Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 8:46 AM
Subject: Day 2 - Sunday
Today was not a working day. Adjusting to a 14 hour time change takes a little while so I scheduled an off day after we arrive to help us both get adjusted. It helps a lot. I did force myself to get up at 8:00 and by tomorrow I should be well adjusted to local time
Kevin and I spent most of the day just wandering the streets of Kowloon, and later Hong Kong Island. It was a beautiful day, around 65 degrees and clear, albeit hazy. Hong Kong Island is mostly just a mountain rising from the bay and the streets are quite steep once you get a few blocks from the harbor. Near the harbor, pedestrians get around using 20 – 25 foot wide elevated walkways which appear to run down every street in “Central” and give access to the downtown buildings at the second or third floor – there do not appear to be crosswalks at ground level. As Kevin and I were wandering this walkway system, we noticed them becoming more and more crowded. After a few blocks it struck me that apart from being the only western people in site, we were also the only people above 5 feet tall and the only males. The walkways were crowded and completely filled with shorter than normal Asian women. I looked at Kevin and asked “what the &%#* did we just walk into?” He was recognizing the unusual surroundings around the same time and had no idea either. We continued walking a few more blocks, the crowd thinned and more men appeared. I have no clue why.
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| Banyan tree in Kowloon Park |
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| The Escalator |
A few blocks farther inland, the walkways end and the streets become much narrower with barely room for 2 cars to pass. Traffic is a real problem in these neighborhoods and some unusual steps have been taken to encourage people to leave their cars at home. Perhaps the most unique solution is the world’s longest escalator, or rather a series of elevated outdoor covered escalators which connects “Central”, the business district near the harbor, to the “Mid-levels” which are the neighborhoods up the mountainside. Imagine living 800 to 1000 feet above the harbor and walking to work in Central. The trip to work would be easy – all downhill. The trip home would be a very different story. The escalators were built in the late ‘90’s. They run downhill in the morning until 10:00. Beginning at 10:30 they run only uphill. There are walkways with steps which run alongside the escalators for traffic going in the opposite direction. Kevin and I rode these to the top and I must admit I was impressed – It also seems to be well used. The neighborhoods up the hillside is are far from the tourist areas, and refreshingly free of the annoying Indian tailors and massage ladies who assault you at every turn in Kowloon.
It was getting dark by the time we decided to head back down hill toward the harbor. I asked Kevin how adventurous he was feeling – It was around dinner time and while we had many western-friendly restaurant options, I have always wanted to go to a real local Hong Kong restaurant and try the food. Surprisingly, Kevin agreed to try it too. We wandered for a bit and came across a restaurant which was relatively large, around 30 or so tables, and fairly busy but not overly crowded. We stepped inside and were greeted by the hostess who seemed to sense I knew no Mandarin, and she apparently knew no English, but I held up 2 fingers which got the point across. We were seated and presented with menus which were not in English but had pictures of the dishes along with the Chinese characters describing them. The food was quite good I thought; spicy shrimp and onions with fried noodles and some lemon tea to drink. It was only when we went to pay the bill, around 140 Hong Kong Dollars (about $19 US) that I found they don’t take credit cards – I didn’t even think to look when we entered. Between the two of us, we barely had 100 HK$ - Uh oh…. I tried explaining to the girl at the register I did not have enough money– she of course did not speak English, nor did anyone else apparently – we were obviously far from the tourist areas. Fortunately for us, some English becomes part of everyone’s language – “ATM” is understood everywhere. Once she grasped that I needed to find an ATM, an older gentleman appeared who also spoke no English, but motioned for me to follow him. We left the restaurant and walked about 5 blocks down hill to an HSBC branch where I was able to get some cash and pay the bill – whew!! Sure glad the ATM card worked. That could have ended badly
I could write about more from today, but I am far too tired. More tomorrow. Tomorrow we work in the Hong Kong office and then travel to Shenzhen in mainland China
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| Dolphin statue in Kowloon |
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