Hong Kong Part 2 (2-2)

When we returned from Macau and arrived at Sylvia’s house, it was dinner time. Since this was Chinese New Year’s Eve, many family members had come for dinner. New Year’s Eve is the traditional time for families to have a special dinner together. Red envelopes with money were given to the children, most of whom are now young adults. April was given some to give to her children. The meal was delicious. The mushroom dish and huge prawns were my favorites. There were also a special Hong Kong style chicken (April’s favorite), green vegetables, pork belly with yams, potatoes, and broth soup. Food is not spicy and doesn’t have much oil; so it was delicious and easy for me to eat. Several people complimented me (through April) on my skill with chopsticks. After dinner, April and Sylvia joined the family to chat and play mahjong. This was the first time some of them, including April, had been together for four years. While they hung out with the family, I stayed in Sylvia’s flat. She turned on the TV to keep me company. The program turned out to be quite interesting, as it was a New Year’s Eve special. Between verbal—in Chinese—entertainment, there were special dances and acrobatic performances that I enjoyed.

Young children dress in traditional Chinese outfits for the New Year. The five-year-old wore such an outfit. We saw others while we were out and about.

Friday we had a slow morning at the house. Then it was time for lunch with the family. April told me that it would be vegetarian, as no animals are killed for the New Year meal. I guess oysters don’t count, as that was one of the dishes. Others were greens and fungus and noodles. Again, it was all delicious.

At 1:30 we left for our activities of the day. First we stopped at two small temples. The first one was quiet, but the second one was busy with many people coming to light incense for the New Year. 

Then we went to Avenue of the Stars. This is like the one in Hollywood with Chinese film stars. The first one I noticed was Run Run Shaw, whom I recognized from the university’s Run Run Shaw library. I had looked him up before and learned that he was a famous director and philanthropist, having sponsored many university libraries. He recently died at age 107. We also saw stars for Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, the only other names I recognized. 

The Avenue is along the bay, the side opposite Victoria Peak; so it’s a lovely place to walk and view the skyline. We could barely see the building we had been at on Tuesday. At the end of the Avenue, we stopped at Starbuck’s for a drink and muffin. Next we went to the nearby shopping mall to walk around while we waited for it to get dark so we could see the skyline with the night lights.

Back on the Avenue, we waited to see the laser show at 8:00. I wasn’t impressed, but it was interesting to see. 

Next we went to wait for the parade that started at 8:30. We joined the throngs vying for a view of the floats and groups. The floats were plastic lighted up from inside like the lanterns we saw in Macau. We had seen a few of them in the waiting area, which was good because we could barely see them in the parade. Occasionally, I could glimpse something in a small space between the bodies and the arms thrust up with phone cameras, cameras, and notepad cameras. Sometimes I could see what was happening on their screens. But mostly I had no idea what was happening. And there were a few rows of people behind us. After an hour, we left because we really couldn’t see anything and so we could beat the masses to the metro. That we did. Neither April nor Sylvia had been to the parade before; so this was a once in a lifetime experience.

On the way home, we stopped for a late night snack: fish balls and a huge bowl of fruit and grass jelly. The place was packed; so we had to wait for about 45 minutes. But it was worth the wait. I hadn’t had fruit for several days, and it was delicious fruit.

Saturday morning was another slow one, which was our usual pattern. We had lunch with the family again: fish, Hong Kong chicken, yams and pork belly, greens, and broth soup. April and I did laundry while we had lunch and they chatted with the family. Then we were off to the city. The event of the day was the evening fireworks display at the harbor. We arrived in Kowloon at 3:30 and went to Kowloon Park to hang out and relax before going to the Avenue of the Stars to wait for the 8:00 show. The park is a lovely respite from the busyness of the city. Many people were there. Many were Muslim, as the park is on a hill next to the mosque. Many paths go through the park, and the landscaping is lovely with all the trees and flowers. The park also features a sculpture area where we sat on a bench and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. After a while, I went for a walk around part of the park. Among other things, there are two fountains, a pond with flamingos, and a rose garden where beautiful, huge roses were blooming.

At 6:00 we headed to the harbor to await the fireworks. We arrived at 6:15, and the main harbor-front area was already closed because it was full. We found room to stand at the entrance, which is usually closed to standing crowds, but people were allowed to stand there for the special New Year’s event. They had put plastic signs above the railing; so the lower part of the skyline could not be seen. I wasn’t sure why this was there, but maybe it was to protect the people in case there was a problem with the fireworks. The nice thing about the crowd was that people left a little space between each other. It wasn’t body to body, which made waiting easier. Still, standing in one place for an hour and forty-five minutes was challenging. 

The show started promptly at 8:00. Fireworks were constant for twenty minutes. Ten or more went off at a time. They were set off from boats along the shore. April reported that the show was computerized for the first time and that it used 500,000 pounds of gunpowder. It was truly amazing and was well worth the wait. There were the standard bursting balls, some that became stars shooting down, and fluttering dots. My favorites were the ones that opened into flowers like chrysanthemums.

After the show we headed home. We went to the fruit bowl place, but it was very crowded and many people were waiting. So we went to another place for a bowl of fresh yogurt.

Sunday was my last day in Hong Kong. We started earlier than usual—10:00. Before leaving, we were given a light breakfast treat: special New Year’s rice cakes. Sylvia’s mother-in-law, the oldest person in the family, gave me a red envelope with 100 HK dollars (about $12). I was surprised to receive this, but it was sweet of her. On New Year’s Eve, I had given her (at April’s instruction to give it to the oldest person) a small gift I had taken along.

The destination of the day was Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. 

When we got to the place where you take a bus or cable car up the mountain, there were already very long lines for both. April remembered that the third day of Spring Festival is for making offerings to the gods. Thus the extra large number of people going to visit the Big Buddha. They thought the line for the bus looked shorter; so we joined it. Deceivingly, the line went around the building to the back side and turned again there. We waited about an hour to get on a bus. 

The ride went around and up the mountain, going around curves most of the time. Even I was feeling a little weak from that, and winding roads don’t usually bother me. Sometimes we had a glimpse of the bay with its islands and of the interior mountains. At the top, the crowds dispersed a bit and we were able to walk around comfortably. 

We stopped at the vegetarian restaurant for lunch: sweet and sour “chicken,” “duck”, and curried tofu. Also five kinds of desserts. Sylvia got carried away.

After looking at the temple and the beautiful flowers near it, we started up straight stairs up the mountain to the Big Buddha. There was a solid line of people walking up. 

Views from the top are magnificent. I especially enjoyed the statues around the Buddha of women holding different offerings.

April had said that we would take the bus up and the cable car down. But they decided that the line for the cable car would probably be too long; so we took the bus down. I was a little disappointed because I enjoy the cable cars and was looking forward to the views on the way down. But it was OK. After we got on the metro, April decided to take the spur to Disney World so I could see the special train and the entrance. It was a nice surprise. The train has mouse head-shaped windows and mouse head-shaped hand holders. The seats are plush. On the way there, we had the car almost to ourselves since it was late and very few people were going that direction. The station is also special—full of trees. We walked toward the entrance and enjoyed the whale fountain with a Mickey Mouse bobbing up and down of the whale’s spout. It was a fun detour.

When we arrived in Yuen Long, it was only 8:00; so we went to the fruit bowl place. It wasn’t as crowded as it had been on Saturday, but it took an hour for our order to arrive. We were home by 10:00, the earliest we’d arrived home, but we had left earlier; so it was still a long day.

When April and I were leaving to take me to the bus to the airport, one of the men saw us and offered to drive us to the airport, which was really nice. I had convinced April that it was OK to see me get on the bus that goes directly to the airport because I couldn’t get lost, but she was glad to have the ride to the airport and felt better seeing me check in. We had a great week together, but now it was time to go our separate ways.

As I became more familiar with the area, I realized that, although we did a lot, we saw only a small part of Hong Kong. Actually, we were only on Hong Kong island to go to Victoria Peak. So we didn’t see much of the area where Lois and I had been. Most of what we saw was in the newer areas. I hadn’t realized that Hong Kong is a collection of islands; I had thought it was one island plus the New Territories on the mainland. April said that, because it is growing so much, they are filling in the bays and making the islands larger.

Hong Kong notes:

Escalators are very steep. This saves space but took some getting used to.

Cars stop for pedestrians when the light turns red, and it’s safe and easy to cross the street.

When it’s time for pedestrians to cross, a timer ticks along with the light.

People form lines most of the time.

Money is issued by the banks. Two banks have different pictures on the bills. They are the same size and color. April said there is a third bank that also issues money, but I didn’t see any of their bills.

Chinese New Year’s note:

On Chinese New Year’s Day, I had a message from a student with the subject “Merry Christmas Day.” As with some of the stores, she didn’t realize that “Merry Christmas” only applies to one day—December 25. After that, it’s not used. Another example of my observation that the holidays seem to be merged.