The Decompression of a Boomer

China trip – Part 8

Saturday, April 21 – Only two days till we fly back home to Idaho. I wake up with a dull headache, and a queasy stomach. That nasty whatever-it-was thing I came down with yesterday seems to be more than a 24-hour bug. No worries. Victor has already visited an apothecary and delivered me some Chinese medicine to cure my ills. I sucked down a dose of it last night and again this morning. Po Chai pills in bottle form could certainly relieve whatever ails me

Made in Hong Kong – good “for relieving fever, diarrhea, intoxication, vomiting, over-eating, and gastrointestinal diseases.” (Tourist’s panacea!) You pull the top off the vial and down the whole batch of peppercorn-like balls, hopefully in one gulp. I gulped down four of the eight vials getting myself back online, and brought the remaining doses home with me, you know, for any future vomiting, over-eating, hangovers or gastrointestinal ills …

So, what to see of Hong Kong in two days? Whatever plans we make, I’m in!

Hong Kong is split in two by Victoria Harbor; the modern city springs up along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island and the southern tip of Kowloon (the peninsula extending from the Chinese mainland). On Hong Kong Island the central city goes only a few kilometers south into the island before mountains rise up.

We are staying near the shore at the Shangri-la Hotel in Kowloon. Today we’ll take the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor to Hong Kong Island. Then take the tram to the top of Victoria Peak and enjoy the fabulous views of Hong Kong on both sides of the harbor.

8:30 am Saturday we’ve just stepped out of our hotel and are walking to the ferry

We merge with a huge crowd, board the ferry, and almost before I realize it, we’re cruising across Victoria Bay. We meet another ferry surging toward the dock from the opposite direction…

The Star Ferry has been running across the harbor since 1888. It’s only about a 10-minute ride.

We arrive on Hong Kong Island and walk to the Peak Tram. There’s a long line waiting for the tram, the wait is almost an hour, feels similar, we concur, to waiting in line for a ride at Disney World. But what else are we going to do? You people-watch in line and try to guess the language and/or country of origin of the people around you.

It’s 10:45am and we can finally see the front of the line! We should board the tram shortly …

We’re on top now. We let everyone else off the tram first. (My brother Eric took this photo – I pulled it off his FB page)

We walk back down Victoria Peak on a paved path. Here’s a couple of photos from on top.

But a video is better!

In contrast to mainland China, where we saw maybe 2 dogs, dogs seem to be popular pets in Hong Kong. Especially poodles.

Five poodles in the photo!

All impeccably groomed. We also see several golden retrievers. And a bulldog:

All these pets are likely sharing a very small apartment space with their owners.

We spend the next hour exploring the island of Hong Kong on foot.

Buy your raw meat here!

Rare delicacies! Google delicious recipes for preparing entrails. Stewed pork intestine … ?

There’s a whole block of Hong Kong where you can purchase dried fish, displayed on shelves in open bins. (It doesn’t spoil sitting out in the heat all day?) I recognize the shrimp!

Suddenly we’re boarding a double-decker bus (follow Victor!).

I don’t dare check out the upper deck for fear of missing our stop.

A pencil-thin young man dressed like a rock star in skin-tight pants and broad patterned glittery shirt, boards the bus with a suitcase. He’s here to go shopping!

We’re back near the ferry dock now

Headed back across Victoria Bay

We spend the rest of our time here exploring Kowloon. The streets and sidewalks are jammed with people in the evening. Restaurants abound and eating out is very inexpensive.

Sunday, April 22, is our last day. Tomorrow we fly home to Idaho. Victor shows us around Hong Kong on the Kowloon side. He takes us past the apartment he lived in with his family when he was in High School back in the early 60’s.

After High School Victor’s father insisted he go to college in America. Victor went to the University of Florida for his undergraduate degree, and then to MIT where he got his PhD. MIT is where he met my sister, Stephanie. They both made their careers at MIT and have lived in Boston ever since.

We walked through Kowloon Park in Hong Kong. Went up these steps to enter the park …

Difficult canvas for a mural!

We pass a group doing Fan Kung Fu or Kung Fu Fan! I take a video

It would be hard enough learning how to control the fan, much less learning the Kung Fu! Check out this short video on youtube of a Kung Fu Fan Master!

Alas. All good things must come to and end. I have to put a wrap on this!

For our final dinner, Sunday night, Victor takes us down to the docks for a fresh seafood dinner. By ‘fresh’ I mean we literally picked out our seafood swimming in water tanks, one seafood vendor after the other, lined the dock. We picked out large and small shrimp, a whole fish, scallops, abalone – they cooked them up – and moments later, we were served!

Have you ever seen a shrimp 8 inches long?

We ordered one and then another half pound of smaller shrimp.

And scallops …

Abalone:

Pick out your fish!

We sit out on a patio on the water and the dishes come out, one by one:

We are just finishing up!

… I do believe, the most delicious fresh seafood dinner available on earth!

I capture one last photo of the bay as we leave the restaurant.

The sun has set on our trip to China.

The next morning, Monday, April 23, we travel home. By 10 am we’re at the Hong Kong airport.

11-hour flight to Seattle

At some point I take a selfie. I don’t sleep well on planes!

From Seattle David, Eric and I fly on to Salt Lake City, and then Idaho Falls. Steph and Victor catch a direct flight to Boston. I take one last photo in the Seattle airport before we part ways

‘Xiexie’, Victor and Steph. Thank you for the trip of a lifetime!

Tags: Dog breeds in Hong Kong, Double decker busses in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Kowloon Park - Hong Kong, Kung Fu Fan, Star Ferry - Victoria Harbor, The Peak Tram in Hong Kong, Victoria Peak

This entry was posted on June 2, 2018 at 9:26 am and is filed under China, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.