Honestly, it was the experience of a lifetime. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do in Hong Kong. Regular tourist stuff, naturally. But here I am on the complete other side of the world visiting friggin' China, so it needed to be more than that. For a week I'd had the Rush song Tai Shan stuck in my head, and it was like a calling. I needed to stand on the top of a mountain, and I needed China to sing to me. I was coming here for a spiritual experience.
And so I set out. The plan was simple, really. Leave work early on Friday ("early" being around 8 PM here, since we work time-shifted hours to overlap a little bit with the US), get some sleep, get up at 3 AM on Saturday and take a cab to the airport. Simple, right? It sounded great on paper, but it turns out that I couldn't get to sleep on Friday. Who would have thought that I couldn't get to sleep? Me. The grown-up with the 9 PM bedtime. I guess I've just grown too accustomed to the time-shifted hours here, because I couldn't sleep a wink.
Around 2 AM I finally managed to get some sleep. And at 3 it was time to go. Damn it. Ok, maybe I can sleep on the plane a little. It'll be fine. So it's off to the Manila airport. The flight wasn't for a few hours, and it is my custom to arrive at airports very early. But this is an international flight, and I'm not a citizen of either country involved, so I wanted to give it some more time. It turns out, however, that checking in and getting through was pretty easy. The airport wasn't exactly busy:
Ok, I checked in without issue. Just a little bit of paperwork for customs and immigration and whatnot. I had plenty of time, so another line wouldn't be a problem. I just need to make sure I'm in the right line and all that. The Manila airport doesn't have a lot of signs to help with these things, and the announcements aren't exactly understandable (even the ones in "English"). They did have this sign, though:
So... wait... What am I not allowed to do here? This isn't clear at all. And I'm a little scared. And this doesn't help alleviate my fears:
Is someone watching me? Is someone judging me? What am I doing wrong? Ok, it's too early in the morning and I'm too sleep-deprived to know what's going on. Anyway, there are no problems getting through customs. Nice, friendly people. Besides, I'm just leaving their country. They don't give a crap what I do on my way out, only what I do while I'm here.
The immigration agent did do a bit of a double-take on my visa, though. See, when I arrived in the Philippines I was stamped with a 21-day visa. And it's been 21 days. So the last day listed in my passport was today. Just barely made it, I know. He knew what I was doing. It's a US passport, and I'm going to Hong Kong. He knows I'm doing this just to leave for a day or two and then come back. But, again, he doesn't much care. I'm not doing anything wrong, so he stamps the paperwork and waves me through.
Now I'm at the terminal properly. No more lines. Well, there was the security checkpoint, but that's nothing like the US. First of all, it wasn't busy. At all. I just walked right up to it. There was a simple x-ray machine for my one bag and a simple metal detector through which I walked. That's all. No taking off shoes, no fancy radiation machines, nothing. It was the same security checkpoint you'd expect to see at a high school. Indeed, it's the same one at the office here in Manila.
Time to go find my gate. That's sort of my routine when I get to an airport really early. I go to the gate. It doesn't matter how long before the flight it is, the first thing I do is go to the gate. This is not only to check on the status of the flight and make sure it's still at the same gate, but also to get a tactile feel for the walk to the gate. Direction, distance, etc. By walking to the gate right away I get a good feel for the layout of the terminal and the location of the gate. So if I wander around with all of this time on my hands, I can intuitively know my surroundings a little better. I don't know, it's kind of hard to explain. I'm just familiarizing myself with the surroundings.
Again, I'm really early. And, honestly, there isn't much to do in the Manila airport. Remember, the Philippines is basically Asia's Mexico. 'Nuff said. But I did notice that my airline has an earlier flight to Hong Kong which is boarding very shortly. Could I get on that flight? That would be sweet, giving me a couple more hours in Hong Kong on a short weekend. It's worth asking, right?
The Cebu Pacific employee at the counter at that gate didn't think it was worth asking. He was very short with me. Dick. It's a simple question. I'm on a later flight to Hong Kong with this airline, is there any way I can switch to this flight? No need to be rude, Cebu Pacific. What are you, Americans?
Ok, so I have a lot of time to kill. First order of business, go get something to eat. There was this nice little Japanese rice/noodle place in the terminal, so I grabbed a bowl of rice with some chicken in it. The best part was that the soy sauce dispenser looked like a Dalek:
I eat. I play on the iPad. I pass the time. Then I board the plane to Hong Kong. Which was apparently getting ready for a rave...
Oh, and sweet fancy Moses the Cebu Pacific planes are cramped. This isn't just economy class, this is economy class for tiny little Asian people. There is zero leg room. None. Luckily, I had a whole row of three seats to myself. So I could stretch out a bit and kind of take a nap. Quite possibly the most uncomfortable nap of my life. But all that melted away when I got to Hong Kong.
Lantau Island. Lots of tourist stuff to do here, including the Po Lin Monastery and the Giant Buddha. Those should make for a spiritual experience, right? Ya, this is why I came here...
I started the day with this cable car ride on something called the Ngong Ping 360, which is basically the tourist gateway to Lantau Island. And yes, they saw me coming a mile away. They easily sold me on the guided tour package. I'm not really sure how that happened, really. I don't like guided tours. I like to explore. But the package included travel around the island, and that's something I don't otherwise have. Also, it was pretty cheap. So why not, right? I figure if I get tired of the guided tour thing I can just ditch it and explore. I hardly think the tour is compulsory.
The cable car ride was interesting. The view was fantastic, no question about that. But there was a storm moving past at the time. It's a little unnerving to be suspended in a cable car a couple hundred feet above a mountainside as that car swings to and fro in a rainy wind. But it wasn't bad. I just hoped the weather would clear up. After all, an hour prior at the airport the weather was beautiful. So hopefully these rains move along quickly.
I got to the top, to some shopping area called Ngong Ping Village, and grabbed a trinket or two. Then I met up with the tour guide and the other people in my group, all Chinese of course, and we got on the bus. Good thing we had a tour guide, too. Because apparently the bus driver can't help with tours:
Our first stop was a bus ride back down the other side of the mountain to the Tai O fishing village.
It was a quaint and quiet little village on the coast of an island in Hong Kong. Poor, of course. The tour guide made it a point to mention several times that fishing isn't what it used to be in the old days and that their main source of income at this village is now tourism. That's nice, but I'm really not going to go on a shopping spree here. I wanted to see the outdoor market, but not make use of it...
I noticed something pretty interesting, though...
That price tag says "$120000." One hundred twenty thousand dollars. Sure, those are Hong Kong dollars. In US currency, that's a scant $15,471.72. That's approximately what I paid for my car. And they're selling some dried fish at that price. So I asked, and the tour guide confirmed that these are apparently some kind of rare delicacy and do in fact cost $120000 HKD per kilogram.
Are you fucking kidding me? How are you people poor? To put it into perspective for you, these things were hanging everywhere. This village is painted with money. What possible excuse do you people have for being poor? Maybe nobody actually buys these because they can't afford them? Then go to where the rich people are and sell them there. What... the... fuck?
I didn't want to push the issue. The last thing I need is to question their delicate economy, or whatever. Go ahead and keep being poor with your dried fish made of fucking gold, whatever. Next up on the tour was a relaxing boat ride around the village and out into the water. Again, some beautiful scenery. Hong Kong is all mountains. But not gay stupid mountains like in Montana, beautiful mountains along the coast in China. The boat ride allowed us to get a decent view of how the people in the village lived. Like this guy:
How'd he even get out there? There's no boat. There's no path. There isn't even anywhere to get any decent footing around that rock. Did he swim out there or something? These people are amazing, seriously. Also, there's this peaceful little stereotype:
Also in this village was a nice little Taoist temple. (For reference... "temple" = Taoist whereas "monastery" = Buddhist.) They have various gods to which they pray for various purposes. The tour guide described it like making a wish. Something about burning some incense, bowing a couple of times, and speaking three wishes or something. So I gave it a try. I wished for "love, family, and happiness." Hopefully I'll get those.
The temple did have some awesome statues, though. Seriously, Chinese statues rule. Westerners ain't got nuthin' on this shit. Just look at Disco Stu Steppendog here:
And just when I thought that was the awesomest statue I'd ever seen, I turned around and was confronted by this:
Just look at it. First of all, he's giving you the finger. (I know that doesn't mean the same thing in ancient Chinese culture, but that doesn't make it any less awesome.) And on his finger is a little bearded man. Go ahead, be distracted by the little bearded man so you don't notice that he's about to beat your ass to the ground with some kind of jagged stick thing. I want this statue. Forget cigar store indians, I want this.
I did end up buying one thing from the village, though. I'm in a pretty hot and tropical place and I don't have anything to drink in my bag, and there was some little old Chinese lady selling some home-made health drink:
I have no idea what this was. The tour guide said something, but I couldn't quite understand him. Several of us tried free samples that the lady gave us and it was pretty good, so I picked up a bottle. This turned out to be a very good idea later that day.
Anyway, we got back on the bus and went back up to Ngong Ping Village where we'd walk to the Po Lin Monastery:
That walkway was flanked on both sides by statues depicting Chinese generals representing the Chinese zodiac. Pretty cool stuff. The tour guide was telling us all about it, but I wasn't really listening. Along the way we found dinner:
(Come on, I'm in China. You knew that joke was coming.)
And we got to the Po Lin Monastery where the tour guide told us all about it, and then told us that this is the end of the tour. The nearby Giant Buddha is walkable, the nearby Wisdom Path is walkable, we can feel free to explore, etc. But for now I figured I'd look around the monastery first.
It was very nice, but it was too touristy for my tastes. I didn't come here to be surrounded by other tourists taking pictures. I want to find something more serene. There's the nearby Giant Buddha, but that Wisdom Path sounds pretty cool. I'll go check that out first.
Not a tourist in site, I love it. It was walking along a paved walkway in the woods. This wasn't the Wisdom Path itself, but rather the way to get there. Which is kind of zen when you think about it. But it was a nice quiet walk with some intreating random little sights. Apparently people actually live and work around here. There were little gardens and a couple of corrugated metal structures resembling the outskirts of a shanty town. One of the gardens had this watching over it:
That's kind of cute, actually. Also on the path I saw a head of livestock:
My walking past didn't seem to bother him. And I appreciate that. After a short distance I made my way to the Wisdom Path, which was at the time shrouded in fog for that extra dramatic effect:
And while that looks really cool, there were a couple other tourists there at the time. So I'll check back in a bit. For now, this looks kind of interesting. I wonder where it leads:
Something about it just... called to me. Ok, let's go for a walk in the fog along some nice quiet path. That sounds really peaceful, actually. The path eventually became more of a set of old stone steps (I have no idea how old):
The steps continued to climb further and further. This wasn't a stroll, this was a hike. Eventually I passed a sign indicating that I was going toward Lantau Peak. Sweet. I can stand on the top of a mountain and China can sing to me. This is what I wanted. All I have to do is follow this desolate path which is entirely devoid of tourists. Perfect.
Eventually I actually did come upon one group of tourists on their way down. We had a few moments to talk while we carefully passed each other on a steep set of rocky steps. They looked Chinese, but spoke with English accents. Very Hong Kong-ish, I felt. Anyway, they were basically a handful of twenty-somethings visiting Lantau Island. 4-5 guys and 3-4 girls, just a group of friends.
What they told me was that I probably don't want to go that way. It's quite slippery and dangerous and the rain and wind is getting worse. They also said that there's a bench a bit further ahead where they stopped to rest, and that it looked too dangerous after the bench. Well, I thanked them for the advice, and said I'll go take a look and see how I feel about it. Either way, I'll go as far as the bench and sit for a spell.
And so I continued. They were right, it was getting quite slippery and dangerous. I had to be very careful on these stone steps. (And I use the word "steps" very loosely. They weren't always so well arranged as such.) Eventually I found the bench. It was a lot further than I'd expected, I guess they had gone quite a ways before turning back. And I can understand why they turned back. It's pretty bad at this point with the wind and the rain beating down on me.
But I didn't come this far to turn back. This is the journey I wanted. This is my chance to... I don't even know... to do something. And so I pressed on. And, as expected, it got more dangerous along the way.
I can't even really describe this journey in any way that does it justice. I'm just not that good of a writer. But I can say that it was hard. There were times when I had to curl up behind a large rock for a bit to shelter myself from the wind. There were times where I was walking along the edge of the mountainside, inches away from a deadly fall. There were times when I was crawling, not just out of increased safety but out of sheer exhaustion. My legs were burning, my chest was burning, I simply couldn't go on.
But I had to. I don't know why, I just had to. This was important, damn it. This was a spiritual journey. Besides, what other opportunity like this am I going to have? What would I write about in this blog post? That I almost climbed a mountain? That I got tired and turned back? What manner of story would that be for my children? No, this needed to happen. I was going to finish this climb.
The spiritual aspect of the journey began to manifest it in a sort of conversation with God along the way. I asked Him where this path was going. I begged Him to bring me to the end soon. (After all, visibility in the increasing fog was down to about 25 feet. So the "end" was always "maybe 25 feet away." Another reason not to turn back... You just don't know how close you might be.)
That bench was so far in the past at this point. The path had changed many times, continuing back and forth up the side of the mountain. Sometimes there were little signs. Sometimes there was even a railing for 15 feet or so at a time. Sometimes there were obstacles to cross such as a small waterfall or some large rocks. Sometimes the landscape opened up and I found myself walking along a ridge instead of against the side of the mountain. (And while it was nice, it was also completely open to the wind and the now-freezing rain pelting me, trying to push me off the side.)
This was starting to look like a bad idea. I mean, this is dangerous. I could actually die up here. It's slippery, the weather is against me, I'm on a friggin' mountain. One slip and I'm done. I fall down the side and I'm gone. Nobody will ever find me. But there are too many voices in my head pushing me forward. What would I tell my kids? What would I tell my friends? What would God think of me if I lose faith and turn back? What would my drill sergeants have said if I gave up? What kind of person would that make me? Despite the fact that this was the single most physically difficult thing I've ever done and despite all of the very real danger in which I was placing myself, I continued.
So many times I thought I was right about to reach the top. So many false finish lines. My spirit was breaking. My body couldn't take it anymore. Hell, at some point I'd have to turn back just to catch the last ride back to the mainland. I'd been out here for a while. Like, an hour or two. Eventually, as I was crawling up some more rocky steps, completely drenched and freezing, unable to see more than a few feet, unable to hear my own voice in the wind, I said "Lord, I can't go on. There's just no way I can do this. I want to. I really do. But I can't."
I noticed a couple of small flowers right in front of me, growing between two of the steps. Two small violets. It occurred to me that I hadn't seen any flowers the whole time. All of the foliage was green. But here was some color.
Two small violets. I thought of my little girls at home. I wonder if there are more flowers at the top of the mountain. I'm going to go pick some flowers for my girls. And so I continued.
At some point the sticker on my shirt from the tour fell off. My clothes were completely soaked with both rain and sweat. The wind just peeled it right off and took it into some foliage. I hate to litter, but I can't exactly go get it. And so I continued.
I found more flowers. Not many, mind you. But there was some kind of large beautiful white flower growing up here. I only saw maybe half a dozen of them in total. These... These were going to be the flowers for my girls. I'll grab two of them on the way down. If I can make it, of course.
I had that conversation with God again. I can't. The wind calmed for a moment and I was able to look up ahead of me. Was that the end, or another false finish line? It's been the same story all along. The end might be right there. How could I turn back? Ok, I can have some faith. I can do this.
And so I reached the top of Lantau Peak. Sure, it's not Mount Everest. There was some semblance of a path the whole way here. And it had only been maybe two hours. But this was huge for me. This was something.
I wasn't sure what to expect at the top. Part of me hoped there would be some kind of temple or something. Some great cosmic indicator that I had done something that ancient people had considered great and challenging. No, there were just a few signs and a small shelter to rest for a bit. At least I learned how high I'd climbed.
Seriously, I didn't download this image. I took this. Here's proof:
Such a sigh of relief. I'd done it. Whatever it might be, I'd done it. There was nobody else here, and how often is there somebody else here? I mean, this was a hell of a climb. This isn't a tourist spot. Families don't come up here. Who does? Well, I did.
And it turned out to actually be a spiritual journey. I'd talked to God. And, more importantly, I'd listened to God. I had faith, and I pressed on with no knowledge of what was ahead of me. So what did I learn?
- I learned to listen to God.
- I learned to have faith.
- I learned that I don't know the distance, only the direction.
- I learned to follow the path that's laid out before me.
- I learned that God will provide a shelter when I need one (the occasional rock to hide behind from the wind).
- I learned that God will lessen the burden when I need it (sometimes the path flattened out to a walk instead of a climb). Not when I want it, but when I need it.
- I learned not to give up.
- I learned that even though I'm old and fat and tired I can still accomplish things.
- I learned that the human spirit can overcome any challenge. All you need is the will to continue.
- I learned that I can climb a mountain, but that I need God's help to keep me going.
- I learned that carrying one's worldly possessions adds more burden than benefit. (I was carrying a 10-15 pound bag of everything I'd taken with me, since I haven't been to the hotel yet.)
- I learned that buying a homemade health drink from an old Chinese woman in a fishing village is always a good idea. Seriously, that random purple stuff saved my life.
- I learned that things won't turn out the way I expect or the way I hope, but they will turn out the way I need.
When I got to the first ridge, not more than 50 feet away, the cloud opened up. The view was... spectacular. No photograph can accurately capture the feeling of standing there. Though I do have a personal favorite from that spot:
That image of the cloud moving over the ridge of the mountain is just awe-inspiring. And what do you know, I can see part of the trail. This is one of the flatter and less dangerous parts, of course. Here's another shot of part of the trail, including some rocks that made for good temporary shelter on the way up:
I didn't get a picture of the flowers I'd picked on the way down, but definitely made sure to pick them for the girls. They won't be in very good shape by the time the girls get them, mind you. Understand that I had to carry them down a mountain. (Perhaps I can look into a service here that can press and frame them under glass so they don't just sit in my hotel room for 2 weeks.)
At one point I actually slipped and fell. It hurt a little, given that I was already pretty sore from the climb, but it was more frightening than painful. I'm very glad none of my stuff broke, though. (In my hand was my camera; In my pocket was my iPhone; In my bag was my camcorder and my iPad.) But aside from my stuff, that fall could have been... bad. Ya, that would have killed me. A lot. Even if I survived the slide down the mountain, I'd have broken enough of my bones that I wouldn't be able to get out. So I'd die of exposure or starvation or something over the course of a few days. So, you know, glad that didn't happen.
Progress back down was very, very slow. This wasn't just because I had to be careful, but because I kept seeing the fantastic sights I'd come to see. The way up was the challenge and the spiritual awakening, the way down was the reward. Every few steps I found myself confronted with beauty I could hardly believe. Just look at this rainbow:
Seriously, that rainbow is landing on that little island. How awesome is that? I wonder if there's even anything on that island. It's tiny.
Another of my favorite photos was taken when the path doubled back down the other direction along the mountain, toward my eventual goal of Ngong Ping Village:
I actually didn't get a chance to get up close to the Giant Buddha. Not only was it closed when I got back, but I was barely under the wire for catching the cable car gondolas back to the subway terminal. That trip up and down a mountain took a lot longer than I'd expected. But it was worth every moment. Even the difficult moments. Especially the difficult moments.
I just don't have the ability to properly write about this experience. But I had the ability to properly live it. And that will stay with me forever.
The trip back down the cable car was uneventful. Keep in mind at this point how incredibly tired I was. It's 6:30ish PM at this point. I haven't eaten since 5:30 AM. I haven't really slept since 8AM the previous day. So really all I wanted was to make my way to the hotel, check in, sit for a little bit, and go get something to eat.
But before I did that, there was one more tourist attraction to see. I was nearing my hotel area around 7:30, and at 8:00 there was a light show over Victoria Harbour called Symphony Of Lights that I wanted to see. There's probably a lot of people, so 7:30 is as good a time as any to find a spot and wait. And right along the Avenue of Stars are some great spots to see the harbor and the skyline over on Hong Kong Island:
The light show was nice, but not nearly as vibrant as was depicted in photos online. Still, pretty impressive stuff. Afterward I made my way back to my hotel, which was quite the walk from where I was standing. And God damn was I tired.
Technically the hotel was right up the street from me away from the water. But first I had to figure out a way to cross the street that ran parallel to the water. This turned out to involve walking about a half a mile to the nearest subway station and using that as an underpass. There was no other way to get across a 6-8 lane road in Hong Kong. So I walked up to that station, crossed under, and walked back. Now I can finally walk a few blocks to my hotel.
And what a few blocks it was. The entertainment of it all was keeping me awake and alert. If you can imagine what you think a busy urban street would look like in Hong Kong, that's exactly what this looked like. Neon signs everywhere, so many that they obscured each other. Double-decker busses and railcars going to and fro. Countless people and cars walking around. (One thing to note, which is very different from Manila, is the art of crossing a street here. Heed the signal. Cars are coming out of narrow streets and alleyways at blazing speeds. If their light is green, they're going. Fast. Don't get in their way, because by the time they even see you they won't be able to stop.)
The best part was the endless assortment of people trying to sell fake watches. More specifically, the endless assortment of middle eastern men trying to sell fake watches to white men. They were all middle eastern, and they were looking for white guys to approach. The profiling was just awesome. And they were up-front about the watches being fake, too. They normally camped outside of designer watch stores, of which there were plenty. "Fake Rolex? Fake watches? Good prices!" was essentially their sales pitch. They were pretty quiet in their pitch, but not at all subtle. One guy even tried to sweeten the deal as I walked past. "You don't want watch? How about hash, coke, pot? I got what you need, man." Awesome.
Check in at the hotel was simple and uneventful. I was worried that I might not be able to find the place. Buildings here are laid out differently. In the US it's easy to find things. Things tend to exist on their own and be obvious. You can's miss a hotel in the US, it's the only thing occupying that space. But here... here it's different. They have so many people and so little space that they can't build out anymore, they have to build up. You see it in countless vast high-rises filled with tiny little apartments. It's gotten to the point that they've run out of place to put buildings, so they're putting them inside of other buildings.
But I found it, I checked in, and I finally got to put down my damn bag. I rested for a few minutes, took a much-needed shower, and of course made use of the wifi to check my internets. When the hotel said that each room had complimentary wireless internet, I never imagined that they meant this:
Each room has complimentary internet access. On its own. Of course, they all still share the same pipe, and it was pretty slow. But it was something. Seriously though, that's just weird. Was that on purpose or did they just not know what the hell they were doing?
Finally I set out to find some food. There are fast food chains all around me, but I don't want those. I'm much more interested in some small local place. Something with local color and flavor. The problem is, however, that all of the mom-and-pop local places were kind of intimidating. I had to keep in mind that this is not the Philippines. I don't know the culture here. I don't know how welcoming anyone might be to the American barging in.
My system of measurement for this was simple. If there's no English translation, don't go in there. And, of course, all of the local eateries had no English translation. (At least not on the outwardly-facing menus, which actually turned out to be pretty handy. Every restaurant I found in Hong Kong had a menu on the outside of the establishment, either in book form or wall form. You don't even have to go inside to figure out what you want. We should totally do that in the US.)
I ended up wandering into a mall. And, as mentioned earlier, it would be easy to just miss this mall entirely. For one thing, it was more vertical than horizontal. There were several floors, each of which had a small handful of shops. Surely there must be food in here somewhere. It's a mall. Malls have food courts. Even in a mall food court there should be something remotely local.
So I rode escalator after escalator until I found a group of places to eat. I don't know if this was the food court per se, but it was an assortment of restaurants. Nice restaurants, actually. Well, as nice as a mall can have. Still, pretty classy places. So I wandered around looking at the menus. I wasn't going to settle for any random thing. I'd had a hell of a day, and I want to enjoy a meal.
Oddly enough, I ended up settling on an Italian restaurant. It was still staffed by Chinese people, of course. But the menu was Italian. Something about the Spaghetti Carbonara just sounded fantastic. It was a little uncomfortable being seated at a table for one. I didn't mind the part about sitting by myself, but what I did mind was the fact that I had nothing to do while I waited. There was no conversation to be had. I just... sat there.
But the service was good and the food was prompt. Remember what I said about the Spaghetti Carbonara sounding fantastic? You should have tasted it. Oh. My. God. I wasn't just eating, I was dining. This may have been the best pasta dish I've ever eaten. I accompanied it with a mixed drink and a desert (which can only be described as an artful rendition of various chocolates). The whole thing was... perfect. The food was magnificent, really. I... I couldn't imagine a better way to end the evening than with this meal. I want to marry this meal and have it before bed every night for the rest of my life. Maybe this reaction had something to do with how tired and hungry I was, I don't know. But holy shit was it good.
Ok, the meal is done. The mall is closing. It's 11:00. Time to go back to the hotel and sleep.
The next morning I woke up a lot later than I'd originally planned when envisioning my itinerary for the weekend. But that's ok. I earned some sleep. Besides, yesterday was the perfect day. Anything today is just gravy.
So I figured I'd start the day with a tourist attraction over on Hong Kong Island. I've done all of Lantau Island, my hotel is on Kowloon, so I need to do something on Hong Kong Island. So I head for the biggest tourist spot I can find there, The Peak. This time, however, I don't have to climb the mountain myself. There's a rail car:
It basically just goes back and forth along a single track from the bottom to the top. And let me assure you that this climb is steep. I think at one point we were approaching 40-45 degree angles. The car itself has seats with the backs on the downward angle, so anybody sitting is comfy. But it's really busy and there's also standing room. Those people lean. A lot. In fact, the aisle floor is really grippy and has raised ridges every foot or so in order to give people something to stand on.
And even when I got to the top and entered the building, there was still a lot more climbing to be done before I was at the top:
There were probably seven or eight floors connected by escalators. The whole thing was a shopping complex for tourists, but I wasn't interested in any of that. I wanted to see the view. And see it I did:
My God this place is beautiful. All of that mountain scenery from yesterday, the ocean, and this gorgeous city all in one place. I've fallen in love with Hong Kong, plain and simple. So I spent some time enjoying that view (and stretching my legs) before I started back down to go see the city at ground level.
On my way down I saw the wolf man:
That is some impressive and disturbing neck hair. You should have seen his arms.
And then I got to ride the trolly back down the steep slope, and this time I made sure to get front-row standing room. Seats are for old people. Seriously, it was like a slow roller-coaster:
Back to the subway to find my next destination. By the way, Hong Kong has an awesome subway. The larger terminals feel more like airport terminals. It's very efficient and clean. It goes everywhere. Just a serious world-class public transit system. And the signs couldn't be more clear. This was professional work in every way. (Though all of the English translations were decidedly... English. For example, you don't "get off at the subway station." You "alight at the tram terminus.")
While in the Central station (terminus) I stopped for a quick snack:
How awesome is that? The kiwi juice was pretty good, but look at that jell-o snack. That's brilliant. You know you want to make that. Hell, that's something to make for a kid's birthday party. It's just a few layers of different colors of jell-o, matching the colors of the angry birds, with some kind of creme-based topping in which is stuck some fruit slices in the color and shape of their angry bird counterparts.
Ah, the streets of Hong Kong...
Again, I love this city. I especially love the double-decker buses, though I didn't get a chance to use one:
Most of this day was spent wandering the streets. I was moving pretty slowly, being still quite sore from the previous day's exercise. Also, Hong Kong island is basically just a maze of staircases. Stone steps and steep hills are everywhere. Definitely a healthy workout, but it slowed my travels significantly on this day.
I did stumble across a lovely little temple in the middle of the city, though:
This is the Man Mo Temple, which is a small shrine to the god of literature and the god of war. I'm not sure why they picked those two together, but I like it. As with any Taoist temple, it was basically a handful of statues around an elaborate altar with lots of incense. They had more than just those sticks of incense, though. They had this awesome things:
I guess those are for something special. And some of them got really special:
I wonder how long it takes one of those to burn. I mean, incense is pretty slow. I should get one of those at some point, just to have incense burning all the time. I should be an incense person.
To be honest, this was about all I was going to be able to do today. The difficulty of moving around was catching up with me. I crossed the street in front of the temple to have a seat in a small park (very small, but there were benches) and rest for a bit. And I really didn't want to get back up. So instead I just watched a bird for a while:
I know, after all that talk yesterday about being able to overcome anything, what the hell is this? Well, being able to overcome anything doesn't make me invincible. There's a price to pay. There's a balance with wisdom. I overcame, and now I rest.
Basically I spent the rest of the day casually wandering the streets of Hong Kong looking for interesting things to see. Even silly little things, like this:
I know it's hard to come up with a compelling name for a business, but come on. "ABCDEFG" is the best you could do?
After wandering around Hong Kong Island for a while, I needed to sit again. But I still wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere, really. And, of course, Hong Kong had the solution. The subway. I took out my trusty iPad where I'd saved some information about various places to go and things to do while I'm here. So today's mission was simple... Find something far away on the subway system. And in the northwest corner of the subway system was a little re-created old world Chinese town as a tourist attraction. Perfect.
(While I was on the iPad I tried to find some nearby wifi to check my internets again...)
(Seriously, this place is insane. Unfortunately even the non-password ones were either unresponsive or had a web-based password upon connection. I miss the good old days of open wifi. I honestly think this amount of coverage is counter-productive, though. There's no way those aren't all horribly interfering with each other.)
The subway ride itself was an interesting cultural observation. As I got further from the main city, it became more and more clear that I was the only white person around. This generally isn't the case in the city, but it's apparently the case north of the city. Normally this isn't a big deal, but I am in an entirely foreign culture here. I don't know these people and I don't know their customs. And there are places in the world where racial boundaries run deep. I wouldn't want to inadvertently wander into such a place.
But the ride was without incident and I eventually arrived at my destination. Unfortunately, the tourist attraction was closed. Seriously, stuff closes way too early around here. What the crap, Hong Kong? Oh well, the ride itself was nice. While I was in the area I figured I'd wander around and see if I could stumble across anything (like another temple), but there was nothing to be had. Before long I made my way back to the subway.
But before boarding, I stopped to get some food. The subway station had a normal selection of fast food and almost fast food, and there was one that caught my eye. It was proper-looking Chinese food, but the menu had English translations so I could get something. So I sat down and enjoyed some mystery meat and rice. (Literally, the menu item was "Assorted meat and rice.)
As I casually enjoyed my meal, I continued to watch the people coming and going in the subway station. It became pretty clear why I'm the only white guy here. The white people are in the city where they belong. These are the commuters. These are the people who work in the city for low wages and live out here on the outskirts in crappy apartments. I definitely don't belong here. It's not that I'm uncomfortable at this point, it's just that I'm clearly not one of them. My very presence is in some way disrespectful to them. So I got back on the subway and returned to Tsim Sha Tsui.
As I was climbing the stairs out of the subway near my hotel, I noticed that there was a significant police presence. They were sectioning off areas and setting up barricades. What could be going on? Was something happening? As I neared the street level I began to hear loud booming noises, regularly spaced apart. I shit you not, they sounded like Godzilla footsteps.
Emerging from the subway entrance onto the street, police were everywhere continuing to set up barricades and move people along. And the people were all focused on something happening down the street, up high. Was... Was Godzilla seriously attacking Hong Kong? No, the noises no longer sounded like footsteps. Now there were many of them overlapping. Were we... being bombed? Seriously, what the shit is happening?
Oh, fireworks.
I guess that makes a lot more sense. But it's also a lot more boring. Oh well, at least it was a good fireworks show. Really good, actually. Apparently I went to that Symphony of Lights on the wrong night. Too late now, there's no way I'd be able to get all the way to the harbor through this crowd. Nor would I want to be amid such a crowd when the show was over. So I watched for a bit and headed back to the hotel.
My time in Hong Kong has come to a close. In the morning I will wake up early and go to the airport to go back to the Philippines. Farewell, beautiful city.
The next morning began as expected. I woke up at 5AM, took a shower, grabbed my bag, and checked out. Time to make my way to the world-class subway and go to the airport.
Crap, the subway is closed. What the shit, Hong Kong? It's Monday morning. Aren't people going to work? So I walk back to the hotel and tell the guy at the desk that I had expected the subway to be running and, since it isn't, could I get a taxi? He says that I can get a taxi on the street. Bah, I miss the Philippines. They'd get me a taxi.
So I go try to get a taxi. First of all, there aren't many. Second of all, none of them want to pick me up. They completely ignore me. Ok, being the white guy here might not be quite the advantage that it is in the Philippines. The Chinese people are different. They don't culturally want to do anything they can to serve and make people happy. They can actually be dicks.
This goes on for about a half an hour. Long enough that the subway opens up. So I guess I'll just take that. Unfortunately, these massive subway stations don't leave the air running all night. So it was miserable in there. And, though the station was open, we still had to wait for the first train to come by. Finally it did. Still, I'm wasting precious time here.
The times listed for subway rides between stations are apparently train movement time only. They don't take into account the time it takes to walk through the terminals when changing train lines, or the time it takes to wait for the next train. Again, I'm wasting precious time. This flight might be cut a bit close, given that I'm going to a much bigger airport than Manila.
I get to the airport and quickly find the Cebu Pacific counter, thankfully. After a reasonable wait in line, I get to the check-in counter. This is where shit goes wrong.
The lady at the Cebu Pacific counter didn't want to let me back into the Philippines. The government officials I encountered later in the day when I actually entered the country had no problems, but this random airline employee didn't like the idea of me entering her country. Seriously, why is Cebu Pacific such a dick with customer service? I don't think they're actually Filipino, honestly. Anyway, she was insisting that I need a printout of my return itinerary.
- Me: "Well, I have a printout for this flight reservation from the website."
- Her: "No, your return itinerary."
- Me: "Return to where? This is my return flight. Look at the printout. I flew from Manila to Hong Kong, now I'm returning to Manila."
- Her: "But you're a US resident. You need the printout for your return to the US through Manila, or they won't let you in the country."
- Me: "That's not part of this itinerary. That's a completely separate flight on a completely separate airline and it's not for two weeks. It has nothing to do with this flight."
- Her: "You still need to have a printout of it."
- Me: "Well, somebody from this airline should have said something about that sooner than an hour before my flight. I don't really carry a printer with me when I travel."
Then someone else had to go pick up the fax from... somewhere. And this took a while. Where the hell was she picking it up, the other airline's counter? You people seriously need some computers to help you get shit done faster. This is ridiculous.
Eventually someone hands me a boarding pass. And I take off running. Maybe they wanted to continue to talk, but I didn't give a flying fuck what they had to say. I have a boarding pass and my flight boards in 20 minutes. An international flight in a major international airport. I need to go.
The line through security wasn't short, but also wasn't slow. No bad, but the clock is ticking. The line for immigration is a bit slower. Damn it people, let's go. I almost had a heart attack at the immigration desk when the Hong Kong immigration officer asked me for my "departure paper." ... My what? ... Oh! I did get a thing when I entered the country. Did I save it? I check my bag. I saved it! Ok, all done with immigration. Time to get to the gate, fast.
I can move through airports quickly. Very quickly. But there is one great nemesis I have in some airports. It's an obstacle that can't be overcome. And I hate it with every fiber of my being. The shuttle bus. As it turned out, my gate was in some kind of satellite terminal. So a little bus would take people back and forth across the tarmac. And it was the slowest fucking bus in human history. For example...
- The doors from the terminal building closed. But the bus was just sitting there with its doors still open. Waiting for what? Eventually, it closes its doors.
- ...
- ...
- Eventually it starts to move.
- But wait, there's another bus coming from off in the distance. So this one pulls to the side a bit and waits for it to go by. In an airport. There are vast swaths of open space. We can go around each other. But no, we wait.
- ...
- ...
- Eventually it starts to move again.
- Finally it gets to the satellite building that I could have walked to in a fraction of the time.
- It lines up the bus doors with the building doors.
- ...
- ...
- Still waiting
- ...
- Ok, the building doors open.
- ...
- ...
- Oh, I guess the bus doors should open too. Novel idea.
It's the same small, cramped flight. (Except there was no rave this time.) But all I care about is that I made it. I had a fantastic weekend, and despite its best efforts Cebu Pacific couldn't ruin my day. I'm heading back to the Philippines.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I wanted to see another country/culture, and I did. I wanted a spiritual experience, and I had one. I wanted to stand on top of a mountain and overlook a foreign land, and I did. It was the weekend of a lifetime, and I honestly think it changed me as a person, if only a little bit. Despite a few shortcomings within the scope of the weekend itself, I still love Hong Kong.
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