Day 70 – Hong Kong

Nov 6th

Fondling?
After finding our way through the maze of baby Armani stores in the mall that the Explorer gangplank emptied into, we found the tourist information center at the Star Ferry. The area was filled with newsstands, street sellers and general commuters. One old Chinese woman came up to us to give us maps to a tailor shop. She went from person to person as each of them refused to take a sheet. I felt bad for her and thanked her with “xie xie” (sounds like “she she”) after taking one. She responded by gently tapping my left boob. At first I thought it was a mistake, but then everyone decided to take a paper from her and she tapped each of their boobs as well (except Alex but that’s probably because he doesn’t have any)! Totally weird introduction to China that’s for sure! With our breasts nicely tweaked we headed to the subway station on Nathan Street.

Lantau Island
Goldie, Sara, Britney, Marg, Becca and I found the subway to be so easy it was stupid. The lines were color coded (perfect for those who don’t speak Mandarin) and you buy tickets from a touch-screen ticket dispenser. All you have to know is where you want to be on a map and the ticket will take you there. It was lovely. After switching trains at Lai King and passing HK Disney, we finally made it to Tung Chung on Lantau Island where we could find the largest Buddha in Southeast Asia. From the subway station, we took the Ngong Ping 360 (cable car) up to the peaks of the mountains in the area. Since it was already late afternoon when we arrived at the Buddha, he had lunch and green tea at a quant little Ngong Ping Garden Restaurant in the village beneath the hill that the Buddha sits on. Even though the waitress didn’t speak English we somehow managed to order stir fried beef, veggies with noodles, mixed veggies and chicken satay. We barely spoke while eating because it was so delicious. We also looked like sloppy Americans because we ended up using our soup spoons instead of chop sticks. Once refueled, we started the hike up the hill to see the huge, bronze Tian Tan Buddha up close. We took tons of pictures and admired the breathtaking green hills surrounding the area before heading back down for pistachio and hazelnut gelato to satisfy us on the way down the cable car. Unfortunately, one European man got stuck in a cable car with the six of us. He had to listen to our uncensored conversation that ranged from bowl movements to boys to countries we have seen on the ship for the whole 25 min decent. He definitely thought we were nuts, but we saw him chuckling a few times during the trip. On our way back to the subway station, Becca played frogger with the water shoots that made up some sort of artistic fountain (while about 30 Asians watched on). Remarkably she remained completely dry!

Central Hong Kong
We took the subway straight to Central Hong Kong, which is an island off of Hong Kong’s mainland, to walk around Hollywood street to see the Chinese antiques that fill every store. Stone and bronze statues of creepy warriors and dragons filled every shelf. We also wandered by Ladder Street to see the “old” Hong Kong that used to be filled with lines of street vendors up long staircases. (Hong Kong is not very flat, and has tall, steep streets that run up Victoria’s Peak.) We continued our walking tour eastward to see the famous 600 meter long escalators that are the longest escalators in the world… and they are free. So, we hoped on and traveled upward (since they only go in one direction). We discovered that there is a 7-11 literally on every street corner of these escalators, so if you wanted to play a fun drinking game you could hope off the escalator to chug a beer then hop back on to the next street corner and do the same. We figured with the altitude change along the way, you could have a LOT of fun on these escalators. After sauntering past the Zoo, Botanical Gardens and Former Governor’s Residence, we found ourselves at the Peak Tram Station on Garden Road.

Victoria’s Peak
The tram ride up felt like we were taking off on a rocket ship. It went straight up! Literally you could lean forward standing and be practically at seated passengers knee caps without falling. Once we reached the top, we had the most amazing view of the city. As it grew darker, the lights of the city really glowed and it was absolutely beautiful. We decided to take a break and have dinner at Café Deco, which included fried noodles in dark sauce with pork and veggies. Sara attempted to ask the waiter where the bar scene was and if he wanted to come with us, but he completely shut her down. He said that he didn’t drink and studied for fun. This is something we found very common about Chinese students. That or they just really didn’t want to hang out with us. After dinner, we made our way outside to the balcony to see the light show that is accompanied by music in the Hong Kong Harbor. Each of the skyscraper buildings lit up with colorful patterns and flashing lights. After refreshing ourselves on the ship, Brad and the girls and I headed out for Lan Kwan Fung Street to check out the major bar street that was covered by familiar faces.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was taking a picture with Jackie Chan (even if it was just a wax figure). My “low” was having an Argentinean man try and marry me.