Saturday afternoon in the park

There were two more stops on our itinerary but all three of us were beginning to flag a little and a bottle of coconut and aloe water only goes so far in sustaining the spirits!  So, we made an executive decision to make our final stop of the day at the Lok Fu MTR station, from where the family historian wanted to explore a bit of old Hong Kong: what remained of the Kowloon Walled City.

In spite of taking the recommended exit route from the MTR station, we found ourselves in a bit of a concrete jungle of housing estate, sports facilities and colleges and it was a while before we spotted a signpost.  Not willing to give in easily, in spite of our aching feet, we were glad to simply follow the signs to the park at last.

When we got there, however, it wasn’t immediately obvious that we were in the right place, for though the park was quite pretty and certainly a peaceful retreat from the built up areas we’d just walked through, this wasn’t really what we’d come to find.

Thankfully, the eagle eyed historian spotted an exhibition of photographs on the walls of this pavilion, so we made our way over a couple of bridges and along a covered walkway and eventually came across something of what we’d been looking for.

Hooray, there was a map there too!  Spotting a sign for free wifi though, all three of us pulled out iphones and took a ten minute break before we realised that we weren’t here to read email – come on, let’s make a final push and find this place…

Just around the corner was the hub we’d been hoping to find, a small display of information which would give some kind of perspective to how things had been until relatively recently but of which there was otherwise no trace left whatsoever.

Here were one or two structures to simulate the conditions in which thousands made their daily lives although it still took a leap of imagination to understand it all.

Mind you, we didn’t want to dwell on some of the realities for too long,,,

In spite of reading the displayed information and listening to Edward, I was still finding it difficult to understand the scale of it all, so was very glad indeed to see a more effective visual representation of how it had been in this walled city.

The 3D model put the sheer size of the community into perspective and the drawing behind it was just what I needed to see

- apart from being a great piece of art work in its own right! 

So, we felt able to say that yes, not only had we explored what remained of Kowloon, we’d seen what there was to see and done it justice.  Could we go back to our hotel now, please?

We stepped outside the gate to the park and walked along the suburban road, heading back to the MTR station and thinking that, though the conditions are undoubtedly vastly improved, the residents of Hong Kong don’t all live in those posh skyscrapers in Central and for many, life is still lived cheek by jowl with the neighbours.

Suburban living has its advantages however, and spotting the bus stop with a seven minute frequency to the Star Ferry right opposite those flats, we opted to forego the last MTR ride for the day and hop on a double decker instead.

In under an hour we were back in the luxurious surroundings and bright lights of Chater Road and our incredible hotel. 

I think we’d deserved a little rest before dinner!

Ready?

Well, popping back to the hotel for the map was a good idea, actually, because our onward journey by MTR was a little complicated.

Not that there wasn’t a great choice of where to sit when we got on the train, though!  We were going some distance so were pleased to sit down.  The next two trains we caught weren’t quite so empty, however.

We were heading for the Nan Lian Garden, a haven of peace in a busy urban sprawl according to our guidebook.

Well, the entrance underneath a noisy dual carriageway was a little daunting, but as soon as we went through the garden gate, we entered a different world.

Several families and a few couples were here too, but the gentle, relaxed atmosphere was in stark contrast to everywhere else here in Hong Kong.

On a warm and sunny afternoon, the colour of the bougainvilleas was glorious and don’t they look good trimmed into those “cloud” shapes?

Now and again, we’d turn a corner and come across the most beautiful vista, made more individual by the contrast of those tower blocks behind it.

The textures created by the planting were incredible and it was easy to see how this garden had become so cherished.

Time for a drink, then, and a short stop in the snack bar where this slightly exaggerated claim was to be found on a bottle of aloe and coconut water.  After a quick mooch around the gift shop (one small purchase), we moved on to the next stop – right next door.

The Chi Lin Nunnery is a series of Buddhist temples arranged around two quadrangles.  The first had four beautiful pools with fountains and lotus flowers amongst those potted trees.

The colours of the flowers glowed in the afternoon sunshine and were so abundant, it was hard to stop taking photographs and move on.

There was a fair bit of inspiration around and about too, bearing in mind one travellers blanket which remains to be started once I get home.  But we were getting tired and we had another couple of places to see on the way back to Central so rather than linger longer, we hopped on the MTR again and one stop along, got off at Wong Tai Sin to visit the temple there.

As colourful as any similar temple in the world, this one was busy, it being Saturday afternoon and families were gathering to pay their respects and make one or two requests of the Gods, because it is said that here, they are not only heard but many wishes are granted.

For additional luck, people were crowding around to pat the dragon’s nose on their way in.

Yes, of course I did!

Though it was really too busy to take many photographs, in some quieter areas there were a few photogenic corners.

In this quiet side chapel, no-one was around so I didn’t feel too bad about taking a photo of the joss sticks burning.

The lanterns always make for a great picture, with the tags swaying in the breeze.

Of course, the real star is the temple itself, with the brightly coloured woodwork.  This palette of colours is so very characteristic and I love it!

Time to move on, then, but one essential visit for me is to the stalls outside, selling the temple goods.  I’m not sure I want to buy anything in particular, I’m fairly sure I still have a heap of joss paper at home from a previous visit but that red, those golden twinkles and the chinese knots and tassels really demand to be seen at close quarters, I think.

One young woman caught my eye and I spotted some folded papers in her basket, folded wishes for specific requests to the Gods.  They cost just pennies, so I picked out one for my journal before spotting another one which made me laugh so much, I had to buy it as well.  Now, this young woman had done this before and produced a pen and two red envelopes.  No English spoken, but she made it clear that unless I wrote down which was which now, by the time I came to use them, I’d have forgotten which one to use when.  So, I noted on the flap of the envelope that this particular folded request was for success at work, for good business and profits.

I could hardly write the second one for laughing – yes, I copied it word for word from her very serious translation!  Thankfully, I don’t need that one right now, but who knows, it might come in handy one day

Now, we haven’t done yet, we’ve still got another stop on the MTR to make, but I’ll leave the details of that until tomorrow morning.  Here in Hong Kong, it’s almost bedtime and we’ve just returned from another great dinner.  The thing is, I don’t wear my green ice watch that often and I felt sure it wasn’t five past four in the restaurant – more like five past eight.  So, then, where in the world was it five past four?!

California!

Ellis, both Marys and Diana, we were thinking of you whilst you were tucked up in your beds early this morning.  Yes, the last time I wore my green ice watch was in your company!

So, time for bed and in the morning, I’ll tell you about the last stop on our Saturday exploration of Hong Kong, I promise.

Happy, if a little footsore

But then we do love to fill our days to the max.

We’d planned a relaxed start to the day but surprisingly, all three of us were up and ready to go earlier than anticipated.  It must be the promise of a super hotel breakfast buffet, do you think?  Anyway, we weren’t the only ones starting the day early because looking over the building site which is to become the new waterside garden complex, the construction workers were there at 8 this morning, doing their tai chi, too.

Anyway, we’d put together a brief list of potential things to do today, beginning with a trip up the Peak, if the weather looked promising.  It did, so we walked beneath the HSBC building towards the tram terminus.

We passed St George’s Church and the Court of Appeal on the way, which rang bells with me as I’m almost finished with Old Filth, a story with these surroundings very much in the picture.

From there it was an easy – uphill – climb to the tram, though even at this hour it was getting a little warm.  That’s by our standards, of course – people here are dressed in warm scarves, boots and coats whilst we swelter in our T shirts and cotton shirts.  Well, it was 21C today!

Anyway, it doesn’t look much like a tram terminus but that’s exactly what it is and thankfully, there wasn’t much of a queue.  We were able to simply buy our tickets and after a short wait, board a tram and up we went.

In the boarding area, there were some attractive displays and catching sight of the poster for the “Riviera of the Orient”, I thought I’d look out for something like that to bring home.  Perhaps there’d be a souvenir shop up at the top?  In spite of this being our third or fourth visit on the tramway, we couldn’t quite picture what there was at the top, other than the classic, fantastic view.

I’d certainly forgotten how steeply the tram climbs.  In no time at all we were above the skyscrapers.

Hah!  Did I suggest there might be a souvenir shop up at the top?  Not only did the tram disgorge all passengers into this tacky collection, the whole of the Peak terminus appeared to be a shopping centre.

When we finally found an exit into the fresh air outside, we discovered yet another mall right there across the plaza!  The idea of looking for a charming old-style poster suddenly seemed a waste of time.  We’d not come here to shop!

Just around the corner was a well constructed viewpoint in a Chinese style pavilion, so, having found our way there we spent a while snapping photographs,

picking out landmarks (the hotel we stayed in last February is over in the distance),

watching people (always entertaining, don’t you think?)

and wondering, who lives in a house like this?

On the way back to the tram, we also agreed how incongruous the Christmas decorations are here!

When we reached the lower terminus, the crowds had gathered and we were glad we’d set out earlier than planned, for a day spent standing in a queue is not really our idea of fun.  As it was, we were ready to move on to our next plan.

See you in the next blog post!

Hello Hong Kong!

We’re here.  It was a fun journey too, our first on one of the new BA A380 planes.  First impressions were slightly strange, because we boarded as normal down one of the walkways from Terminal 5, directly onto the plane.  Since our seats were on the upper deck, I had envisioned climbing stairs at some point, but no.  We stepped straight onto what appeared to be a “normal” plane, took our seats and off we soared.

Oh, so quiet!  When at last, I visited the loo, I really couldn’t believe my eyes.  Far from the normal aeroplane bathroom, where there’s barely room to turn around, on this place there was enough space for a full sized bath!  It seemed to be the feature which intrigued/impressed most of us, because of course, once seated  and underway, there’s not really much more to say.  We did remark on the sheer length of the thing when we waited to get off – our seats were fairly far forward and looking back down the aisle, those seats seemed to go on and on forever.  And to think, there’s almost the same configuration downstairs as well.

Anyway, a few hours sleep, Sunshine on Leith as recommended by a couple of friends, The Butler because I’d read good things about that, too, and an old BBC documentary about Radley schoolboys and we were there.  Or rather, we were here!

(Incidentally, what a great idea of British Airways to include whole box sets in their entertainment package, allowing us to watch the whole of Downton Abbey Series 3, Madmen, Game of Thrones, House of Cards or whatever on such a long flight.  For once, there was almost too much choice on the viewing menu)

Anyway, having arrived mid Friday afternoon, the travelling companions settled themselves in the window with the thoughtfully provided binoculars whilst we showered and changed.  We met up again around 5ish with the intention of finding something to eat.

That just had to involve a ride on the Star Ferry with the commuters and having just missed one, we settled to wait all of three minutes for the next one.

People!  Everywhere!  In a hurry, too.

But once on board, we sighed and counted our blessings (again).  How good it is to be back.

Finding somewhere to eat on without prior planning is never easy, though and for a while we thought our attempts were going to come to grief amongst the copy-watch sellers and the tailor’s touts.  Just when tempers were beginning to fray a little at the edges, we stepped inside a small mall which advertised restaurants on the upper floors.  We plumped for one which seemed to offer some interesting choices and accepted a table on the condition we’d be done in an hour – it was reserved for 8pm, so we’d better get on with it.

We chose a set menu with a few extras and our choices were beautifully served and prepared in the most stunning setting, high above the streets in Tsim Tsa Tsui, overlooking the harbour.  As we savoured the delicious flavours, we were told the 8pm crowd had cancelled, too, so we ordered another round of beers and sat back for the laser light show.

OK, we knew it wasn’t going to be much because we’d seen it as we’d sailed away last February.  But never mind, here we were and didn’t it feel great?!

(As we left, we picked up the card from the restaurant for the journal and discovered it to be one of the latest “hot spots”, so we chose well!)

Afterwards, the MTR brought us swiftly and safely back to our hotel again and even provided entertainment in the form of the chap standing on the platform who was continually coaxing his hair into a point.  Dressed as a normal, conventional office worker, the grace and determination with which he combed his hair upwards amused us all and I’m only sad that the photo I managed to snap wasn’t better.

The main thing right now is that we are in our super-comfy rooms – Edward next door to us – and having just made use of the soothing eye-mask left in lieu of a chocolate on our pillow, I’m ready to say Goodnight from me and Goodnight from them.

Love it.

Always have.  From the moment we first set foot in Hong Kong, we have loved the place.  Though it’s been a while, the old magic is still here and I suspect it won’t be too long before we’re back. 

It’s that kind of place.

So, on this, our last day in Hong Kong (for now) we wanted to make sure we used every last minute to best advantage.

We had a great time last night at The China Club with our friends.  Oh my, what a memorable evening that was!  The art work there is simply amazing, but sadly, photos are not exactly encouraged.  Still, I managed to capture the rather startling goldfish bowl, which contained a few interesting figures in addition to the fish.  All the works of art in the building have a strong Chinese theme, of course, including some lovely portraits on the staircase and one particularly captivating arrangement of figures surrounding Chairman Mao, in the bar.  I loved them all!

Anyway, back to today.  We took the MTR over to Central, so we could ride the Star Ferry back.  Seemed funny, but we were keen to take some photographs of the place we’re going to call home for the next three weeks.  Our favourite ship arrived yesterday and we had caught glimpses of her from the bus and from the window last evening, but this was the first opportunity we’d had for a good look.

She’ll do! 

We were in good spirits, the clouds were clearing to reveal blue sky and even the deck hands on the Star Ferry were in unusually sunny mood.

Actually, we’d made our way to Tsim Tsa Tsui to see this exhibition, which Ellis and Mary had seen yesterday and really enjoyed.  Never ones to miss out on a good thing, we wanted to see for ourselves, so here we were.

Not a particular favourite of ours, we were a little cool until we got inside.

Within seconds of seeing the first, simple drawings completed in the 1950s, we were sold.  The “Marilyn” screenprints and the Campbells soup cans were remarkable and we loved being able to see them close up and admire the precision, the colours and of course, the brilliant concept.

No photographs inside, but my favourites were the Mohammed Ali collaged prints, the various layered prints and drawings taken from Polaroid photos and, best of all, the Mao series.  How appropriate was that?

Ellis had spoken enthusiastically about the “time capsules” of ephemera from various times of Warhol’s life and these little collections of tickets, maps and hotel bills from his time in Hong Kong chimed with us all, because we’ve all been squirrelling away the ticket stubs, the luggage labels and suchlike.  Good to know I’m not the only one, eh?

By now, it was getting near lunchtime and we reckoned we had time for one last adventure.  The skyscraper next door to our hotel is the fourth tallest building in the world and we’d noticed that there was an observation deck.  Now the clouds had cleared a little, how about going up there?

No sooner said than done.

The screen in the lift recorded our progress.

Remarkably smooth and hardly noticeable that we were moving at all.

In no time at all, we were at the top.

Well, actually, in less than one minute.

The view was astounding.  Yes, there’s our ship down there, beside the Chinese one.  The hydrofoil that just did the loop is the Macau Turbo Jet; the same one as we took the other day.

Over there towards the Island, the piers are clear to see and somewhere in there is the HSBC building and the other Central landmarks.

No chance to make use of the “Loveseat” for a canoodle….someone got there first!

But good to look down on the neighbours – that’s our hotel down there, with the empty, grey swimming pool which is being refurbished.  Maggie, this is Kowloon West…all reclaimed land.

But that really was the last chance to take in one of our favourite cities, and in no time at all, we were in a taxi, heading towards the pier.

Our lovely suite awaited us, the champagne was on ice and we looked forward to unpacking and settling in.  in the short distance between pier and suite, we already encountered several familiar faces, met some old friends and felt immediately at home.

After a lovely dinner, we set sail.  The colourful city lit up the dark sky and quietly, at 10pm, we left the pier behind and began our journey.

There really can be no better way of leaving than this.

Of course, some still had work to do.  In the dark harbour, people were still going about their business, getting on with their lives and doing what they could to make a living.

Thankfully, we were able to bid everyone Goodnight and come up to our comfy bed!

Good night Hong Kong.  See you again soon…we hope.