheap destination. (It was cheaper than Japan, but everything is cheaper than Japan)

Toilets (My favorite subject)
Public toilets weren't as bad as I thought. Actually, they were a step above Japan's I thought, except in Japan, you can sneak into department stores, fancy buildings, and McDonalds to use the best loos (I once used the restroom in Tokyo's Imperial Palace Hotel) whereas in Hong Kong, toilets in nice places were either nonexistent, locked, or not that nice (I know, I tried.) The ones I used almost always had toilet paper, soap, and a western-style option available (though not always all three at the same time.) The toilets themselves, even if you could find one in a fancy department store, just looked really old and worn. My big thing, of course, is the whole where-to-put-the-toilet-paper ambiguity issue. In mainland China, many toilets don't accept toilet paper and the way you can usually tell is that there's a large wastebasket next to the toilet (as opposed to the mini ones for feminine supplies) with lots of toilet paper in it. But it seemed almost every public toilet in Hong Kong had a wastebasket and people were obviously using it. The clogged toilets at the Museum are what made me even think of it and from then on, I was always confused. I really would rather put it down the toilet. When I noticed the wastebasket in my hotel room, I got extra confused, even though nothing had gotten clogged that I knew of. Nowhere did I see a single sign to clarify for tourists (not even at the airport) and none of my guide books mentioned it. Maybe both systems are acceptable?

Signs and Security Guards
Signs advertising places in shopping areas in Japan generally have the signs - neon or not - reading down from the side of the building. In Hong Kong, they attach giant steel brackets to buildings so that signs fly out right over the road en masse. It's very in-your-face, but I admit it made finding my hotel easier. As for security guards... there are a lot of guards (you'll noticed how many made me leave my spot during my trip) but the most were in front of jewelry stores. There were a LOT of jewelry stores and every one of them had all these guards. My favorite guards were the ones at banks in Macau. They carried rifles!

Obligatory Street Scenes Full of Chinese Characters
(Macau, Mong Kok, and Tsim Sha Tsui)

FINAL STARBUCKS COUNT:   12

(and this only includes Starbucks I physically went by during my trip - without ever seeking one out - and marked down. I don't even want to know how many are in the whole city.)


THANKS
FOR
READING!

(Live Long and...
Visit This Building, Apparently)


(Go to Previous Page)