Hong Kong - Money, money, money, must be funny, in the rich man’s world

March 16th and 17^th, 2024

Hong Kong

Money, money, money, must be funny, in the rich man’s world

Hong Kong is a sight to see.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see as much as we wanted to.   For the first time on this trip the weather didn’t cooperate.   Instead, a huge cloud sat on us for pretty much the whole first day.  I’m talking fog, not rain. Apparently, fog is not all that uncommon as the warm Pacific air mixes with the cooler mountain air and hence you get fog.  We woke up the next day and it was worse.  Then old Mr. Sunshine started to peek out for us later in the day just as we needed to be thinking about getting back to the ship.   Made for a great sail away but Vi and myself are feeling a little cheated.   I know we shouldn’t, but Hong Kong was one of the places we were looking forward to going. 

 

It is kind of hard to realize that we are still in China.  Since 1997, when Britain gave Hong Kong back to China, there has been a “one country, two systems” policy in place.  Hong  Kong has its own money, its own systems in place, and it runs itself pretty much free of the PRC.  The British influence is very
evident in the buildings and double-decker buses, and it co-exists right alongside the skyscrapers.

Hong Kong is made up of 263 islands of which the main ones are Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island and Lamma Island.  They surround the Kowloon Peninsula and together you get Hong Kong.

Obviously, something is working right.   You will never see so many skyscrapers, high rise apartments, shipping boats and everything else.   It is a little bit of the haves and the have nots here.  There is the wealthy, and there is the poor.   The population is 7,500,000 of which 90% is of Chinese descent. But you still get a feeling that Hong Kong wants to remain as autonomous as possible and not be swept up by the big China right above them.

Like I said, our first day was pretty much a bust because of the fog.  The first thing we did was take the Peak Tram up to Victoria’s Peak which was supposed to give the spectacular views of the city and its skyscrapers, the waterfront, the bay, the ocean and everything else.  Yeah, nah - we didn’t get to see any of that.  Below is a picture of Vi at the lookout point of the peak, what we saw, and what we were supposed to see!  Haha!

 

We did get to ride on a Sampan in the historic Aberdeen Harbour.  Our lady captain slowly made her way around the many large and small boats that bobbed up and down on their moorings.  I saw many that I wasn’t sure they would float very long if put to sea.  To call them junks would be both correct and incorrect.   They were indeed junks but not the Chinese junk we know about.   A play on words if you will.  Vialula and I enjoyed the sampan ride with our friends!

We were taken to the famed Stanley Market for a quick shopping visit.  There you could do some souvenir shopping.  Vi quickly spent her Hong Kong dollars on some silk fans and Chinese tea.

The famed Star Ferry ride across the bay was our final bit of today's itinerary.  It links Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.  This ferry has been working since 1888.  I don’t think this was the original ferry, but it wasn’t too far from the first one.  Just kidding!  Thanks to our friend, Sparty, for the photo of the Star Ferry below!

Our second day in Hong Kong, St. Patrick's Day, began just as foggy as the first one.   David, our guide today, took us off the beaten path.  We visited a couple of ...wait for it .... temples AND gardens.  But these were both very beautiful and peaceful, and yet here they were in the middle of downtown and surrounded by huge buildings. These were places where the locals go.  This was David's task - to show us places that weren't so touristy.

The first temple that we visited was Wong Tai Sin in Kowloon. This is a "one-stop temple" where Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism are all represented.  It claims to answer anyone's wishes.

It’s a little disconcerting to see so many people burning incense, rubbing large bronze statutes of different animals to bring them good luck and answers to their prayers.  They would bow in front of the appropriate statute, put their hands together and clap a couple of times.   They would kneel on pillows, pray to their god of choice and ask for things.   They had this wooden box full of sticks with numbers on them.   Whichever stick came out was the answer to their prayer.   They then would go to a table, and someone would tell them what that number meant.  Or something like that.  

Nan Lian Garden was the next place we visited.  We were the only Holland AmericanTour bus here, and it was refreshing not to have so many visitors bearing down on us.  It, too, is in Kowloon.  The gorgeous garden is connected to Chi Lin Nunnery.  It's warmer in Hong Kong, and so many trees and plants were beginning to bloom.  The trees were beautiful, all in the bonsai fashion.  The pictures will tell the tale.

We ended our trip to Hong Kong with a walk around Kowloon Walled City Park and a stop by the Flower Market and Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.   We picked up a geocache at the park, some flowers at the market and took in some sights of men airing their colorful caged birds!  They literally take their birds for a walk and some fresh air, and to shoot the breeze with other bird-loving people!

Everyone was excited about the sail-away as the SUN finally broke through!  We got our best glimpse of the Hong Kong skyline as we left the beautiful Kai Tak Cruise Terminal back out to the South China Sea.  It was one of our best sail-aways so far, complete with live music, delicious appetizers and drinks as we did an Irish jig on the back deck!  Yes, LeRoy had his beer of the day, a Guiness.  Oh, and "Jet Plane", if you've lost your brother, he's on the ship!!!

Fair winds and following seas as we are off to Vietnam!

LeRoy and Vialula