Satani Bat Bi: Hong Kong

Sunday morning we reluctantly left the amazing Conrad and caught a bus to the Taipa ferry terminal.  Not as crowded as the main Macau ferry terminal, it also offered one-hour high-speed ferry service to Hong Kong for about $20 a person (steep!)

Here's a view of our boat:

As we zoomed across the water, I got an email confirming that the booking for our next hotel - using my United points! - had gone through.  The last stop on our tour of really-nice-hotels-where-we-use-points was the Intercontinental Grand Stafford on the northern side of Hong Kong in the neighborhood of Tsim Sha Tsui East.  We got off the ferry terminal in HK and went up five floors to go through immigration, then down five floors to exit the terminal (weird).  We only had a block to walk until boarding the subway station.  A one-way trip to our station was nine Hong Kong Dollars (about $1.15 USD) and we changed lines once before crossing the channel.  The guidebook did not have the nicest things to say about staying in this neighborhood (too commercial, not authentic, etc.), but we figured we could get around pretty easily with the subway.  After checking in and setting out to explore the neighborhood, I have to say Lonely Planet has it wrong.  What a fun jumble of pedestrian streets, museums, cafes, tailor shops, green spaces, outdoor weddings...!

Distance to DC!

And Madrid!

We'd heard Knutsford Terrace was a great place to check out, since it "has everything from Spanish tapas to Caribbean cocktails."  Mmmm, tapas - we had to find this place.  On the way we ran into these pandas - which from a distance actually looked kinda scary:

We turned down Knutsford and voila!  El Cid was right there!  We grabbed patio seats to keep the people-watching going throughout our meal, and poured over the menu.  Chorizo, patatas bravas, tortilla espanola, sangria, bacalao...mmmm.  The manager came to take our order (it was a bit slow when we first got there), and as I ordered, he commented that I had a decent accent.  Now, I think a number of people reading this have a level of fluency in Spanish I could only dream of, and I think the manager's comment was more of a reflection on the fact that he never hears anyone in Hong Kong speak Spanish period...BUT - I'll take the compliment.  Husband and I bumbled through a Spanglish conversation of where we were coming from, where we were going, how long he had lived in HK, what his children were up to these days, walking the Camino de Santiago (absolutely a dream of mine!)  and the meaning of self-reflection. Pretty deep for just meeting the guy.

The food was so fresh and flavorful.  The music was lively, but not too loud, and the waitstaff were quirky and chatty.  Our waitress Elena's story started in Colombia, and she moved to HK 20 years ago with her then-husband.  Her four children have all grown up in HK and are making her proud with their diligence to homework. She was so sweet, and although she wasn't sure she would have the money for them to continue education, she kept reflecting on how happy she was each day they were all together and healthy.  Whew.

After dinner we walked a few doors down, and true to its description, there were shops and cafes representing cuisine worldwide.  We stopped at a Turkish restaurant for more people watching, and soon were swept up in conversation with our neighbor Macy.  She designs purses made of bamboo, and after I fawned over the one she was carrying, she emailed her distributor and said they would make me one!  We exchanged information and I can't wait!  (I know, some might think that's naive to hope it'll actually turn out - that she'll make and send the purse to Bangkok.  We'll see - if it doesn't work out she was at least a fun person to meet).  

We walked down the main street and watched street performers in the square for quite awhile, before finally calling it a night.

Monday - our last day of this epic weekend.  The morning started with breakfast on the go and a trip to the Hong Kong Museum to see the permanent exhibit on 'The Hong Kong Story.'  But as we got closer, we saw these stairs:

Wait...are those...Terracotta Soldiers!!! There was a temporary exhibit on the Terracotta Soldiers and the larger mausoleum for the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.  It was so informative and relied hugely on interactive, multi-media presentations. I learned a great deal about the unification of China, the first Emperor, his ruling style, the various contributions he made (standardized the width of cart wheels, standardized monetary units, built a national system of roads, unified the Chinese script, etc.), the terrible things he did (burned books and killed scholars who disagreed with his ideology, made 700,000 slaves construct the roads and mausoleum, buried people alive, etc.), the mausoleum, its excavation, the warriors and horses found inside, and the government's long-term plans for preservation.  Amazing!

This multi-media display was a white screen that extended like a snowboarding half-pipe, onto which different images and descriptions were projected, while you walked through. So wild!

 Terracotta soldiers - detailing on different hair styles, headpieces, facial hair, how many buttons of on their armor denotes their rank. They believe these soldiers had weapons that were looted after being buried.

It's believed this figure was a musician, although his instrument has deteriorated over time.

Look at the amount of intricate detail on their bridles!

Next was a trip across the water to Causeway Bay for Indonesian lunch and a walk through Victoria Park.  We found this joyful fellow guiding his speedboat around on the ponds.  I'll bet he's there every day.

Closeup of the boat:

 The boat captain is the fellow sitting on the far bench, under the leafy canopy.

Hoping to find a charming waterfront promenade on which to stroll, we made our way down to the river and found the Noonday Gun.  From our friends at Wikipedia on the Noonday Gun: "The tradition originated over an incident in the 1860s. Jardines' (a local company) main offices were located at East Point, and its private militia would fire a gun salute to welcome a Jardines tai-pans' arrival by sea. On one occasion, a senior British naval officer became annoyed by this practice because he was new to Hong Kong and did not know of such a tradition.  This was because such a salute was normally reserved for government officials and senior officers of the armed services. As a result, Jardines was ordered, as a penalty, to fire a gun every day at noon, for perpetuity."

After a half hour, our search for a lovely promenade had only turned up loud freeway traffic, construction cranes, taxi drivers racing to get in line at a fill-up station, and garbage.  Turns out the lovely promenade is under construction and should be completed in 2013.  I think it was HK's way of telling us we've had a great weekend, and it's time to head home.

Yuck. Note the pollution wafting off the backhoe.

Will be beautiful in 2013!

We caught a ride on the Star Ferry back across the river for about $0.75 each, and back on our side of the waterway, finally found the promenade we were seeking.

Taking a nap on the ferry ride back.

The Avenue of Stars makes up a large part of the promenade, and is devoted to HK and China's movie-making community.  Some scenes from the walk and notable stars:

Back at the hotel, we check out, walked down the street to Hung Hom train station, and hopped on the two-hour train home to Guangzhou.  LONG weekend, but lots of fun!