Hong Konging It

I was so excited to get out of Singapore and wear jeans.  Little did I know that Hong Kong is just as hot and humid in the summer as Singapore is all year round.  So much for the weekend of good hair I was hoping for.

Since we really only had one full day in Hong Kong, we had to pack in the activities.  We stayed on the Kowloon (mainland) side of Hong Kong, and took a ferry ride over to the island side for a tram trip up to Victoria peak.  Sky looks clear, we should have a great view!

Here's me, packed on the tram with a bunch of other tourists.  We were there at 9am but it was still pretty crowded.

And then somewhere between taking the ferry and loading up on the tram, it started to pour.  What about our view?!?

Luckily there's a mall on top of the peak, and we were able to do some (more) shopping while we waited for the clouds to clear.  Giant Star Wars light-up Pez dispenser for nephew Ethan's birthday?  Check!

Finally, the sky cleared a bit and we were treated to a decent view.

Here's Harvey, contemplating the vastness that is downtown Hong Kong.

The tram ride on the way down was... steep.  It doesn't wind around or anything, it just goes straight down.

The afternoon was spent walking around the city.  Too bad we weren't wearing platform heels and sequence, which appeared to be the local apparel for running errands.

Did I mention that there are a lot of people in Hong Kong?

Esther and Harvey were treated to their first open market experience, and had some fun buying fruit they'd never heard of.  Rambutan (look it up) for all!

In Hong Kong, people drive on the left side of the road, so crossing the street you have to remember to look the other way for oncoming traffic.  Luckily there are are reminders painted right on the street to help you out:

Tall skyscrapers everywhere:

Did I mention that Hong Kong is a great place to shop?  You can get a string of gorgeous freshwater pearls for about $20.

That evening we scored window-side seats to watch the sun set over the Hong Kong skyline.

And other than hitting the outlet mall conveniently located just outside of the airport (and more shopping!), thus ends our whirlwind tour of Hong Kong.  I'll leave you with a parting shot of David and Harvey goofing round on the bicycle rickshaw.  Shouldn't David-the-Cyclist be driving?

Shopping Hong Kong by Storm

So, when we found out that David's sister and father were coming to Singapore via Hong Kong, it wasn't too difficult to convince ourselves to fly up and meet them there.  I'd never been to Hong Kong, and have no hesitation going anyplace that has such a good reputation of for great shopping.

We got in late in the evening, and Esther and Harvey arrived at 7:00am the next morning.  Here they are the first morning in Hong Kong, looking pretty good for not having slept for almost two days.

Since their room wasn't ready yet, we took the afternoon to do some shopping at Stanley market.  Stanley Market is a great place to shop for silks, paintings, engraved stamps, t-shirts, fake bags, cheap watches, or anything else you had no idea that you couldn't live without.

The scenery around Stanley Market is rather beautiful.  Hong Kong is such a big city (seven million people in a 20x20 mile area), that you forget it's a tropical island.  You can't go far without hitting coastline and the South China Sea.

Our finds for the day were some great artwork, fabulous pashminas, antique majong set, and - my favorite - an antique cricket cage made out of oxbone.

Now I just need to get myself a cricket.  The shopping was mainly done by Esther and myself, though Harvey and David were great sports about it.  

This trend would continue throughout their stay.

Hiatus

I'm on temporary hiatus while family is in town, expect a full report in two weeks!  In the meantime, I'll leave you with my new favorite pic of Millie...

Chasing tennis balls at the beach, does it get any better than that?

Shanghai to Suzhou

My old friend Keith found me on Facebook and sent me a message saying that "...if I was ever in Shanghai..."  give him a call.  So I did, and great guy that he is, he invited David and I to stay for a day or two in Suzhou (about an hour west of Shanghai).

Suzhou is known as The Garden City, with dozens of beautiful parks to visit.  We went to Tiger Hill, which has a pagoda that is taller, older, and leans more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Who knew?

This sign made me want to say "Aww..." and then stomp all over the grass to see if anyone would do anything about it.

And for lunch?  Mexican food, of course.  The green chili tostadas were great, and now I have a picture in one more country where David is ignoring me for his iPhone.

As you may have noted from the earlier posts, I didn't do a whole lot of shopping in Shanghai.  I was paralyzed by choice, had no idea what to buy or where, and I am the Worst. Haggler. Ever.  But Keith, being a "local", knew all the great spots to go shopping for pearls, bags, silks and other "imitation" goods.  Hermes scarves for $10!

We also visited a place that the locals call Plant and Pet Alley.  Along with selections of puppies and birds, came the more unconventional choices for pets.  Everything from crickets (in those baskets)...

...to scorpions...

...to chipmunks.

Ignoring Keith when he said that they all might not be used as "pets", we moved on to dinner.  There's a special local dish called Mandarin Fish, that is basically a fish turned inside out, deep fried, and covered in orange sauce.  Yum!

Our last stop on the Suzhou shopping spree was a CD/DVD place, where we of course, with our local guide, were allowed in "the back room" to shop.  My favorite buy was Glee Season One for $1!  This is so much better when you're with someone who knows what they are doing.

Along with that leaning Pagoda and great Mexican food, did you know that Suzhou is also the Venice of China?  Lots of pretty canals that surround the old part of the city, complete with boat rides and Chinese guys that sing to you as you go along.

Our last stop was a local tea house, where we were entertained by a very intense little girl learning this stringed instrument (I can't remember what it's called), hand flourishes and all.

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And thus ends my first trip to China.  After months of taking Mandarin lessons, you want to know what my most useful phrases were?   Ni hao (hello), duoxiao qian (how much?), tai gui le (too expensive!), and xie xie (thank you).  Oh and this one:  zai jian (good bye).  That's all you need, the rest is just hand waving and pointing.

Until next time... zai jian!

Shanghai Circus

Shanghai is crazy.  Three examples:

Tai Kang Lu

Tai Kang Lu is a "quiet corner in the French concession", with "cottage boutiques and a distinctly bohemian feel."  Replace "quiet corner" with "indecipherable maze of tiny alleyways" and "bohemian" with "packed with tourists", and you'll start to get an idea of the place.  See map below.  It did not help.

The Shanghai New Circus

Filled with juggling, balancing, leaping and spinning acrobats, the Shanghai Circus was so much fun.  The performers were mostly young, with a boy that couldn't have been more than 11 doing the 6-story chair balancing act.  Most of the act was flawless, with only one of the girls dropping her eight spinning plates, but since she was attempting at the same time to do a one-hand handstand on top of someone else's head, I forgave her.  The grand finale was the motorcycles-in-a-cage act, which I've heard of but never seen live.

The World Expo

Since we were in Shanghai, and the World Expo was in Shanghai, we decided we'd better go.  Unfortunately we picked a horrible day for it.  Windy, rainy, and with only one small umbrella to share between us, we were irritated and soaked before we even found the gates.

The welcome sign was the best part.  It appeared that someone used a computer program to do a direct translation of the chinese characters, and then didn't bother to check to see if it made sense.  If you can't read the fine print, the English translation reads as follows:

1.)  Tickets for the Expo with the date of receipt, one one, not overpaid, on behalf of the collar.
2.)  The park opened a day after the issuance, on a first collar, hair end up.
3.)  Booking tickets distinguish time, take it carefully to confirm admission time, upon receipt, refuse to replace.
4.)  In order to maintain the access legislation quickly after you open to receive.

We found the food building immediately, and nourished ourselves with fries, sausage, pho, dumplings, beer and ice cream.  All the important food groups.

We only visited the smaller side of the World Expo (it was on both sides of the river), hoping for shorter lines.  We only had to wait 15 minutes or so for the "Pavilion of Future" building, much shorter than the rumored 3-5 hours for the more popular exhibits.  Still a lot of people, though.

The exhibits were pretty cool to look at...

But not a lot of substance.  You wander though the huge exhibits, saying "Impressive... but what's it for?"

Only having about an hour left, we visited Prague for a cup of coffee...

And Beijing to see the drums they used during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics...

Before packing it in and heading back to the hotel.

Next time - Goodbye Shanghai, Hello Suzhou!