Lanterns

We opened the curtains this morning to catch our first sight of Taiwan.  Peering around the side of our verandah, we saw a little more and the most lovely sunrise.

Time for breakfast.

Well, yes, we’ve eaten our breakfast within sight of the most beautiful of dockyards, amongst stacks of containers and towering cranes.  The funny thing is, we love it!  Coming into port and watching as this huge ship is turned on a sixpence and parked in exactly the right place is one of those things that never ceases to amuse and amaze us.

Of course, someone is holding onto that all-important piece of string (and very pleased we are, too!)

This morning, as we took photographs to add to my “tugs of the world” series, and enjoyed a croissant or two, the city of Keelung was waking up and going about its business as usual.

We were very much looking forward to setting foot in for the first time (ker-ching!) and to a full day of exploring the city of Taipei.

Hello!   A charming and very colourful lion dance was there to greet us as we cleared the customs hall and headed to our tour bus.

We were very lucky to have the excellent Tina as our guide, who spoke fluent English and was keen to share plenty of information about life in on this beautiful island.  She managed our day perfectly, ensuring that we got to see as much as possible in the limited time available and though she never nagged or chivvied, somehow she managed to get everyone back on board promptly and on to the next stop with the minimum of fuss.  Not easy.

We were docked at Keelung and drove to Taipei along Motorway #1, which didn’t take long at all.

Our first stop was the CKS (Chiang Kai Shek) Memorial Hall.  I won’t bore you with the history of Taipei and his role in it, but simply say that Tina explained it all with great clarity.  The day was warm and hazy and we were pleased to have enough time to stroll around this collection of buildings and have a look at what was what.

There were three main buildings in this complex.  The CKS Memorial Hall was at the head of the plaza and was, sadly, closed for renovation, though there was probably insufficient time to make a worthwhile visit, actually.

We enjoyed reading the translation of the notice on the barrier, and also the warning poster alongside.

On either side of the open space was a green and yellow building; a matching pair. 

These were two National performing spaces – a theatre and a concert hall and each sat comfortably opposite the other, making a very attractive arrangement of structures.

Standing here, we could also catch a glimpse of Taipei 101, a tower slightly higher than the one we visited in Hong Kong, with an even faster elevator to whisk visitors to the top.

Whilst we strolled around the plaza and the gardens, the ladies were working hard to keep everything looking neat and tidy.

Back to our bus and it was time to move to the next stop.  Driving through the city was interesting, and I find mundane things as traffic signs and roadside scenes so fascinating, I can’t take my eyes away from the goings on out there on the street.

The motorcycle sign here is so very detailed and I spot the red and green pedestrian crossing signs are quite fun too, so I try unsuccessfully right now, to catch one in my camera lens.

Then, suddenly, we turn a corner and look!  Hundreds of yellow lanterns!  They form the outside perimeter of a temple and best of all, we are going to stop and visit it.  I had read about the lantern festival in Taipei and hoped that we’d see some of it.  Well, my wish was about to come true.

Here in the temple, there was a variety of large and colourful lanterns, much like the figures we’d seen already in Macau and Hong Kong.  A feature of the Lunar New Year celebrations these particular ones formed an archway, through which the devoted believer may pass and pray.  This particular one had a long queue, as one by one temple visitors stood for a while underneath the large spherical lantern and prayed.

Traditional and symbolic, these colourful characters nevertheless seemed out of keeping with the elegance and dignity of the temple itself.  But for the tourist photographer, they were a dream!

This was quite a large temple complex and there were a number of us visitors there at the time.  It was almost impossible to blend in with the goings on, of course, but we did our best to behave sensitively and respect those people who were there for more fundamental business.

But of course, we were fascinated by the traditions and rituals.  We loved the colour and the scents, the variety of offerings on the tables and the quiet manner in which everyone went about their devotions.

And of course, we loved the lanterns!

Amidst the smoky atmosphere, there was a kind of peace.  Not really a physical silence, because this was a busy and bustling place, but a calmness and restrained pace to the process of lighting joss sticks, appealing to the deities and making a variety of offerings in return.

All around, there was an abundance of colour and riches.  Tina explained to us that these pillars are covered in the names of those who, at the New Year, made a financial contribution to the temple in return for having a kind of presence within it for the next twelve months. 

Of course, I was fascinated by the richness of colour and texture!

Before we left, Tina helped me seek some guidance for myself by appealing to the deity using this traditional method of tossing two wooden pieces taken from this container.  Enclosing them between my two palms, I first had to tell the Deity my name and where I was from, before asking for advice about something in particular.  Each piece of wood had a curved side and a flat side, and I had to toss the two pieces onto the ground and if they fell one up, one down, then I had to take a wooden stick from the container nearby.  If they both fell the same way – either both curved or both flat – then I had to throw again, because the Deity hadn’t quite heard my question.

Each stick had a Chinese number carved into it and having pulled one number out, the wooden blocks needed to be thrown again, to check the answer.  If they fell one up one down, then the Deity was confirming the outcome.  If they fell the same way, then it was back to the beginning and start all over, because the Deity wasn’t so sure.

After three throws, I  had number 45 and the Deity was sure that this was the correct outcome.   I took a slip of paper from the drawer marked 45 (all in Chinese of course) and Tina pointed out the book of English translations.

Looked a pretty good answer to me and worthy of a quiet “thank you” to whoever was listening.  Because, though the question was asked, we never really identified which particular Deity it was who was delivering these answers.

So much to see, so many things learned and enjoyed and it wasn’t even lunchtime.  Meet me in the next post and see what happened next.

In the groove

Our first day at sea and I had a hot date.

We went for a spin…

Oh yes.  Life goes on including the laundry.

But a day at sea also means an afternoon Tea Time Trivia, and today, we had a great set of questions.  We didn’t know all the answers and had to guess at some, but our team played a blinder and every one of us contributed to the outcome.

WooHoo!  How lucky was that?

We celebrated with a posh dinner tonight, just the six of us.  We dressed up in our finery and gathered in the lounge on this, the first of the “optional formal” nights.  I’ll admit to feeling slightly odd wearing a posh frock and flat sandals, even if they were sparkly!  (and Lesley, in case you are worried, the travelling companions assure me that duffel coats and cardigans were perfectly acceptable this evening!)  After Gs and Ts and Margaritas we took our table in the restaurant.

I chose a lobster salad to start with, which was dressed with a spicy mango dressing.  Yum.  It was served with a delicious Pouilly Fuisse…just right.

I passed on the soup, but we all enjoyed a little pina colada sorbet before our main course arrived.

My duck breast was delicious and cooked to perfection.  It was served with a little apple tart and a few vegetables, accompanied by a Chateauneuf de Pape.  Delicious.

Dessert was equally good, but sad to say that by the time we’d reached that point, I had forgotten to take pictures!  Conversation was as lively as always and the evening was such fun.  We are so lucky to have great friends who share the same sense of humour and make for excellent company.

We had coffee and made our way to the theatre, where there was a show to entertain and amuse us.  Afterwards, we said our goodnights and made arrangements for tomorrow, when we’ll be in Taipei.  It’s going to be a great day and we’re looking forward to our first port of call!

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.

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