Hong Kong

Day 1.

10/17/2019

There is no such thing as privacy. I booked my flight to EWR about 2 hours ago. When I got to DIA my android phone desktop said your flight to EWR departs from gate B25. How does my phone know I have a ticket to EWR, and what app is doing this? I had a similar event in IAH when my Google phone asked “would you like to download an offline map for Cuba?” I thought this was between me and the airline only.  Silly me.

I was planning to go through SFO but last night a bunch of people listed, and checked in, so there is no way I will get first class. The thought of 14 hours in coach does not bring me joy. The flight from EWR to HKG is about 16 hours but it has 14 open seats up front and I am #8, plus no one has checked in. This is a no brainer. My flight to EWR, in coach, is on a 757-200. This thing is so old it has ashtrays. I am beginning to understand why all the travel blogs make negative comments about this airlines flight attendants. They were downright hostile and not just to me. 

EWR to HKG is in a 777-300. All of the seats up front got filled with upgrades. Despite all my planning I somehow ended up in coach all the way. Going thru EWR cost me an extra 3 hours in the air for nothing. Arg.

I asked for a window seat and was assigned the exit row window seat, with no window, but the seat next to me is unoccupied so I am OK with this. My nearest neighbor has talked me into going to Macau which is only a one hour ferry ride away. She is a hyperactive kindergarten teacher, only with a lot of money it seems. She is from Hong Kong but “unied” (attended university) in Australia so she has the cutest Australian accent. 

This flight crew is a world of difference. They are polite, courteous, and professional. However, they can not pronounce American names to save their own life. It’s kinda fun watching them because they try really hard. 

The first service was a bag of Asian rice crackers. Yuck.

Second service was a “lite meal”. Vegetarian fried rice or chicken & rice, only the labeling was messed up so ya got what ya got. I got the chicken. Yuck.

Are we there yet? OMG! Ten hours to go!

Are we there yet? What? Nine hours and forty five minutes to go? Really?

Are we there yet? Nine hours and… no way!  Time has stopped. I am in the twilight zone.

Are we there yet? Arrgg…..

Seven and a half hours to go. I am thinking about wiggling out one of my teeth or watching “Eat, Prey, Love”, I can’t decide. Technically I could do both, at the same time even.

I was having a hard time but when I gave up trying to sleep things got a lot better. Thank gawd I had a tablet. I watched nearly an entire season of Enterprise.

Third service was a dry pastrami sandwich. Nothing else. 

Much to my surprise the North pole is still covered in ice. I’m starting to doubt the global warmers. Actually I could only see clouds. Our flight path took us right over the Gobi desert but again, just clouds. Nearly all of the flight was in daylight.

Final service was scrambled eggs and potatoes. Quite tasty. Only one and one half hours to go.

The cockpit gave us a 30 minute notice for landing and there was a mad rush for the bathrooms, which were promptly declared nonfunctional. Stay in your seats ladies and gentlemen.

Immigration had no line at all. The guy yawned, scanned my passport and sent me on my way. I had nothing to declare so I never went thru customs. Very slick. The HKG terminal is at least 5 times the size of the Great Hall at DIA and is very clean and attractive. I wandered around a bit looking for an ATM and when I stopped to look around several persons in yellow uniforms immediately came straight for me to offer assistance. Wow!

The train was a little difficult to get to because several of the access points were closed, possibly to assist in case of demonstrations which I learned were scheduled here tonight. I did see several normal cops in jumpers, but no riot gear.

I pulled $800.00 HK ($102.00 U.S.) from an ATM. 

One HK dollar is worth about $0.13 US.

The train was $115 ($14.95 U.S.) and took me straight to Hong Kong Station in about 30 minutes.. A $24 ($3.12 U.S.) cab took me to Sohotel in about five minutes. $550 ($71.50 U.S.) at the Sohotel hotel gets me a small but very comfortable room on the 15th floor. $28 ($3.64 U.S.) worth of sushi and $24 ($3.12 U.S.) for water and I am set for the night. Not the best sushi. The desk clerk recommended McDonald’s. I should have listened.

My phone works very well for calling home but not for maps or Google searches so I am gonna buy a local data card.

Day 2.

The local media brutally mocks the Donald on several TV stations. Chinese or Hong Kong stations? I don’t know, but their feelings are quite clear. I expect they will openly support whatever Democrat gets nominated. At least two TV stations are just military propaganda.

The room includes breakfast which was  brought up at 9:00, as requested. I ordered the ham and egg toastie. I have decided to stay here for at least several nights. Airbnb would save me about $200 (U.S.) for the week but I would spend the day getting it organized and my experience so far with the language and internet service it might be overly challenging. Besides, I am exactly where I want to be.  Downtown on Hong Kong island. 

I am on the street by 9:15 a.m.. I don’t know why no one is up yet. It’s hot already. My first stop is a monastery dating back to the 1840’s. Incense is a big here. There are no less than fifty pieces burning in this one room. My eyes are burning, my nose is running, and I am choking in no time at all. I snapped a few photos and got out ASAP. It gave me a headache that lasted all day. 

I just walked around a bit admiring how vertical the place is. Skyscrapers dominate everything. My fellow traveler on the plane told me that siblings, and even generations, almost never have their own bedroom. There is a massive housing shortage here. There is no such thing as urban sprawl, only skyscrapers.

Around 11ish traffic starts getting jammed up and the markets are opening. I am convinced that we in the U.S. are depraved of vegetables. There are more edible things for sale here than I could ever have imagined. As near as I can tell everything in the fish market is still alive, barely. 

My google maps is not working but $10 ($1.30 U.S.) at 7-11 provides for a data only sim good for seven days. Worth every penny! 

There are massage parlors everywhere. They list their prices for various services on a billboard.  Most of them do anyway. Some only say “massages” leaving me to wonder what kind of services are offered. Actually, this seems like a very wholesome society. There is no sign of prostitution or porn of any kind. Even the advertising is tame and the dress is conservative.

I desperately need  a haircut but the only barbershop I see wants $585 ($76) for a basic cut. Call me cheap if you want, but I’m not paying that for a haircut.

I saw a merchant actually using an abacus.

The slickest thing here is called “Octopus”. In the U.S. we call it Samsung pay. Most shops have it and it is fast. You pay with a with a proximity credit card or a fob on your key ring. Just waive it near the merchants sensor and walk out the door. Really slick. Really fast.

Around noon I wandered down to the docks and took a “Star Ferry” across the harbour to Kalwoon. The cost is $3.70 each way. (Remember, multiply by .13 ,so the ferry costs about $.48 U.S.) It docks in a shopping district called “Harbour City”. There are about ten blocks of stores like Louis Vitton, Gucci, Prada, Armani (Georgio and Emporio), Bvlgari, Celine, Burberry, Chaumet, Van Cleef, Dior, Bruget, and Chloe, just to name a few. Who buys this kind of crap?

McDonald’s is one of the few food options in this neighborhood, and for the sake of cultural studies I decide to compare and contrast a fish sandwich. Since I didn’t have the app ordering was only available electronically on a touchscreen. Saying it was difficult is an understatement. It took me four tries and I settled for some kind of tea that I have never heard of. Never did figure out how to get some fries. Picking up the order was again challenging because the food and beverages come from different counters that are not in site of each other. The hoards of people frustrated with me standing in the way looking dazed and confused didn’t help. Anyway, the tea had a layer of sweet custard or cream on top. It was delicious and the sandwich was exactly like home.  

I am exhausted, dehydrated, and a little jet lagged. It is time to head for the hotel and some air conditioning. 

After a good rest dinner was shrimp dumplings. I could get used to these. 

I found a barber for $110 ($14.3 U.S.) Basic haircut, no razor trim.

With the exception of an incense induced headache it was a great day.

Day 3.

I woke up at about 4:00 a.m. feeling great. The problem is breakfast is that it’s not until 8:30, that’s as early as you can get it. Fortunately, last night I bought a 9 pack of Chips Ahoy for just such an emergency. I don’t want to go walking around because there is not another sole out and about. There might be a curfew. I don’t know. The TV news is not shy about showing footage of protesters getting the crap beat out of them.  I recognize footage of where I was in Kowloon yesterday, but I saw none of it. 

My plan today is to hike Lion Rock for the view, plus I want to get out of the city a bit. What a joke. It’s only 5 miles from here on the other side of Kowloon. Google maps says it will take 2 hours by bus to get to the trail head, 34 minutes by car. 

Along the way there is a motorcycle show near the Star Ferry with lots of really strange bikes that are not available where I live. I took plenty of photos.

Today is Sunday and all day I have been seeing women just hanging around on the sidewalk. Hoards of them! Near the MTA stop I whip out my smart phone and start taking some video when a guy slaps me on the back and says “yes my friend, yes.” I stop filming to ask him what the heck is going on but he just walks off. The women lay down cardboard on the sidewalk and in nooks and crannies and then just sit around. They seem to cluster in small groups talking, playing cards, or just staring into space.  I think it is their day off and they have nowhere else to be. From what I understand their housing is very crowded and in this extremely misogynistic society (it is blatant on the TV shows) they are just more comfortable being out and about, even with nowhere to be. That’s my guess anyway. 

I hoofed it over to Kowloon again and then opened up my google map to figure out which bus to take. Google said take bus #110 and gave me a message that said there were disruptions on the route. Fare was $6.00 ($0.78 U.S.) and I went straight to the front seat on the upper deck where I hope I got some good video. The massive windshield is spotlessly clean. I was following the route with Google maps to know when to get off when the bus veered totally in the wrong direction so I jumped off. I was next to a large outdoor market so I just wandered a bit. This is a very Muslim neighborhood. I struck up a conversation with a street vendor who warned me that demonstrations were planned for this area tonight around 6 to 8 pm. He said it would be very dangerous. I plan to be well gone! I gave up on hiking Lions Rock today. I can’t get there by bus and it’s getting hot.  I duck into a hole-in-the-wall kind of place for some lunch. Fish fried rice. There were lots of tentacles, suckers, and a bit of crab – I think. It tasted OK. 

Looking around I see a lot of black shirts and face masks. It is only 2:00 in the afternoon but I decide it’s time to get out of here anyway. There is a huge line at the bus stop and when the bus shows up the the digital sign says “full”. When the buses here say full, trust me, it’s full. I am about a mile from the Star Ferry terminal and I have no option other than to start walking. Google maps is worthless and it takes me about 15 minutes to find my bearings. I am walking South along Nathan Road, a major Blvd, when I notice there is no traffic. Just a mass of pedestrians filling both the sidewalk and spilling into the road, all wearing black shirts and masks. 

I’ve done it. I wandered right into a demonstration. I swear this is the last thing I wanted to do, but here I am. At least I am going in the right direction. I desperately need some water but all of the stores have lowered their overhead coiling doors. I can’t go to the West because I would have to cross a barricade and I would be caught up in traffic marching the wrong way and back towards where the demonstration is supposed to happen. I don’t want to turn to the East because it is a rats nest of alleyways and I would get lost. My phone is not working at all despite having dual sims.  Google maps is still worthless. The crowd is chanting and getting louder and denser. My personal space is being violated in every way. My heart is pounding but I have nowhere to go. Everyone’s shouting! There is a wave of backward flow and I have no choice, I go where the crowd goes. I am strongly wishing I were somewhere else. It takes a while but I manage to get down a side alley. Things are not good here either. If you ever wondered what a demonstration smells like – it smells like spray paint. Graffiti, in English, is happening all around me. About a dozen or so protesters start vandalizing a subway structure. They start by smashing the security cameras with a long stick. Then they dismantled protective galvanized tin sheets so they can smash the glass with crowbars. They use black umbrellas to hide what else they are doing – setting up fire bombs. I expect the police at any moment, but they don’t  show up. Reuters news crews (self important pompous asses) here are prepped with helmets, face shields, gas masks, and rubber chem gloves up to their shoulder.

I can hear tear gas canisters and the sound of glass panes being shattered. Protesters are tearing up the brick paving and breaking the bricks in half so they can throw them at the police. The tear gas is making my arms itch. I get away before the fires are lit. 

Nathan road is moving once again in the direction I need it to go and the crowd has thinned out considerably. A reporter from TKB news sticks a microphone in my face and asks me what I think.  I tell her that I am worried about the vandalism and I hope that it doesn’t turn violent and that I don’t want to get tear gassed. It was a lousy rambling interview that I intentionally made all about me. This way I couldn’t say anything even remotely controversial. I don’t know why I just didn’t say no and keep walking.

Ten minutes later I was in the clear and life was back to normal. In all, I was in the demonstration for a total of about two hours, most of it spent standing  in an alley keeping my head down.  

Maps still isn’t working but I know the way home. Back in my hotel I watch the news and the fires are now burning. The only other news item on TV is that the Kardashian’s have bought a ranch in Wyoming (They only plan to live there part time). About 7 p.m. I was walking out of the lobby to get some dinner. The desk clerk screams STOP!  Where are you going? I told her not to Kowloon! She smiled and said enjoy your evening.

Day 4.

I’m off to see the Big Buddha, which is on Lantau Island. The bus ride took three transfers but was easy because google maps is once again working.

Along the way I saw docks, and loading docks, and then more docks.  Miles of docks and ships as far as the eye can see. If you have it – there’s a good chance at least a part of it came through this region.

 I took the aerial tram up the mountain. It takes about 30 minutes one way. I opted for the “crystal cab”. It has a glass floor and costs $5 ($0.65 U.S.) more. It was worth it. Gliding over the treetops was cool and for some reason I expected to see monkeys. I didn’t. At the top are the usual junk shops, a monastery, and the Big Buddha. There are a bunch of stairs to get up to the top. There were a number of people praying and of course the instagram models. The devout just ignored them. The models are oblivious.

The monastery has a room with etchings of 10,000 Buddha’s. I took a photo of a flower arrangement – there were no signs saying not to – and got promptly ejected by a mean old woman. I am sure the rest of the monastery was beautiful. I was ready to get out of there anyway. It stinks. Right outside the front door are multiple sticks of burning incense. These sticks are literally the size of baseball bats. There are a ton of small ones as well. There is a 4′ fire pit filled with ashes. My head was starting to ache.

The view of the airport on the ride down was spectacular. They are building a third terminal and more runways in the bay. The scale of this endeavor is beyond description. It’s cool seeing 747’s taking off thousands feet below you. These mountains are steep and look very much like Hawaii.

My afternoon snack was the best sushi ever.  

Dinner was a Guinness and fish & chips at an Irish bar. I told the waitress it needed smashed peas. She told me that smashed peas are disgusting. I was tired and crashed early. 

Day 5.

Today is a day trip to Macau.

I checked out of the Sohotel at about sun up. I want to fly home tomorrow  so I booked a room at the Ibis for tonight. They let me take my stuff up right away. They offered me a studio or a view for the same price. I hemmed and hawed a little and took the room with a view of Victoria Harbor from the 24th floor. Wow! I love watching all the ships coming and going. When I was leaving the friendly doorman asked me what I had planned for the day? I told him Macau. He smiled and said enjoy your day. The young couple behind me got the same question. I didn’t hear their answer but he pulled them off to the side with a serious look and I assume they got a warning about demonstrations. The hotel is looking out for their guests.

The waitress at my favorite restaurant sat me and asked “same as tomorrow”. I said yes and my coffee, toast, and eggs were there almost instantly. The cook had started them the moment I walked in the front door. This city is all about service.

Now begins my day of special attention. I bought a $171 ($22.23 U.S.) ticket for the 9:20 turbo jet ferry.  Technically I am in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and am traveling to Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. This means immigration and customs both coming and going. There were three lines: Residents of Macau, residents of Hong Kong, and visitors. I went to the visitors line of course. Wrong. Not sure why. Got sent to the Hong Kong line where my passport would not scan. I tried repeatedly and the agent tried repeatedly on three separate scanners. It just would not scan. So I filled out a paper form and went to a “special” line with about five agents in the booth. They asked me some routine questions and took my passport to the back of the booth for a group discussion. This is when I noticed that the three policemen in the terminal had quietly moved a lot closer. They were 40 feet or so away and now they were 15 feet away. A few minutes later I was on my way – to the wrong gate. The digital signs kept changing and I was both rattled and frustrated. When I saw a line for the 9:30 ferry I just got in it and was instantly chased off. I was led to the line with Mr. Grumpy gate agent who gave me a seat assignment and told me “take a rest”. I had way too much nervous energy to sit on the metal benches he gestured to so I just stood nearby. This time I got a terse command to “take a rest”. I sat down. It was 9:26 already and I know punctuality is important around here. A woman near me asked Mr. Grumpy something. He looked straight at me and told her the ferry was delayed. A few minutes later we all boarded just like you would on an airplane. The seat belt is lift to release. There is a fold down tray, seat pouch with a barf bag a safety instructions, duty free shopping , etc… The trip takes one hour fifteen minutes.

I got some more special attention at immigration. Yes, this is my normal face. He shows me my passport photo and tells me to show him this face. I thought I was. He shakes his head no. I removed my glasses and made  every non obnoxious face I could. After studying my passport for a while he finally he decides it might be me and opens the gate for me to pass. 

Face 1

Face #3

Face #2

I really had no idea what to do in Macau. I thought about just getting on a city bus and going for a ride but google maps wasn’t working and I am afraid of inadvertently ending up in China. That’s when I saw an open top hop on – hop off tourist bus. I have always wanted to do one of these. The guide told me to hustle back inside to buy a ticket. Hurry! Hurry! Right by the front doors were 7 or 8 tall skinny models wearing identical long slinky gowns.

BAM. I walked into a short bollard and went down hard. I was seeing stars and couldn’t find my legs for about ten seconds. No one helped me at all. I finally got up and stumbled inside as quickly as I could while searching for my dignity. My right foot hurts like Hell but otherwise I am OK. I bought my ticket and walked out to the bus. The ticket is good for two days and includes two vouchers for a free lunch at the Galaxy Casino. The guide, an older woman, welcomed me aboard while laughing and said “I saw what you did. Very funny. ” Then, in Chinese, she told the several front rows the whole animated story, complete with splat sound effects. They all laughed.

My first hop off was at Fisherman’s Wharf. Fisherman’s Wharf is a shopping mall that opens in about two hours. 45 minutes wasted.

The second hop off was at the Macau tower. This is copied from the Seattle Space Needle. Tickets to the top were  $195 ($25.35 U.S.). I said no. The guide asked me how old I was. I told her. Then she said no, you are 65. I am a little offended but now have a ticket for the reduced price of only $95 ($12.35 U.S.). The first stop is the 58th floor where I have living proof that there is no shortage of idiots in this world. Bungee jumping! You can also put on a harness and walk around on beams all around the outside. The price includes a photographer. I watched a woman jump around and lean over the edge with abandon.  My ovaries went into hiding. Walking on the glass floor inside was enough for me. Next was the 63rd floor with a view of the city and a massive quarry with a massive fleet of ships and massive barges to match. Massive is the adjective I keep coming up with over and over.

There is no need for me to show my ticket to board the hop on bus again. The guide says she remembers me and tells the whole story all over again. My foot still hurts. She sits down next to me and starts pointing out things to me. Just me. Today I get special attention. One thing she points out is that on the other side of the river is China.

After a couple of stops it’s just me and one other guy on the bus. We have just taken a bridge across the river that I thought separates Macau from China. This makes me nervous. My favorite tour guide sits down with me again and asks where I would like to go next? I thought this bus had a specific route with specific stops and a set schedule. Needless to say I am confused. The schedule I was given shows the Galaxy Casino where my free lunch is waiting, so I tell her the Galaxy Casino. She cheerfully gets the bus turned around and off we go. I’m still confused.

Macau is a gambling town. It is the only place in China where gambling is legal. I read they do seven times as much volume as Las Vegas. 

The free lunch at the Galaxy was the highlight of my trip. A free lunch is usually worth what you pay for it, and today was no exception. The food court had just about everything but my free lunch was a bowl of rice with black fungus, chicken, and a bowl of grey water with carrots and tentacles. The tentacles weren’t bad but the chicken was gross. Rice is rice. Two gentlemen joined me at my table. We struck up a conversation and we all shared their Chinese BBQ. One of them loves gambling and has been to Las Vegas 22 times. With great pride he tells me he is now banned after winning two million Dollars. I look at his buddy who confirms the tale. In all, I spent an hour with these guys and enjoyed every second of it. I nicknamed them Bill and Ted.

While waiting for the bus I saw a Mercedes pickup, and a dual cab Isuzu pickup. I want the Isuzu. I also tried to drink a cup of Pearl Taro Milk tea. It has octopus flavored marshmallows in it.

Arriving back in Hong Kong everyone passes through a no hat zone. I have seen these before and now realize we are being scanned for high fever. Signs are posted all around about Dengue and bird borne diseases. 

It is time to do some souvenir shopping and grab dinner. I spent too much on both and have to withdraw another $800 ($104.00 U.S.).  There are tea kiosks that offer about 8 or 10 different medicinal teas. The Five Flower Tea is delicious and is supposed to help with intestinal issues and kill “bad gut” enzyme’s. It is noticeably calming. My warm fuzzy feeling lasted about two hours. In Colorado we have a similar flower only much stronger. Very much stronger. 

Day 6

Heading home.

I watched the sunrise from the boardwalk on Victoria harbor. There were only about ten or so people out & about. Mostly exercising in the parks. I briefly joined a group meditation/exercise event going on, but felt really out of place.

The train to the airport takes about 30 minutes. I allowed four hours to get there and am damned glad I did. On arrival I only saw terminal 2, so that’s where I went. Now I have to go to the ticket counter in terminal 1. It’s about a half mile walk, then about a mile walk to my gate, which changed. So, more walking. The size of terminal 1 is just unbelievable. It is the largest building I have ever been in in my life. A third terminal is under construction.

In general things here are well thought out, easy to use, and efficient.  McDonalds is the exception. I had just enough time for breakfast. Several people using the electronic ordering system required assistance and even the woman working there can’t figure things out. Out of frustration and a lack of other options I get to try Ovaltine.  Good thing I have snacks with me.

Stuck in coach again on a 777-300 but this leg is only scheduled for 13 hours. The seats on this thing suck, as does the food. 

Someone near me likes perfume. Hopefully they enjoy listening to me sniff, snort, choke and sneeze. I am fantasizing about blowing my nose on their sleeve. Am I being mean?

The flight from SFO to DEN was on a 757-300. Way more comfortable. We took off on a parallel runway side by side with an Airbus 319. I was shocked when the Airbus out climbed us! The video is not as fun as being there. San Francisco and Oakland look small now.

Epilogue: The impression I have is that China is going full tilt.  China is building, growing, advancing, and moving forward in every way while the U.S. is legislating transgender issues, gentrification, carbon dioxide, and inequality.  On the other hand China has some serious human rights issues.

I had a great experience but am pessimistic about the future of Hong Kong. China is playing the long game. A flight attendant who lives there tells me I am too late to see Hong Kong in all its glory. She says the fun clubs and restaurants that should have lines to get into are empty. However, she is optimistic and tells me that it will all work out. I hope so.

Random observations:

1. Prices are very reasonable, with the exception of Chips Ahoy.
2. The Donald is not ever portrayed in even a neutral manner. 
3. TV is broadcast in analog.
4. Motorcycle racing is nearly always on TV.
5. The population is about 10% Caucasian.
6. Service everywhere is exceptional. The food is hit or miss.
7. Small children are worshiped. There are even TV channels to watch them play.
8. Hong Kong island, where I am, is way more interesting than Kalwoon.
9. I have not seen a single gas station.
10. Samsung and Apple are the only games in town. 
11. Advertising is very wholesome.
12. They have proper beggars here. That is to say they have severe and visible disabilities. The only time I see police on the streets is around these beggars, protecting them I assume.
13. Petty crime is not a problem here. Merchants have stock delivered to their front door sometime during the night. Boxes are is just sitting there on the sidewalk waiting for them to open. People leave their smartphones and purses at their table in McDonald’s while they disappear for refills or whatever. 
14. I have as much trouble with their language as they do with mine. I  can make no sense of it at all. There is not one syllable I can recognize while listening to them. Not one. I think the language is more about accentuating tones. Sounding things out phonetically is impossible.
15. Ironically,  there are no Walmart’s.
16. Starbucks gets $48 for a cup of coffee. I have been paying less than that for entire meals.
17. I think all of the taxi cabs are Toyota’s. Uber and Lyft don’t exist.
18. These giant double decker buses with the super clean windows are not only fast but have almost no engine noise. You can barely hear them as they drive by. By comparison I can hear my trash truck from here, almost.

Random Photos: