Hong Kong - Day 2

Where do I start?...

A person really needs a week or two in Hong Kong, we had two days!

Second day...we slept in till seven. We were completely exhausted from no sleep the night before and then a very long and exciting day ashore.

Moe was going on her own again today, she ended up taking the public transport to Stanley. She rode on the top deck of a double-decker bus there and back. Then re-did Stanley Town again, without the pressure of a tour leader and had lunch there. Good day for Moe. A few purchases to relieve her wallet of Hong Kong money.

We four took a cab around 9.30 to the 'Jade Market'. This is an area of HK where Jade sellers have congregated for eons. Other stone and jewellery sellers are also there in droves. Of course we early birds were given the 'special price' because we were their 'first customer'.




I really thought that we had outgrown that silly stage in our life when we purchased with gay abandon the craziest things from bandits disguised as merchants in foreign lands. I am happy to report that all four of us are still afflicted with that phenomenon. And, that Doug's nasty haggling skills are as good as ever. I insulted several Chinese ancestors yesterday with my low counter-offers but we all managed to smile and shake hands after the purchases. We were soon heavily laden with more than enough for the day.

Next we jumped in a cab and went to the Flower Market, merely taking in the sights and smells this time.




We then strolled to the Bird Market next to the Flower Market. In HK pets are not a common thing to have. Some people like them no doubt but some people also like them in a cooking pot. People have birds and fish for pets as a result.


The Bird Market is merely an area that, again, one group congregate, side by side. Scores of people selling al types of birds in cages. Also anything to do with a bird is available there. Live food like grasshopper, beetles and grubs are sold, conveniently and cleverly packaged for people to carry away. It seems that men will bring their bird, in a cage, and hang it on a tree in or near the market and allow it to chirp and whistle away with fellow birds while getting some fresh air. The people are very good to their birds, you can see it the way they seem to revere them.




Goldfish Market was next. We were side-tracked by our stomachs here though, Dim Sum called. Gad the prices of things vary. We had a great lunch for US$2.50 each. The day before in Stanley we paid five times that to sit in a touristy restaurant. Jim loves Dim Sum where you can go and pick your food that is all ready in little bamboo steam trays. Eating Dim Sum with Jim is an interesting experience as he is very enthusiastic about it.

The Goldfish Market has scores of plastic bags hanging on hooks with very healthy looking well cared for colourful fish in them with the price felt-penned on them.


The streets are chocked with enthusiasts plus the occasional tourist. I like it here, "In a land of midgets a tall man is King". The locals are not midgets here but they are decidedly smaller than us. Jim mentioned that even I am easier to spot in a crowd here! No purchases here either. Just a million photos. There are one or two pet shops that sell dogs and cats, the price of a small pup was around US$ 600, not cheap, so I suppose fish are a working-man's pet. Birds were not cheap either by-the way.


On the way to a cab we got absorbed by and into a local street market. This is for HK people, not tourists. So there I was very, very tall! We just love the colour, noise and clutter of a place like that. On more than one occasion we found ourselves absorbed by some hawker giving a demo of some neat little gadget or gizmo, watching for minutes and not understanding one single word of their spiel.



Presto, back at the pier where the Cutler's and Robin's separated. We Robins went to see if my 'tailor-made shirts' were ready, Not yet! Fellette had spotted a place earlier in the morning that sold a certain something for a certain somebody at home, and as we approached the store the steel shutter was coming down as the girl clerk shut the store to 'go to the toilet'. Darned if the same thing happened again now as we killed time waiting for the shirts, Fellette's efforts to run and tuck under the overhead door coming down were in vain. We found ourselves looking at corrugated, again! We decided to return to the ship which was very close and were back on board in minutes, unloading our purchases for the day, feeling like the Tacky-Tourists that we really are. Judy would understand the feeling I am sure. Actually Judy and I have been known to have a contest to see who 'wins' on a day such as this when bobbles abound. I won today! At least I have not succumbed to the urge to spread all our purchases out on the bed a photograph them, yet.

Moe came up to our cabin with her computer and we shared pictures and stories as Fellette unwrapped and then tucked away today's needless purchases, all of which are intended as gifts. [Why do we do this?] Appropriately, our room steward appeared at the door with two large collapsable rolling suitcases, the ship's 'gift' for tonight to put our mind at ease that we could get this stuff home! Thank you HAL. [ Holland America Line.] Fellette and I then went back to the corrugated shop and made our purchase, this was our fourth visit to this little shop today, twice we got under the door. The place is only about 10 feet by 10 feet! Back to the shirts that were ready and fit like a glove, then to the ship for the last time.

The ship had arranged an absolutely marvellous HK Cultural Show that we attended before dinner. About the best we have seen. The last act was an elaborately dressed ancient Chinese Actor with robes that were beyond description. His act consisted of 'changing faces'. His face was covered with wildly painted masks, that he could change in a split second and we know not how. A few hundred seasoned travellers sat there spell-bound. Fantastic. Apparently this is a technique used in the Sichuan Opera.

At 8 PM the city of HK again did its light and laser show, as it does every night. The best seat is on our balcony. Gail and Jim went to town for it to hear the music. Moe joined us for that. By now these two days are beginning to tell on us but there is more.

At 10:45 there was a dragon dance send-off on the pier that we took in, then we adjourned to our cabin again for a breathtaking sail out of Hong Kong as we headed for Viet Nam. It is rather like sailing through the main streets of New York, or London, the buildings are still lit with an endless variety of coloured lights, many that change colour. The clocks go BACK another hour tonight and we can all use that extra hour after two wonderful days in Beautiful and Exciting Hong Kong! We needed that extra hour.

Gasoline/petrol pricing in HK.
For Taxis .64c/litre
For private cars $1.82/litre.
Guess what, not too many private cars in HK!

Where Are They Today?

Day 56 - Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, Wow!.....

Before we came to Hong Kong [HK] for the first time several years ago, I imagined HK as a big, smelly, narrow streeted, bustling Chinese city. It is big, and bustling and that is where my vision ended. It is bigger than big, it is also one of the cleanest cities we have been in. It is an extremely efficient city as well, public transport is fast, clean, efficient and frequent. To boot it is not an expensive place to visit.

Moe was off on a 10 hour tour, doing "everything!" We four had a plan to take the Star Ferry to HK island, [we are docked across the water in Kowloon], then take the public bus to Stanley, about an hour's journey on the far side of the island. $2.00 and we are there shortly.







There seems to be no end of high rise buildings and condos. Some new, some old. To my untrained eye it appeared to be an upmarket area, all of it. [I wonder where all the workers that make the stuff on our shelves at home live], Not in HK, that is for sure.

We had an enjoyable few hours there ending up with guess what, Chinese food for lunch where Doug finally learned to use chopsticks!





Back on the bus to Central Station, take the Ferry to Kowloon, a 10 minute ride across to Star Ferry Terminal where our ship is docked, right in the centre of all the excitement. Looking out the window as I write this I am looking at the very, very, very impressive HK skyline as the little ferries travel back and forth.


[No getting dressed with the drapes open Doug, I am liable to be sold as a video clip on the streets the next day!] Not!

When we got off the ferry in Kowloon I succumbed to one of my fantasies of years and ended up in a tailor's office being measured for shirts.


My friend Andy gave me a gift of a custom-tailored shirt a few years ago. It was the best darn shirt I ever had. Unfortunately that shirt is at home, it has some non removable series of stains on it. It must have happened when we had it cleaned last time and never took it out of its wrapper to examine it, sorry Andy. Tonight at four before we sail I will find out if my years of waiting was worth it or do I have some rather expensive car-cleaning cloths!

After the tailor thing we went back to the ship for a change of shoes and clothes and headed for Nathan Street (One of the highlights of the day was talking to our Grandson Nathan at home, a day after his birthday!) along the Golden Mile to the Night Market. That is a bizarre experience that is not for the weak at heart. Of course we walked there. It was like walking in Times Square on New Years Eve for about 35 minutes. We finally came to the 'Night Market'. That is where a section of Temple Road is blocked off to cars, about a mile maybe in length. Merchants then put of their stalls in the street and sidewalk. The amount of work they go to every night, putting up and taking down their stalls and goods is amazing.

The selection of goods there is staggering. All of it completely unnecessary and useless. The crowds there are as amazing. Where do they all come from? There were restaurants that grew 10 times their size at night by putting out tables and chairs right in the intersections. The tables are the size of kindergarten tables and so are the chairs. The selection of food is either a gastronomical delight or your worst nightmare come true. Swimming, creeping, wiggling and oozing things ready to be put into the wok briefly before hitting your stomach.


We had a bit of a feed of some recognizable items at a restaurant that barely qualifies for the name restaurant. The toilet roll plunked on our table when we sat down got our attention!


The ordering took some time inasmuch for some reason this man did not speak English. The food was good, very tasty. Doug again used his newly-acquired chop stick skills until the end when he succumbed to that tempting porcelain spoon. Jim and I asked for a beer. Jim asked for a glass for it. The waiter took his glass of green tea that Jim was sipping and threw the tea on the street that was 12" away, plopped the glass back in front of him and said "glass!"



Another wander through the night market where Jim bought five polo shirts for two dollars each. [Maybe car cleaning material again.]



Next a cab back to the ship, as we promised the girls. Cabs are cheap here. $5.00. We arrived back at the ship just in time to see the illumination and Laser Light Show that HK puts on every night, to music.


Scores of people line the waterfront to watch the 15 minute show where the 50 story office buildings change colours and twinkle and wiggle and generally amuse us. Unbelievable. Even the Ferry boats that are travelling at that time put on their best light show, all co-ordinated to the music pounding out from about 300 yards from the ship.

WOW! and we have another full day here, gadzooks!

Where Are They Today?

Day 55 - Hong Kong.

Bits and pieces...

* Day 54, only 57 days to go! Man, some of you are saying, "Are they still on that darn ship?" [That is, those of you that continue to read this thing.] Whether people are reading it or not, I have fun with it.

* When we were packing for the trip we put in quite a substantial amount of clothing that looked like it may be useable on the ship. One shirt that I had hanging in the Farm closet was a shirt that Jeanette gave me quite a few years ago. She made it for husband Rob, but he found it a bit tight and never really wore it. Anyhow, we put it in our luggage. Wow, do I get compliments when wearing the shirt, from complete strangers even! When walking the deck today, somebody offered to buy it. It was an insulting price so nothing transpired. [Kidding, I would not part with it.] An interesting thing is that practically none of the place names are an English spelling.




* I had an interesting meeting with a gentleman on the ship the other morning. Jeff, from Chesapeake, Virginia. We were swapping Blog and photo books and experiences. Jeff has been aboard since September. At this time he obviously spends a considerable amount of time travelling. He is an avid and excellent photographer. The last world cruise he took over 13,000 photos. He was especially interested in the Blog slurp aspect of the book. His books are excellent.

* We are getting into the part of the world where passengers will be going on 'overland' trips, either on ship's tours or on their own. China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, India and Egypt are the prime destinations. The Cutler's and Robin's have a planned six day land trip in India coming up in about three weeks. While in India there will likely be some relief from the blog. I will take my computer, but in reality, what are the chances of getting connected, care to venture a guess? The computer is going mainly as a depository of photos for the four of us.

* Notice how Fellette does the laundry. We place it in a blue laundry bag and leave it on the bed in the morning. The laundry fairies take it away and presto, it is back on your bed, WRAPPED IN TISSUE! All nicely folded and ironed. Life is really tough. No wonder women like cruises.



* Secret information: Some women have breakfast in bed every morning! Yep, it is their revenge. Hubby can get up whenever he wants and wander off to get coffee or have breakfast and leave his wife to get up when she wants and have some pleasant young fellow bring her first meal of the day to her in the privacy of the stateroom. Hard to believe, but it does not take long for some women to get used to this!

Rough weather today, lots of people staying in their room and hunkering down. We are in that open piece of water between the Philippines and China, where the South China Sea and the Philippine sea meet. The Philippine sea is merely the Pacific Ocean close to the Philippines. Seas are 12 to 14 feet.

Where Are They Today?

Day 54 - At sea in the South China Sea, heading for Hong Kong.

How Was Manila?

It depends upon who you ask.

To some people they had a fantastic day, shopping in the third biggest mall in the world, The Mall of Asia.

To the crew it was fantastic. Over 400 of the crew are from the Philippines. Holland America put on a great spread for them on the dock. A humungous Crew Tent was set up with tables and chairs. Music and food entertained them as the crew took their families aboard all day long at staggered intervals. They were all a very happy lot. In the afternoon we sat on the balcony with Moe and listened and watched to the music below as the crew and their families held a great reunion. An excellent military band gave us sail-away music, but it was sad to see the parents and kids waving goodbye to their moms and dads. Too sad.




To our neighbour next door, Bill from Savannah, it was also a great day. He spent the morning in the hospital having and an EKG and an MRI. He had had a serious 'heart situation' while we were crossing from NZ to Australia. The ships doctor said it was all under control and there was no damage or whatever. Of course they wanted to be sure and the only way was for some tests that he could not arrange in Australia, Bali or Brunei. He got a clean bill of health. The small amount that he had to pay for these tests staggered him and his wife. He has a copy of the MRI so he can have it verified at home.

To Moe, it was a good day as well. She ventured pretty far afield yesterday. She took an eight hour bus trip out into the country. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperative and the viewing was less than expected. The fun part of it was that their three bus convoy had a police motorcycle escort there and back. Moe said they were hot-shots, but added to the fun.

The Cutlers and Robins explored Old Manila on foot for some time, getting our fill of Cathedrals and old town. A $3 cab ride to the Mall of Asia for some domestic shopping and a delicious Italian lunch was the extent of our Manila. We have been here before and I for one did not have the Philippine day on the top of my hit parade.


An interesting observation yesterday in one huge department store was the amount of staff they employed. We could not believe them, they were everywhere, usually in groups of two or more. At one time when Jim and I stopped to observe them there were 14 of them in an area the size of our living room. All young, trim, sharply dressed in the stores conservative uniform.

Dough of course had to know what was going on. Here is the answer from one very petite pretty well-spoken young lady. "Sir, the Philippines is very poor and they offer a lot of employment" Dough, again brazen, asked what the salary was. She said 362 Pesos or about $9.00 per day. Stop complaining folks.

Next is Honk Kong for two days. The big news is that we all, and that means all, have to report between 8 and 9 AM tomorrow morning to have our temperature checked! SARS you know!

Fellette said "isn't that where it started, shouldn't we be asking them to check their temperature?"

Not our best day, but there is no such thing as a bad day on a world cruise is there?

It was however the crew's best day of the voyage, so I guess for us as well, it was a good day in Manila.

Where Are They Today?

Day 53 - Manila, Philippines.

Balinese Surnames...

This is a neat piece of e-mail that l received as a result of our visit to Bali, where our driver was KETUT. [Somewhere in the last few weeks my name seems to have become become Dough.] 

---

Dear Dough, Fellette and Moe,

Just wanted to write to tell you about the book that I am reading --- it is a non-fiction writing about an American lady who has left everything behind and is on a journey to discover who she is --- I know, I know, you are rolling your eyes --- but read on --- She started out in Italy for several months (to appreciate the pleasures of the food, the culture and the beautiful language), moved on to India to live in an Ashram to study the art of meditation and then moved to Bali for 4 months to continue meditating (she talks about extending her restricted 1 month stay to 4 months --- goes a little into the corrupt system ) --- but here is where it gets interesting

She is living in a rental in the town of Ubud - beautiful place that it is --- and talks about the people --- the Balinese name their children (boy or girl), wait for it, only 4 names --- Wayan, Made, Nyoman and Ketut --- they represent the position in the family --- Wayan is first born, Made is second born and so on --- if they have more than 4 children - they start the cycle over again - child 5 would be called "Wayan to the Second Power". They identify who they are talking about by adding some well-known characteristic --- this is a quote from the book --- "Wayan owns a cafe - so she is known as Cafe Wayan" - and so forth --- she goes on to say that "Ketut may be known as Stupid-Ketut-Who-Burned-Down-His-Uncle's-House". 


Different castes have their own set of names (Ketut is not of the higher-caste elite) --- but in Bali, personal names are for identifying where they fit into their family. It is not unusual for a male 'Wayan' to marry a female 'Wayan' and , of course, their first child would be called 'Wayan'.  At this point, I'm not impressed - sounds a little far-fetched and lacking in imagination to me ------sooo, you can understand how excited I was to read that your guide's name was Ketut --- I guess he would be known as 'Driver Ketut' . I didn't recognize the name 'Komang' -- he may have been the owner from a higher caste.  


The author talks about having a 'multi-vitamin lunch' everyday at the cafe owned by the woman named Cafe Wayan --- her business is called 'Traditional Balinese Healing Centre' --- easy to recognize by all the potted plants around the door and the huge blackboard sign advertising her 'Multivitamin Lunch Special' --- she is a healer and serves healthy food. If you can tell me that you had lunch there --- it would be beyond funny -- ha ha

I am tuned in daily, enjoying the pictures of you all --- Bali looks wonderful.
and Dough --- nice skirt!!

Name witheld by Dough

---

No we did not eat at the multi-vitamin lunch cafe, but... at our original table our waiter was Made. [pronounced 'maday', like mad with an a after it. I suppose he would be 'Made of the ship', or 'Made the rich one', or 'Made who is never home'

I believe the name of the book is Eat, Pray, Love. I was telling our table-mates about the e-mail and they had both recently read the book.
You have good taste Luci. [Oops!]

CHANGE IN SUBJECT: There is a fair amount of discussion on board today about Brunei. One gentleman went on a tour and he said that all he saw was wealth beyond comprehension, yet he spoke to a lady that went on her own, or at least on a different tour, and was amazed at the poverty! 

Thank you Sultan! Guess who has the wealth? Apparently the Sultan gets 1/2 of the proceeds per barrel from Shell Oil. His wealth is accumulating at about $15,000,000 per day. 

The photos below show the two faces of Brunei...