So, I arrived safely back home in Chicago Midwest . I’m happy to be home, though, and spending Christmas and New Year’s with my loved ones. Here will be a (short?) post about my three and a half days in Hong Kong ; I plan on doing one or two concluding posts to summarize my time abroad sometime next week.
For a more complete collection of pictures, visit my Facebook album.
香港初见
After landing in the airport, a boarded a city bus to my hostel, which was located right in the middle of Fashion Walk. As it implies, Fashion Walk is filled with a lot of the Western name brands that are a bit out of my price range, such as Armani Exchange, Calvin Klein, or Vivienne Westwood. It made the area fun to just walk around at night, though it’s extreme crowdedness made rolling my luggage through a bit of a nuisance.
The first night I wandered around the area, partially to try to orient myself to the area and partially to find a cheaper place to eat. Unfortunately, I got myself rather lost and could not take you back to where I ate, which was a small, cheap noodle and soup place. However, on the way, I managed to run into some other interesting, high traffic areas.
Christmas decorations outside a mall in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
View from the mall steps at the surrounding area
I was fairly tired from my day of travelling-- I woke up around 5:30am to finish packing and ensure I could leave my room in Xian on time and didn't get into my hostel until around 5:00pm -- and was planning on attending 9:30am Mass the next day, so I called it a night after my wanderings.
星期日·大屿山
Waking up can be hard to do without an alarm clock. I had used my cellphone all semester to make sure I woke up to prepare for class every day; however, I had already returned my cellphone when I left Xian. Not bringing my alarm clock from the United States and not owning a watch, I had to rely on sunlight and my own biological clock to wake up on time. Luckily, it all worked out and I left for Mass with plenty of time. I didn't know how complicated getting to the subway station or the walk from the station to the church would be, so I left with ample time. Ironically enough, the walk from the subway station to the church took me through Lan Kwai Fong, a night life hot spot; so as I walked to morning Mass, I saw (and smelled) all of the workers cleaning up from the Saturday night revelry.
Some impressive graffiti in LKF
The church, which is both beautiful and massive, is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (聖母無原罪主教座堂). I had found out through my Hong Kong contact, Astrid, that the English Mass was at 9:30am. After Mass, I had planned to meet Astrid at the nearest subway station. Since I had no way of contacting her other than email and Facebook, we decided to meet at noon and then have lunch together. Well, Mass ended around 10:45 am, so I had a good hour by myself to wander Hong Kong. Not wanting to get too lost, I stayed on the route from the church to the subway station --- and luckily found a walking park and free zoo: the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Atop the small hill was the zoo. There were a few couples and new families and a small class enjoying the zoo that Sunday morning; I visted the primate and bird areas. I probably should've taken pictures of the signs so I could recall now what animals I saw, as some of the primates I had not only never seen before but also never heard of. However, I did see some orangutans, lemurs, macaques, and flamingos, which was a nice trip back into my childhood. I've always loved animals (especially the strange and tropical animals) and often spent time watching or reading animal documentaries, films, and magazines.
Main entrance to the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Entrance sign to the zoo
After my short but much appreciated detour, I headed off to the subway station to meet Astrid. I had sent her a picture of myself to help her find me; unfortunately she had been unable to send me a picture and told me look for a short Asian girl with long hair and a pink bag. Needless to say, I focused on the pink bag. I think I may have waited an extra ten or fifteen minutes before she appeared, but it's rather hard as time seems to move at an interesting pace when you're waiting. We ate at a nearby restaurant that served some very tasty Hong Kong food --- I think I got "Squid Ball Soup." It was tasty.
There was only one thing I had decided I needed to visit while in Hong Kong --- the Big Buddha. A good friend of mine from Hong Kong, who unfortunately was unable to meet up with me as she is currently living in the United States, had passed along a short "guide" of different things to do in Hong Kong. Here I first read about the Buddha statue. Having visited a number of religious sites during the Silk Road trip, I wanted to see the Buddhism in Hong Kong; I've also always have been fascinated with religion. Astrid, despite having lived in Hong Kong for a few years now, had never been to the Buddha and so it was a first for the both of us. Astrid knows both Cantonese and speaks English fluently and naturally, so she was invaluable in making my Hong Kong trip enjoyable and run more smoothly.
We took the ferry from Central, Hong Kong Island, to Mui Wo, Lantau Island; after the short ferry ride, we rode a bus up to Ngong Ping, where the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery are located. Astrid, knowing that I was a somewhat religious Catholic since I asked about Mass times, was a little confused why I wanted to visit a Buddhist site so much, so we had a very interesting discussion about various aspects of religion, which I enjoyed very much.
The Big Buddha, or Tian Tan Buddha, is relatively new and therefore the area is fairly nice and clean. The monastery is also relatively new, being founded at the beginning of the 20th century, is actually a Zen Buddhist monastery and so very different from the Tibetan Buddhist monastery we visited in Xiahe during our Silk Road trip. After walking up the stairs to see the Buddha statue, we walked around the grounds and walked on some hiking paths to enjoy the natural scenery of the island more. There are much more rigorous paths and a few different camping grounds, so apparently Lantau Island has an active outdoors recreation crowd.
Main entrance to the variety of tourist activities at Ngong Ping
Tian Tan Buddha 天坛佛像, which is named after the Temple of Heaven in Beijing because of similar designs in the base
Astrid, my new friend who made Hong Kong very enjoyable, and I in front of the Big Buddha
Po Lin Monastery, the main temple hall
The Wisdom Path, a collection of verses from the Heart Sutra engraved in large wooden trunks
After Lantau Island, we headed to Kowloon for dinner. Astrid brought me to perhaps the largest and busiest mall I have ever seen (it's technically a complex of malls that houses at least one hotel!) We also had to wait around 45 minutes to get into the restaurant; however, the food was delicious and fairly reasonably priced, so I suppose the wait was worth it.
Perhaps the most crowded exit out of a mall
Afterwards, we walked along the southern end of Kowloon and saw the Hong Kong Cultural Center, Space Museum and Art Museum and ended up on the Avenue of Stars, where we found the stars for Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan (because I don't know any other Hong Kong stars... oops). Astrid bid me goodnight and safe travels, as she had to return to school on Monday and Tuesday.
我一个人散步
Because I was on my own Monday and Tuesday, I didn't have to worry about waking up at any particular time and enjoyed relaxing mornings in my hostel room planning the day's activity. Monday became my "typical" tourist day, as I explored Victoria Park and visited The Peak. As I was looking for a cheap place to eat lunch, I exited out the southeast corner of Victoria Park and eventually found a school. The students must've been on lunch break, since they were all coming and going, those coming back often with bags of food. I knew that if I figured the students, I would find a cheap and authentic place, and they didn't let me down. I actually ordered Singaporean-style noodles, but it's still not Western or Japanese food, which there is an overabudance of in Hong Kong. It was here in this small restaurant that I found out Kim Jong Il had died; because the place was noisy, I could only watch the TV and read the Chinese subtitles (which were in traditional form and thus less understandable for me). I was rather proud of myself to still understand the gist of the news broadcast though.
After me lunch adventure, I took the subway back to Central and walked to The Peak Tram station. The Peak is located on the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island and therefore provides a spectacular view of much of Hong Kong (you can see over into Kowloon as well). Around The Peak are multiple walking and hiking trails to provide a more immersive natural experience, though these paths are also roads and had a few cars and houses.
View of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island through the trees
I spent the whole afternoon atop The Peak exploring and stayed until nightfall. The Peak also houses a Madame Tussauds wax museum. I personally find wax figures, especially as lifelike as these, to be extremely creepy, and I spared myself the ticket. I wandered a little bit to see the nightlife before heading back to my room.
Tuesday was also a relaxed day. As Tuesday was more overcast and foggier, I luckily had done of all my outdoor sightseeing on Monday. Tuesday I had planned to visit the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Chungking Mansions, a fascinating place recommended by Astrid. The Mansions have been dubbed a prime spot of "low end globalization" and house a large number of South Asian and African immigrants. I visited the Art Museum first, which only costs HKD10, and spent a few hours exploring the galleries. They had a range of exhibits, from calligraphy and pottery throughout the dynasties of China to Chinese export paintings and the works of modern painter Wu GuanZhong.
After my museum trip, I headed to explore the Chungking Mansions. Despite my general curiosity, I only walked around the first floor as I had no intention of purchasing anything as my luggage was already overweight and I was running low on money. After this short visit, I continued to walk around Kowloon and eventually found myself at the History and Food Science Musuems. However, it was already around 5:00pm, so I didn't think I could squeeze in any more museum visits. I returned to Causeway Bay, the area where my hostel was located, and did some final street exploration before I settled on an authentic looking enough restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, I strolled back "home" and did my final packing in preparation for my flight on Wednesday morning.
I woke up with plenty of time to leisurely do a final check, check out, and walk to the bus station to take me to the airport. I had no problems checking my luggage in Hong Kong and had a nice, short flight to Shanghai. I had a two-hour layover, but it was complicated because I not only had to pick up my luggage and recheck it, but I was also a little worried because I didn't have a visa to re-enter China, which slightly delayed me at the immigration counter. Further stress was added when the United representative told me I only have one free luggage and would have to pay for my second piece, even though it was an international flight and I had brought two pieces free of charge in August. Well, luckily I still had some money left over for this, though I had to go to a separate counter to pay. Needless to say, I was frustrated and becoming more anxious that at the final leg of my trip something awful was going to happen. Luckily nothing did, as I arrived at my gate about twenty minutes before they started queuing. The plane ride was enjoyable, as I had a window seat and have no problems sleeping on planes. Oddly enough, my personal TV asked me which language setting I preferred; I selected English, but the screen somehow thought I had chosen 繁体中文 (Traditional Chinese). I could navigate it easily enough, so I didn't bother changing it. So, to the final minute, I was still practicing Chinese.
I arrived safely in Chicago O'Hare, passed easily through customs and happily reunited with my family. I was brought home to a warm, homemade meal of chicken parmesan and ate cheese and drank milk basically for the first time since I left for China. Hong Kong was a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to any opportunities to return, though I would like to bring at least someone along me to make the trip more exciting as there is only so much you can do by yourself on vacation.
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