Jill and I went to Hong Kong yesterday after 2 moths in Shenzhen. Actually it was 2 days ago. Oddly I found familiar places there. Like the skyway we used to get to the History museum and the restaurants we ate at. We were last there 2 months ago and the place made such an impression.
It felt really good to be able to go back. We finally received our final Visas last week and are here for 11 more months or so. We can come and go as we please though and that includes Hong Kong and Macau. Shenzhen is a vibrant growing city, it just opened another subway line and will open 2 more by the end of the year. It is isolating being here though. I see another foreigner once a week. Almost no one speaks English or at least wants to try with me. I can’t speak Mandarin or decipher the characters. In Hong Kong people are there from all over the world. Different languages follow one around every corner and English is useful in most circumstances. The air is fresher in Hong Kong because it is nearer the water than where we live. The stores are a little more familiar if only because they have English names printed. I have an affinity for Hong Kong that takes me a little by surprise. I felt natural equating my feelings of New York City with it. It has a more liberated feeling than the censored mainland.
We arrived in Kowloon for a walk to the next metro station where I spotted the History museum we went to and the restaurant that we ate at 2 months ago. We almost walked by our old hotel by coincidence. After riding the train again across the harbor both of us were starving. No time was lost finding one of the restaurants I’d picked out to eat at for lunch. Home Restaurant is an amazing vegetarian place that fulfilled our wildest desires. We each ate a burger made of different veggies and things. Mine had some Haloumi cheese on it. The meals that have included cheese I have had since coming here now equal 2. We each gobbled up our meal and Sweet potato fries with ease. Then we basked in the glow of unfettered internet access. Everything felt better to me. Our second stop was to be the Fernando Botero sculptures on tour near the ferry terminals. Fernando Botero is one of the most famous living artists around. He lives in Colombia, where Jill and I first found his cartoonish sculptures of obese subjects. On our way we walked through the opulent IFC Mall. We walked by the Maritime Museum and waited out a little downpour looking at the buildings and ships. We found the Boteros’ in a cordoned off section of the bayfront. It was deserted because it was Wednesday and raining. There were about 10 sculptures selected from different periods of his work.
We thought about walking up Victoria Peak which is what everyone who visits Hong Kong does. However we did not because it was rainy and cloudy. The walk is not lightly taken either. We wandered back to the mall and walked around a bit. Then Jill looked in a couple stores for pants to no avail. We wandered back to the Home restaurant for our dessert in honor of Joyce’s 1st birthday. decided on the Banana Chocolate Cake and a single espresso. We shared in a corner again looking out at the city. We decided to hop on the Star Ferry back to Kowloon and head home. The ferry was rolley in the bay water, definitely not as pleasant a ride as the Australian river cats. We made it to Kowloon and walked back to train station. We talked about how much fun it would be to live in Hong Kong for a lark. I think we could perhaps do it next year but who knows.
So good to read your blog, Martin! Thanks. Glad you had a good time in Hong Kong and saw/heard some English. Yes, I can imagine how you would feel isolated. : ( Are you doing other writing, too? Crafts? Exercises? Karen was looking for more helpers at the Fair but you are too far away! You guys were such a big help last year. Take care! Love, mom and dad