Frickin' Laser Beams!

After a brief nap, we roused ourselves (to be fair to us, this was only our second full day on the other side of the world, so there was still jet lag causing us to lag.

We walked down Nathan Street (known as "The Golden Mile") to the Harbor and went to find pier three.  Carol spotted it right away.  That meant it was too easy, so we walked further, came to a helpful Information booth, and they confirmed that she was right.  (I just wanted to be sure, as there was just a boat tie-up and the big number "3" -- I thought it might be more of a pier, as our ticket said "Pier Number 3."  Being at the wrong place at the right time would not have worked well.

I had booked us on a 7:30 harbor cruise on the Dukling, one of three junks that still ply the waters of Hong Kong.  At 8 pm, the buildings of Hong Kong put on a light show, known as the Symphony of Lights.

An I.M. Pei building with

a pre-show light show.

The Dukling.  A junk.  Literally.

(On the Dukling, the sails are just for show -- and with the wind that night, they didn't even put the sails up.  It was still great fun.)

I didn't know what to expect -- it could be cheesy and underwhelming.  Instead, it was great.  The Dukling was not overcrowded -- there were people (we were the only non-Asians), but we did not feel overcrowded.  It probably helped that we went out Sunday night instead of Saturday.

We left from Tsim Sha Tsui, popped over to Hong Kong Island to pick up a few more tourists, and then headed east along the harbor.  At 8 pm the light show started, accompanied by a recording of the Hong Kong Orchestra.  While the show only lasted ten minutes, it was quite dramatic!

There were laser beams shooting into the sky over us, and the buildings changed colors and had lights.  There were electric billboards at the top of the skyscrapers with words like "Dance!" and "Hong Kong."  And, I had my first ever Tsingtao Beer in a can!  (I thought it only came in bottles!).

This beer is for my brother, Rick.  I have

to believe he has had Tsingtao before.

My tradition when we go to our local Peking Duck restaurant is to always have a bottle of Tsingtao, so I always associate that beer with happiness.  (Editor's Note: Most people associate beer with happiness, unless there is too much consumed.  Blogger: Who could be happy having a cold beer at a baseball game?  Editor: Um, everybody?  Blogger: True.)

Anyhow, my pictures don't do it justice.

The show only lasted ten minutes, and then we cruised a bit more around the Harbor and returned by 8:30 to Pier 3.

Not part of the light show, but

a cool building on Kowloon.

Imagine this across most

of the city's skyline.

Buildings with frickin' laser

beams attached to their heads!

You Don’t Always Find What You Are Looking For Right Away, But Eventually You Find It.

We didn’t quite trust the weather forecast, or more importantly, the skies, after our downpour.  So after lunch, we grabbed our umbrellas from our hotel room (thus guaranteeing no more rain) and walked the required 0.7 miles to the highly-touted Hong Kong History Museum.

Both Bill and Ava had recommended it, with Bill noting that it is a perfect way to spend a rainy day.

(As this is the second time I’ve mentioned her, I’d be remiss in not providing more context on Ava.  We became friend with Ava and her husband Arthur on our REI hiking trip of the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain a few years ago.  Arthur grew up in Hong Kong.  Like us, they are enthusiastic travelers.  We haven’t seen them since that trip in 2017, as they live in NoCal, but every so often Ava and I exchange emails about their trips and our trips.)

At first we were let down by the museum.  But not the price.  The price is free, so that’s cheap.  We went to the exhibits as directed.  The first part of the museum covered the geologic history of Hong Kong, which would have been interesting if it was of interest to us.  We decided it wasn’t for us – so we moved along quickly, skipping the next two uninteresting sections before we came to Part 4, the Folklife of the Native People’s Section. 

That was pretty fascinating.  After finishing that, based on the signs, we thought we were done.  Then, Carol noticed signs for upstairs.  Sections 5-8 covered the more recent history of Hong Kong, starting with the Opium Wars, colonial Hong Kong, the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II (spoiler alert – it wasn’t a good time), and then post-war Hong Kong, covering the boom under British rule and the handover to the Chinese.  It was the “lease” the Brits could do.

(Editor’s Note: That’s actually funny!).

Anyhow, the museum was pretty interesting, but it made you work.  Displays were in these huge halls, and there wasn’t a flow.  Hallways and rooms took you in different directions, although eventually you could work it out.

To me, the most interesting part with the Japanese occupation and the post-way boom that put Hong Kong on the road to what it is today.

Before we came to Hong Kong, neither Carol nor I knew a lot about the history of the area.  Now we have a better sense of it, although don’t test us on it.  We hoofed it back to the hotel, trusty umbrellas in our backpacks, as no rain dared fall.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, But That Doesn't Mean The Dumplings Aren't Any Good

Title with apologies to BJ Thomas.  Nothings worrying me.

As we were walking back to the meeting point, a few drops of rain fell.  There was no rain in the forecast, nor any rain on the radar.  Suddenly, the skies opened.  We made it to the pergola by the fountain, joining lots of other folks.  Then it really, really started pouring. 

Our caddie told us the heavy stuff wasn’t going to come down for a little while, but fortunately there was no lightning.  I called our driver.  Because of the hedges, I could not see the pick-up spot, so I raced through the rain, across the street.  I soaked by the time I reached the building’s overhang.  Carol came over eventually.  She was soaking wet too.  Good fun, especially as the radar continued to show that the rain that was falling at a rapid rate wasn’t actually happening.  It’s as though the radar asked that old question – who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?

After managing a well-done, yet fairly wet retreat in the heavy rain, we called it a morning.  Our driver took us back to the Mira Hotel.

(Digression: Wow did we luck out being rejected by the Mira Moon and instead being given a suite in the Mira Hotel.  Not only did we have a suite on one of the two club floors, but Kowloon is the better place to stay as a tourist.  We were not far from the Harbor, and within walking distance of great restaurants, museums, shops, and more. 

One of my favorite sayings – although I haven’t used it as much in recent years as in the past – is by Branch Rickey.  “Luck is the residue of design.”  It is an elegant way of saying you make your own luck.  In this case, that didn’t apply, as luck would have it, we were just lucky.  End of digression.)

Our trusty guide on the first day, Bill, had recommended that we eat one meal at a well-known dumpling restaurant, Din Tai Fung, which was located in the Mira Place 1 Mall, right across the street from the Hotel (yes, there is also a Mira Place 2 Mall).  As it turns out, our friends Ava Law replied to my blog post email with that very same suggestion.  Funnily enough, when I mentioned to Carol that we should go there for lunch, our driver Sum pooh-poohed the idea.

Sum, that is his name.  Yes, that was all he gave us.  I guess you could say that was the sum of his name.  (Editor’s Note: You are terrible.  Blogger: At first I thought it didn’t add up.  Editor: You are fired.  Blogger: . . .)

He said the food was good but overpriced.  I suppose it is all a matter of perspective.  I ordered 18 dumpling (12 chicken, 6 pork) without realizing it.  They gave us a small card with the proper way to eat a dumpling (dip it in the ginger, soy, and vinegar sauce, put it on the Chinese spoon, and then poke a hole in it with a chopstick so the hot liquid inside comes out and cools).  We also ordered two beef buns – one with a green vegetable and one without.  We also had side orders of spinach and rice with chicken.

The menu had two columns to mark.  I thought the second column meant bring that a little later.  I thought wrong.  It actually means bring two orders.  That’s how we came to procure 12 dumplings.  On the other hand, we had worked up an appetite, so we ate all of the dumplings.

The spinach was amazing.  The chicken rice was great.  Of course, the dumplings were fabulous.  We were underwhelmed by the beef buns, because they couldn’t compete with the rest of the food, so we did not eat all of that.  I was able to get two cold Perriers, so it wasn’t a choice between tea or hot water.

I usually don’t blog this much about the food, although sum of this post deals with other topics.  (Editor’s note – you spelled “some” wrong.  Blogger:  Wait for it.  Editor:  Oh, I get it.  I don’t like it, but I get it.). 

By the way, if we ate at every restaurant in Hong Kong that friends recommended, we would need a couple of weeks.  We appreciate those suggestions, it’s nice to have so many good friends and so many great options.  Let me rephrase that – so many great friends and good options.  (Editor’s Note: Suck-up!  Blogger: While it has the added benefit of being true, remember my favorite Mark Twain quote!)

When I went off to find the men’s room in the mall food loft, I stumbled across a two-star Michelin restaurant, where I promptly made 9:30 pm dinner reservations.  So in this one mall, there is a classic Chinese dumpling restaurant, and a two-star Michelin restaurant.  Mira Place 1 is NOT your typical American mall!

A Walk In The Park

Our next stop Sunday afternoon was Hong Kong Park.  It's a hilly park, with beautiful fountains, good climbs, and the best aviary we have ever visited.

We passed a stunning banyan tree on the outskirts of the park.  (Editor's Note: Is there any other kind than a stunning banyan tree?  Blogger: In pensive thought.  Ah, good point.  But still).

Officially declared a stunning banyan

tree by your faithful blogger.

Next, I walked through a water fountain, as did some single digit year old kids.  Sweet -- I'm still young at heart!

Then there was another beautiful fountain, the famed clock tower, and then several waterfalls/cascades.  I believe the waterfalls were man-made, but that doesn't make them any less relaxing.  Hong Kong does a great job with fountains and use of flowing water.  Any city, college campus (Elon!), or home that uses water/fountains/streams makes me chuffed.  

(Pause for most readers to google "chuffed" so they first know what it means and second realize it is not a dirty slang word.  But not you -- you already know what chuffed means.  I mean wait for everyone else to look it up!)

Fountain #2

One of the cascades

Imperial-style building dating from the 1800s.

Clock tower.  A drop of rain

on the bottom of the picture.

(Foreshadowing)

But my main goal was to go to the aviary.  While I don't want to be one of those guys hanging out at the park with a bird in a bird cage talkin' birds, I do love bird-watching.  Not in the "I've got an official list of birds I've ever seen"  or in the "Honey, we are going to East Buttscratch to use binoculars to spot the Orange-breasted Leg Humper" kind of birdwatching, but more in the "hey, there's a bald eagle near that great blue heron and that's pretty cool!" kind of way.

Anyhow, as the following pictures kind of show just how cool the aviary is.  When I write "kind of show" it's because being there is much better than seeing the photos.

On the way back, we passed by the huge koi pond, and enjoy watching the koi and the turtles swimming around, he wrote coyly.

A scramble and Man Mo Temple. . .

I had a rough plan for Sunday, but it immediately went out the window, thanks to the weather.

Honestly, I'm a bit intimidated by Asian countries, because the language is nothing like what I am used to.  In Europe, even when we don't speak the language, I can read a map and figure out where things are.  In Asia, there is a reason we did an Inspirato tour of Myanmar (pre-ethnic cleansing -- we would not go back now) and are doing a Nat Geo tour of China (starts tomorrow!).  Carol and I readily admit we wouldn't have much success finding our way around.

My plan had been to go up the famed Victoria's Peak, but the weather did not cooperate.  (In fact, except for a few minutes here and there of slight sun peaking through, we've had nothing but cloudy weather.  Of course now, as we are an hour from leaving for the airport and our flight to Beijing, it is beautiful and sunny out!).

There isn't much point to go to the Peak when it is covered in clouds.  So I wasn't sure what to do or how best to get around.  Finally, Carol suggested we inquire about hiring a car for a few hours and hitting a number of spots.  So we hired one through the hotel.  It is very cool -- first time ever in a Tesla.

My first request was to be taken to the Big Buddha, but that involved a bunch of time.  Instead, I went to plan C -- the galleries on Hollywood Road and Man Mo Temple on Hong Kong.

Our driver first took us to Man Mo Temple (by the way, for all of you who said we should do the authentic tourist thing and take the subway again, you are right.  But we didn't).

I'm sorry, but Buddhist temples are VERY cool.  This is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Hong Kong, dating back to 1847 (remember, Hong Kong's major history is not very long).  Dedicated to the civil god Man Cheong (hence the "Man" in "Man Mo") and the martial god Kwan Tai (hence the "Mo" in "Man Mo" -- okay, I'm stumped).

Don't get carried away Mom, I'm not converting to Buddhism.  Frankly, as much as we loved our visit to Myanmar, we were angered to learn that after being told how peaceful Buddhism allegedly is, that whilst we were there, ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya was occuring in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.

That does not mean, however, that something built in 1847 is not interesting to see.  The ethnic cleansing in Myanmar means that man's inhumanity to man continues.  It's like saying the U.S. Constitution is wrong because those who wrote it were slave owners.

Okay, enough deep thought for now.  Back to our regularly scheduled blog with interesting observations and the occasional dad joke. 

Then we walked through Cat Street Market and back up Hollywood Road with its (faked?) antique galleries.  It being Sunday morning, most of the galleries were not open yet.  Multiple people warned us to NOT buy antiques there because there is no way to authentic then and there if the "antique" is real or not.  The obvious implication is that there are many fakes being sold.

We weren't planning to buy anyhow, so it's a mute point.  (Editor's Note:  Not "a mute point" -- it is "a moot point."  Blogger:  I'm not saying anything.  Editor: Eye roll.)

1847 Buddhist Temple Foreshadows UVA Run To The Final Four

Carol with a friend outside

of the Man Mo Temple in

Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong island.

Banners like this to hang in JPJ.

UVA's run to the Final Four

makes these guys happy.

Rough translation: Wahoowa!

Rough translation: Tony Bennett's system works.

I can't draw an analogy to UVA

basketball with this, but it's still

 a cool picture!

No doubt a UVA fan burning incense

to please the basketball gods.

I have no idea what's sticking out of the deer's

mouth, and can't really come up with a UVA tie-in.

They can't figure out how to score

against the Pack Line defense either.

Ancient prophecy: Kihei Clark will

ride the dragon to chase down the rebound.

Accolades for Diakite's game-tying

miracle shot drape this dude.

UVA orange symbolizes that

their fans have received

total consciousness.

Designed to show the height

difference between Jack Salt

and Kihei Clark.

Taken while they are intently watching

the Perdue-Virginia game.

UVA lights up the sky!

Riffs On Hong Kong -- Volume #2

These are rough estimates.  On the all important baseball cap stats.  Of those wearing baseball-style hats, about 80% are women, and ergo 20% are men.  Of those wearing hats, probably 75% are New York Yankees hats, 1% are other sports teams, and 24% are random hats saying random things.  

This next part is for my brother Rod.  This is NOT an estimate.  Exactly ZERO hats had the logo of the New York Mets.  So, if you are keeping score, that's several thousand hats sporting the logo of the greatest sports team in history, and zero of the Mets.  Stuff it Rod!

(Editor's Note: Are you okay?  Blogger's Note: Hell yes!)

One thing that I left out of our visit to the nunnery/gardens is that Bill took us to our first vegetarian restaurant in Hong Kong for lunch.  (Glen: it was your first meal outside of the hotel, of course it is your first vegetarian restaurant in Hong Kong!  Me: My bad -- I meant our first vegetarian restaurant EVER.  Anywhere.   In the world.)

And we liked it.  We've had tofu before.  We've had vegetables before.  But there has always been meat on the menu.  Not here.  Since it is a Buddhist property, it is vegetarian.  (Little known fact, the Dalai Lama is NOT a vegetarian, so he's got that goin' for him, which is nice!).  Anyhow, it was all good.

Don't worry, we made up for it at dinner that first night.  We hit Shang Palace, a one-star Michelin restaurant just a seven-tenths of a mile walk from our hotel.  And we dined on a four selection meat plate of suckling pig, roasted goose, chicken, and duck.  All quite tasty.

There are an amazing seven 3 star Michelin restaurants, twelve 2 star, and an amazing 44 one star Michelins in Hong Kong.  That's 63 total!  Shang Palace had actually dropped this year from two stars to one stars, but not having dined there before, we couldn't tell the "drop-off."  Great meal, and then we walked back.

By the way, it seemed like every place we wanted to go was seven-tenths of a mile from where ever we were at the time.  Or six-tenths.  We walked over ten miles Saturday and Sunday in Hong Kong.  Monday was just an eight mile day.  We were lazy.  Go ahead and scream at us!  "Losers!"  (There, Rod, do you feel better now?).

The brooms the park workers use to sweep up are very cool.  They are huge long straws.  If I got to use one, I would be a park worker for a day.  (A day mind you, let's not get carried away!).

After being here for three full days, and parts of two others, our Chinese language skills have really improved.  (Editor's Note: That's a lie!).  And, we are now totally comfortable with pronouncing the English versions of Chinese place names (Editor's Note: Fake News!).  

Traffic really doesn't seem that bad here, probably because so many people take the subway, buses, trams, ferries, or simply walk.  I've only seen one gas station (I'll admit that odds are there are more than that -- my comment was to note they are few and far between, not that there is only one based on my exhaustive search).

The Bird Men of Hong Kong. . .And More

Our final two stops with Bill were the bird park and Ladies Market.  Being halfway around the world the day before, Carol and I were running out of gas. But, it was still very unique (Editor's Note: It can't be "very unique" -- you can't qualify "unique."   Blogger's Note: Okay Mr. Smarty-pants language person.  It was still very unique!  Hey, don't strike through my words!)

At one point, as we walked through, Carol leaned over to me and whispered -- "this could be you in the future."  Uh, no.  It looks interesting to do for a day, but day after day of carting your bird and cage around, talking birds, and admiring other birds and cages?  No.  Not a chance.  

Bill didn't say it as succinctly as I just wrote it, but a few minutes later he made the same observation.  

It was still interesting to see another facet of a life that some people choose.

Just sitting around, shooting the breeze about birds.

A picture from above of just a

small part of the flower market.

The Ladies market

It's a mini-motorcycle.  Honestly, to me it looks

like a death trap, a suicide rap, as another

New Jersey native might say.

The Ladies market bills itself on its website as, and I kid you not:

The premier fashionista destination in Hong Kong, both tourists and residents trawl the stalls to find what's the latest clothes, bags, accessories and more.

It's a place for low-priced clothing, and more.  And not just for ladies.  But, it's not "the premier fashionista destination" any more than Panera is the place to go if you are a foodie.

The market was neat to see, and the area is considered either the most or one of the most densely-populated places in the world.   The streets were packed, and Bill noted that it wasn't even close to as busy as it gets later in the day (it was around 4:15 pm).  We were running out of gas, and I finally said, in the words of Roberto Duran, no mas.

Bill dutifully led us back to just outside our hotel, and we bade our fond farewells.  I was too tired to remember to ask him to pose for a picture with us.  However, if you ever want a great day long tour of Kowloon (we did not go over to Hong Kong island), definitely contact Bill at this link.

He will take you to parts of the city you otherwise won't go (not that it is unsafe, but it is pretty cool areas that you would not know to go).

Heck, after all, I got eight blog posts out of just under seven hours hanging with Bill.

Flowers As Far As The Eye Can See. . .

To get to our next stop -- well, it's not really a stop, as we were walking the whole time -- we took the very pleasant, albeit somewhat crowded Hong Kong MTR, or subway.  It was very efficient -- DC's Metro could take lessons from it, although DC's Metro could probably take lessons from any subway system in the world! 

And to think DC Metro was once state of the art.  Now it is state of the broken down.  But what am I complaining about?  I don't use it!

Three particularly cool things about the subway here.  First, you can pay for multiple tickets at the same time, instead of having to do a separate transaction on the ticket machine for each person.  Second, the route maps inside the subway cars light up, making it easy to ascertain which station is next.  Third, if multiple trains run through the same stops, it shows you what direction the train on the other line is going, so you know where best to transfer.

We came out, walked a couple of blocks, and came to the famed Hong Kong flower market (okay, I hadn't heard about before doing some rudimentary planning before coming to Hong Kong, but trust me, it is famous!).  Storefront after storefront selling flowers and plants stretching for block after block.  And the sidewalks were packed.

How do you sell enough flowers with all the choices of stores each day to make a living?  It's mind-boggling to think about.  Some stores specialize in just one flower (well, I saw at least two stores that were orchid only), while most stores offer a variety.  Some are tiny storefronts.  

Bill took us into one shop that was a high-end Japanese plant store AND coffee house.  Mind blown!  Bill notes that everyone says they are going to open a similar shop in the US and make a killing, but as he notes, nobody has.  He observed you need a plant person to run the plant part and a coffee house person to run the coffee house (probably more efficient than having the plant person run the coffee house and the coffee house person to run. . .well, you get the idea!

Overall, the whole flower market is very cool, and is a must visit if you ever visit Hong Kong.

NOT The Curse Of The Golden Flower

"The Curse of the Golden Flower" is an epic Chinese movie made in 2006.  One list has it as the best movie of 50 movies with the "flower" in the title.  No, I had never of it either.  I don't think you need to see numbers two through 49 either.

The Stephen Strasburg fan club.

Hong Kong Riffs

I like Hong Kong -- I really do.  It's not going to seem that way from some of these riffs, but remember, these are just my observations about stuff in a city or country. . .so don't take this personally!

Shopping malls are alive and well, and living in Hong Kong.  Amazon delivery is not a thing here, so shopping is still a big deal, including in malls.  The few malls I had occasion to go into reminded me of why I don't like going to malls (I wish my 17 year old self was this smart, but hey, that was a long time ago!). 

On the other hand, how many American malls ever had Michelin Star restaurants?  I got believe the answer is less than one.  We had dinner Sunday night at two Michelin Star restaurant, conveniently located across an above road bridge connected to our hotel.  And the restaurant is in a mall.

Okay, so the most annoying thing about Hong Kongites (Editor's Note: That's NOT a word.  Blogger Note: It COULD be if we willed it into existence!) is their absolute refusal to make even the slightest accommodation on a crowded sidewalk.  Even in New York City, people passing in opposite directions each dip their shoulders or move just a bit as you pass on a crowded sidewalk.  If three people are walking abreast, one dips behind the other two so that people going the other direction can pass.

But in Hong Kong?  Not only not so much, but not at all.  There is no stay to the right or to the left -- most people walk down the middle of the sidewalk with no regard for anyone else.  If they are slowly weaving into you, it's because they are staring at their phone.  If they are with friends, they take up the whole sidewalk.  If they are in the flow of foot traffic that is staying to the right, they are on the left. 

If I ever come back to Hong Kong, I want to bring Tom Wilson of the Capitals with me, just to watch him slam un-moving pedestrians to the sidewalk with a shoulder check.  I actually shoulder checked three people so far -- they literally tried to run me over.  The only other option was for me to step into traffic.  Btw, it's not just me, Mrs. Blogger is stunned at how selfish the pedestrians are here. 

Oh, and the other thing I want to do, is go around slapping cell phones out of people's hands.  Literally they have no idea how slow they are going, or that they are weaving like drunks.  Like drunken cell phone texters who have no idea that there are other people on the sidewalk.

Rant over about stupid, selfish pedestrians.

Okay, this is not a rant, just an observation.  Every time I come back from Europe, I shake my head, noting how wonderful the European system of giving right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk is.  Well, you won't get them from in Hong Kong.  Cars rule, peds drool.  People stand like sheep at a crosswalk waiting for the walk sign.  Even when no cars are coming.  Mrs. Blogger snarks that they are all staring at their phones, but only half are -- the other half wait obediently for that red don't walk sign to turn green.  EVEN THOUGH NO CARS ARE COMING!

Don't get me wrong.  I like Hong Kong. . .it's just too crowded and big for me to want to live here.  It's like Manhattan on steroids.  At the same time, the liveliness and street buzz is very cool.  The subway system is great, the bus system is quite good, and the city is very walkable.  We walked about ten miles each of the first two days so far in Hong Kong

We took the Star Ferry from Hong Kong back across the water to Kowloon today -- and it only cost us each 34 US cents to ride the ferry.  That's amazing, and it was quick.  Absolutely fantastic!