Light, durable, flexible

Remember the pile of bamboo scaffolding stacked on that Hong Kong street a couple of days ago?  Well, whilst we were out yesterday, I took a couple of photographs of it being used.  Like cities the world over, Hong Kong is in a constant state of renovation, refurbishment and further development.  Since there’s limited land space available, the main direction for expansion seems to be up – and up and up!  These two tower blocks in the Deep Water Bay area are covered in scaffold and plastic sheeting – and the scaffold is a complex structure of bamboo and nylon cable ties.  Quite an art!

The base of the scaffold isn’t necessarily fixed to anything, but is more likely to be merely standing on a secure surface.

Over busy streets, protective shelves are built out to catch falling debris and prevent if falling on the people underneath.

The scaffolding around this particular building in WanChai was remarkably elaborate and very carefully constructed around the shape of the building.  it was high above a busy marketplace and must have taken some time to complete.

One way to make a living?

I couldn’t do it.  Could you?

There is some interesting technical information here, together with more photos.

A long time ago…

when we were young, we went to a bus station almost like this one and caught the number 6 bus.

We went straight upstairs and sat in the front seats; the ones with the best view.

The bus took us along Queens Road, Central, past the City Hall

and we were as thrilled to be here then as we are now.

The building wrapped in green plastic was the Prince of Wales Barracks in those days.

and we don’t recall there being anything like the number of tall skyscrapers then as there are now.

As we passed by the dragon emblem planted into the hillside, by the sign for Ocean Park, we remembered the day we were stuck on that gondola when the typhoon warning sounded all too well. 

But Repulse Bay is a rather different place now, and though we were delighted to be revisiting some old, familiar places, we felt pleased to have been here when it was an altogether simpler, greener part of the world.

But when the sign came up with “Stanley Plaza”, we couldn’t believe our eyes.  What on earth has happened here?  We thought we were coming to the small village with the lively market and here we are at some shopping mall.

Making our way down to the seafront, we began to see a few traces of the place we remembered so well.

Smiling, as we passed the “dog park” with tethers placed at a strategic distance apart from one another and this cute little chap sitting waiting patiently for his owner to return.

Once down on the front, the harbour looked much the same, albeit with a smart new pier.

But had someone told me there was now a Pizza Express in Stanley, I wouldn’t have believed them.  This is an altogether different place – because, of course, we live in an altogether different world today, don’t we?

It was time to stop thinking back and noting changes, time to appreciate what is here now and make the most of it.  How good that the place has prospered, attracted so many businesses and managed to move into the 21st century so well.  Free wifi on the street, modern amenities for young families and a clean, attractive seafront.

And of course, the “old” Stanley is still here, just beyond the new buildings.  There’s still the old market selling much the same things.

(though I never bought a pair of such cute shoes here on previous visits!)

Stanley market is still where to come for the tacky souvenirs and cheap clothing

- and you can still buy an extra suitcase here to carry it all home, too.  Actually, when we were at the night market last evening, we commented on how little there is to sell these days.  No rip off CDs or DVDs, computer software or suchlike – the internet has destroyed the market for such things.  Every other stall on that market seemed to be full of Ipad covers, cellphone jackets and headphones and there was little to interest us.  Here, the market was a little more varied, though in spite of that, the shoes were my only purchase.

But it is quite entertaining at times.  “no fitting, no exchange” seems perfectly reasonable when buying men’s underwear, wouldn’t you say?

As we walked towards the bus stop, we looked back and saw Stanley exactly as we remembered it.  No vast shopping mall with doggy day care centres and Starbucks coffee shops.

The public lavatories were even in the same place.  Mind you, they have improved somewhat!

We took the #6 bus back to Central and felt pleased that we’d spent our morning revisiting old haunts.  Stanley is still a great place to visit and the journey itself is very entertaining, especially if like us, you can bag the front seats upstairs.

We hopped off for a spot of lunch in Pacific Place, with an army of bank and office workers and considered what it must be like to live and work here.  I found myself gazing up at those huge tower blocks and simply cannot imagine what it’s like to live in one, cheek by jowl with the neighbours.  It’s another world.

Any further musing was interrupted by the sound of car horns and sirens, as the traffic on Queens Road was stopped by a police cordon.  We’d read that the Prime Minister of Thailand was visiting today, so presume that this was his entourage.

Meanwhile, we did a little topping up of the funds…

and hopped on a passing tram to WanChai, just because we could!

We spent a happy hour mooching about, watching people and enjoying being here.  We took care when crossing the road, too.

On our way back to the MTR station, we remembered to look up, to see what was going on behind the facade.

whilst keeping our eyes open for any cuteness which might be going on!  Yes, of course I had to buy stickers!

Leaving everyone to gather the ingredients for tonight’s supper, however, we made our way back to the station.

We’ve had a lovely day here and have a fun evening to look forward to, at the China Club with the Super Six!

Not only that, but thanks to my tailor, I have a couple of new dresses to choose from!

I highly recommend his service, which is reasonably priced, efficient and knowledgeable. I took along a dress and he has copied it faithfully – improved the fit, actually – and both dresses are beautifully finished and promptly delivered to our hotel. Now of course, I rather wish I’d had a green one and a blue one too

Are you ready?

Come and walk with us in HongKong!

First, we’ll have a spot of breakfast, though.  OK with you?  The hotel is pricey and a little over the top for our simple needs, though, so we’ll dip into Pret a Manger next door.  Feels like home!

Before we can go anywhere, too, we’ll need to buy a ticket.  The counter should be around here somewhere.

We’ll buy an “Octopus” card each, shall we?  Just like a Metro card or an Oyster, but different seafood!  We can use this on the MTR, the tram, the bus and the Star Ferry too.

Off we go!  Funny how it’s possible to see from one end of the train to the other. So clean and quiet too.  We are soon in Central Hong Kong.

Mind you, there’s a long way to walk through the station to find the correct exit, but there is a moving walkway to speed things up a little.

There, at the top of the stairs is the sign we were looking for – Des Voeux Road.  We have an idea to catch a tram to take us to the Western Market and start our meanderings from there.  OK?

The trams are old and a bit rickety, but a good way to get from one end of the island to the other, and since they travel in a simple straight line, we’re not going to get lost.  We’ll get on at the back and work our way forwards to get off at the front, like everyone else, of course, but don’t forget to swipe your Octopus card as you pass the driver, or you’ll be in bother.

Oh my, do please maintain your cough manners too, will you!

In no time at all, we’re here at the Western Market.  hop off quick and take care crossing the road.

This old building houses several small shops, including a few gift stores downstairs and some fabrics on the first floor.  Guess where we’re heading?  Let’s buy some pretty silks to make a couple of scarves, shall we?  We can pretend they came from some exclusive store.

What do you mean can we make them before we get on the ship, so we can wear them with a posh frock? 

OK, I’ve got some sewing needles with me, but we’ll need to go up Pottinger Street steps to buy some thread.  Let’s look for the escalator to the mid-levels.  There’s a sign there on the lamp post.

But look over there!  There’s heap of bamboo and a bundle of cable ties – they are about to erect it as scaffolding.  My goodness, I’d not feel too secure with that, but I understand that it’s even better than metal scaffolding in this climate.  Can you imagine building a skyscraper with only bamboo to support you?

Ok, let’s go over the road and along the bridge which leads to the escalator.  Not many people about at this time of the morning.

We’ll stay on as far as Hollywood Road, shall we?  That’s the street where we bought the lovely old embroideries we have framed on our staircase and perhaps the shop is still there?

Well, no, it isn’t, but there are a few other interesting places along here and it’s good to get off the main streets and into a quieter area, isn’t it?

There are a few interesting bits of heritage around here as well.  This is old Hong Kong, where some things really haven’t changed a great deal.

With so many antique and art stores around here, too, who knows what you might find in the bin outside?  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and all of that.  But really, I’d rather you didn’t hang around and take a look because how would you get it home?

Anyway, look, there’s some interesting street art over there.

On the other side of the street, there’s a food market.  Fresh fish!  Still swimming! 

Let’s go down the hill; down Graham Street, and see what we can spot as we walk.  Do you recognise any of those vegetables?  They look so fresh and of good quality, don’t they?

I’m not sure what I’d do with a “salted” duck egg though, are you?

The street is bustling with morning shoppers and the produce looks remarkably good, doesn’t it?

In no time at all we’re back on Queens Road though.  I know Li Yuen Street is around here somewhere, and Pottinger Street too, where I might find some thread to make the scarf.

Oh, and what were you looking for, Jane?

Here we are, stalls selling thread, buttons, ribbon and so on.  I’ll get a reel of black cotton.

Up and down the steps is pretty tiring, isn’t it?  But if you’re ok with it, would you mind if I popped in here?  I’ve read about this place, might have a coupon in my bag back at the hotel, even.

But actually, it’s nothing much.  Mostly imported American things and nothing I couldn’t buy at home.  Never mind.

Let’s carry on and make our way over the bridges towards the pier and catch the Star Ferry back over to Kowloon, shall we?

You know, I don’t remember it being quite so far from here to the water.  I wonder if there’s been a bit of land reclamation going on?

When we are at home, I’ll take a look at some of our old photographs and see where the HSBC and the Mandarin Oriental hotel are in relation to the pier. 

OK, come on, we need Pier 7 and our Octopus cards again.

Swipe the card through the blue gate and we’re in.  Of course, one is boarding right now – they are so frequent, we won’t have to wait a minute.

No sooner are we on than we’ll be away.  Hold tight!

Look over there.  See our hotel?  No, not the very tallest one but the smaller one alongside. 

That’s where we are headed, by the clock tower.  Forgive my hero and I a little momentary reminisce as we recall the time when we stood there, watching the last Governor, Chris Patten and his family arrive in 1992.  Our boy was just seven then, and was thrilled to be witnessing a piece of history that afternoon, as were we.

And, of course, we shared “the thought”.

Approaching the Ocean Terminal, a cruise ship is there – the Silver Whisper.  I think Ellis and Mary’s friends were aboard that one when it arrived yesterday.  I wonder if our lovely Voyager will be in that spot in a couple of days?

Here we are then, back in Kowloon.  We’ve to be at Pete’s tailors at 3pm for our fitting, so there is time to nip into Shanghai Tang for a little look around, I think. 

Oh look, there’s a bride and her bridesmaids, having photos taken.  Don’t they look cute!

OK, here we are, almost at Pete’s.  I wonder if my dresses are going to be ok?

Well, this one certainly does, wouldn’t you agree?  Very good copy of the original and so carefully cut and stitched.  Sit yourself down on the sofa whilst the tailor makes a few adjustments, will you, please?  He’s going to finish the neckline to the single stitching line he says, and will top stitch the double line exactly as the original.  Gorgeous colour, I’m very happy with my choice.

OK, he’ll bring the finished dresses to the hotel tomorrow – I ordered a purple one too, to be made exactly the same.  Good man!

I have just one last piece of shopping to do if that’s ok?  Want to come into the camera shop with me, to look for a spare battery for my “big” camera?    There’s a Nikon and Canon sign just up there, let’s go.

Hmm.  Interesting.  I looked on the internet last night to get a feel of the price at home and found they cost around £13.  The first price this chap quoted me was HK$225 which is way more.  Let’s leave it.

Of course, he won’t let that one go, and offers to match the price eventually, so we buy it after all.  But one thing is clear – the days of finding a bargain here are gone.  The prices are much the same as in Europe and it seems as though they are no cheaper than the US either.  Anyway, I’ve now got a spare battery for both of my cameras, so I’m happy.

Are you?

But I think it’s time we were heading back now, isn’t it?  Especially if we’re going to the Night Market after dinner this evening.  Shall we get the MTR?  Get your Octopus card out then and hop on a train for “Central”, where we can change to the orange line which goes to Kowloon station.

We won’t have to wait long for a train, thank goodness.  I’m feeling pretty weary.

I rather like the metal seats on the trains, don’t you?  They look very clean, I think.

A short walk back through the shopping centre and we are back at the hotel.  Jane and Allan beat us to it and are probably taking a nap right now.

What a good idea that could be!

14 years on

We are back in Hong Kong.

The TurboJet brought us over choppy waters from Macau and as we turned the corner, the city came into view.  Before the handover, this was somewhere that featured on several of our itineraries, being the stopover of choice on any trip downunder.  In those days, we’d be able to peer into the apartments of Mong Kok as the plane came into land at the old Kai Tak airport.  A couple of days ago, the final approach to the new airport was equally spectacular but with none of that nail biting thrill and adrenalin rush (?terror?!) but it was even better to see the spectacular harbour from ground level this morning.

Our spacious and very stylish room here in Kowloon overlooks the harbour too, and as I sit here typing, my eyes are drawn to the illuminated skyscrapers on the island opposite

Not a bad view to get a sense of place, is it?

This hotel is furnished in a more contemporary style than the previous one, and the foyer art is definitely in keeping.  No china dresses here, but instead a rather peculiar and eclectic set of chandeliers which I have yet to work out.

This afternoon, we took a walk along Nathan Road, which hasn’t changed much in the years since we were here.  No sooner had I mentioned the old “copy watch” sellers than someone approached us and muttered “Copy Watch?” in my hero’s ear!  He then said “Copy Handbag?” to me, but we were not at all interested in either.

We were headed for Pete’s, where Allan was going to chat about having some tailoring done and I wanted to explore the possibility of getting a favourite dress copied.  When my dressing room was built, it took some time to sort out a UV-protecting blind for the skylight and in the intervening sunny days, one shoulder of my favourite pink linen dress faded in the light.  Would they – could they – make me another?

Well, yes they could, as a matter of fact and whilst they were about it, they could make two – a purple one and a pink one.

So, leaving them to get on with it (fitting tomorrow…they don’t have much time) we returned to our hotel, admiring the New Year decoration as we went, sponsored by Liberty of London.  Returning from dinner this evening, I looked again at the “temari ball”

Hmmm.  I think it would be kindest to describe it as “freestyle”.

So good to be here, we are looking forward to spending a couple of days pottering about, revisiting old haunts and discovering new ones.  Hope you’re happy to walk with us, too?  Get the comfy shoes out ready!!