August 19, 2007 - Day 1 in Hong Kong
This was my second trip to Hong Kong because of visa issues, the first taking place last June when I flew down to Shenzhen, crossed the border, spent a day and a half there, crossed the border again, and then took a train back to Beijing. I had a double entry visa and had to leave the country to activate the second 3 months of it. This time, I had to actually apply for a second visa, but first I had to find my way to the hostel I had booked. Last year, I had wandered around much of Kowloon and part of Hong Kong Island, so I decided I wanted to see a different island. I booked a hostel on Lantau - the island where the airport is - that is next to the Tian Tan Da Fo, the largest sitting Buddha in the world.
After asking many different people about buses, I finally got on the last bus up the mountain to my hostel. There were two others on there, a couple from Nanjing. The bus ride was 45 minutes up a road that is sometimes two lanes sometimes one, so there were more than one precariously close moments with vehicles driving in the other direction. However, the view is beautiful at many different points along the way, despite the dense fog. I trekked with the two Nanjing-ers up to the hostel, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. It was 7pm and I didn't bring food because I assumed there would be something near the hostel. Nope. It's on a hill, by itself, and the closest restaurant, a tea house, is barren (I never did see it open, though another resident of the hostel claimed he ate there).
Hong Kong is supposed to have some of the best food in the world, both in terms of variety and quality. Hong Kong dim sum and rice noodles are to die for, and yet, at around 7:30, I realized that I did not have any food. Not even a bag of chips or a bottle of water. I had ventured down the mountain slightly in search of food but was a little freaked out by the barren-ness and darkness of the place. Thankfully on the way back up, I met up with the two from Nanjing and felt a little safer walking further with others. When we hit the "town," if you can call it that (it's basically a tourist strip of souvenir shops and places to eat, which is why nothing was open), thankfully a single light was on, and we got a couple who ran a souvenir shop to make us 方便面(instant noodles). They did put eggs and bok choy in them, and I have to say, it was some of the best 方便面I've ever had.
An interesting anecdote that I learned from hanging out with the Chinese couple: you can usually get by with Mandarin in Hong Kong. I had heard not to try speaking Mandarin in Hong Kong unless you want to get laughed at. However, most Hong Kong-ers learn it in school and some speak it better than they speak English, for example the couple at the souvenir shop. I had moderate success with Mandarin - probably better success than I had with English the time before - with one exception. At a restaurant the next day, I tried to ask for a menu in Mandarin. The guy looked at me strangely as I repeated "cai dan" to him. The others at my table (it was a place where they seat you at big tables with other people) laughed and translated for me.
Friday, August 24, 2007
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1 comment:
hi jen! i miss you!
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