Hiatus

June 1: Gone to China...

Prep for China Backpacking Trip

May 31: We leave tommorow for the Mainland.

The June itinerary:

Enter Shenzen by train, fly to Xi’an, fly to Chongqing, boat to Yichang, bus to Wuhan, fly to Nanjing, train to Suzhou, bus to Tongli, bus to Shanghai, train to Hangzhou, bus to Huangshan area, train to Shantou, bus to Guangzhou, train back to Hong Kong.

There might be a large influx of evacuees leaving earthquake affected areas as we begin our trip. Dams have formed enormous lakes in Sichuan Province, and the government is ordering areas evacuated . Xi’an and Chongqing are big cities with relatively easy access from the devastated areas. I’m not sure, but we might witness some of this.

Joyce recently finished an internship with CNN.com International, and we are planning to work on a travel blog during this backpacking trip. I’ll post the link in the comments below if and when it turns out.

Here are the rest of my plans leading up to September:

I’ll be in Hong Kong July 1-4, then I fly to Bangkok from Macau.

I have a Thailand “Lonely Planet,” but I haven’t started planning. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for the trip. I’ll be in Thailand until Aug. 1 when I fly to Beijing.

After a month in Beijing, on Aug 30. I return to Hong Kong, where I will depart for San Francisco on Sept. 2.

I don’t have a flight or bus booked to Omaha, but if anyone is heading that way, do you mind if I bum a ride?

Hong Kong Travel Insurance Bargain???

May 30: Big savings on travel insurance if you depart from Hong Kong (maybe). Joyce and I both purchased a year's membership to Hostelling International for $100 apiece at the Hong Kong office in Shek Kip Mei. The membership gets us discounts on Lonely Planet guides and a %20 discount on Blue Cross (Asia Pacific) travel insurance plans (only available when you purchase in person from the Blue Cross office in Millennium City in Kwun Tong, Kowloon.

The “Super Diamond Worldwide and China” insurance costs $1,840HK normally for 95 days of coverage. With our IYHA membership, we pay $1,477HK apiece (it’s still expensive, but compared to alternative travel insurance, it’s the cheapest by far – that we could find - less than $200US for 95 days).

If we weren’t concerned about insuring our digital cameras, Blue Cross offers a less exclusive plan (about half price) that only covers $5,000HK instead of $20,000. After we bought the plan, I continued reading the small print in our paperwork. Any single item or set is redeemable for only $3,000 HK in the case of theft or accident.
Buyer’s remorse begins with this clarification.

What are your thoughts on travel insurance? Is there a better bargain for traveling in Asia?

After securing our insurance, we visit Joyce’s grandmother to watch Cantonese Soap Operas and eat lunch at a nearby diner. She shares her congee with me and Joyce, and I try coffee with lemon (very acidic).

Kung Fu Surrounds Historic Star Ferry

May 29: Star Ferry offers ideal transport across Victoria Harbor for both locals and tourists – providing transport between southern Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon and Central District on Hong Kong Island. However, if you don’t have time to spare, or don’t want to sightsee, take the MTR.

The ferry has a special connection to Hong Kong history, and was the primary means Hong Kong’s cross-harbor commute from its beginnings in the early 1900s until 1972 when the first underwater tunnel spanned Victoria Harbor.

Tonight is clear, and one of my most memorable trips on the Star Ferry, which I often ride (because I have time to spare).

After arriving at the ferry pier, an elevated walkway takes us into Central, past the ongoing reclamation process. An enormous ship swings earth into piles. Land forms over Victoria Harbor in front of our eyes.



As I wonder at modern engineering at work, a black t-shirted man walks past. He mutters into a microphone. A fedora, pulled low, casts shade over his eyes.

His perfect English grumbles from a handheld speaker, crackling with static: “Kung fu is everywhere. It’s not behind you, it’s not in the bushes, Kung fu is everywhere.”

Losing Money at Happy Valley Racecourse

June 28: I visit Happy Valley Racecourse for the Wednesday night race with Joyce and her mother.

Early in my trip, a fortuneteller advised that I don’t gamble. I will lose, he said.

I didn’t gamble at all when I visited Macau,. I usually never gamble. Even so, I thought I’d try my luck in the last race of the night.

I had already dropped $120HK on a pitcher of Stella Artois (still cheap by American sporting event standards). Wouldn’t it be nice to win it all back with a profit? Of course.



Mrs. Choi goes to help me place my bet, and she makes a wager of her own.

We wait around for the race to begin. The horses run past. They speed down the grass out of view. My heart beats fast. The crowd screams. I'm not wearing glasses, can't see the results.




We return to the bet counter. Of course, the fortuneteller was right. My $90HK disappears into the Jockey Club coffers.

Mrs. Choi, however, is smiling. She wins about $150HK.



Here’s a link to one of the three videos
http://video.xanga.com/amywong0709/3a8d8761061/video.html

North to South: Tap Mun Island, Jumbo Floating Restaurant

May 27: I visit far-removed Tap Mun Island (塔 門, or Grass Island).

The “Public Transport Atlas” proves invaluable or navigating Hong Kong’s massive (although straightforward) system of public transport from Ap Lei Chau to northeast New Territories.

After bus 592 to Causeway Bay, I take the MTR to Diamond Hill (after two line interchanges), bus 90 to Sai Kung, bus 92 to Wong Shek, ferry to Tap Mun. The trip takes close to two hours, but the bus departures seem to be synchronized, which saves a potentially long wait in between. I wander Tap Mun, a small island known for its camp grounds, wandering cows and seafood. The trail around the island’s perimeter takes about an hour and a half, very leisurely.






The sprawling Sai Kung East and Sai Kung Wset Country Park preserve the natural integrity of vast swatches of mountainous and oceanfront land (with plenty of well-maintained trails). I save these trips for a future day. I’m hungry, and don’t feel like eating alone. The long return trip back south takes me to Joyce and her mother for dinner at a Hong Kong culinary legend, the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, moored in the middle of Aberdeen Harbor. A slew of small private junks and sampans offer onboard meals along the main stretch of Aberdeen’s waterfront. These places would undoubtedly offer a lower price, and completely different experience, than Jumbo (albeit, better suited to my sweaty white t-shirt and baseball cap).




Captains of different walla-wallas tout transport to Jumbo. WARNING. Don’t be fooled. Jumbo offers free ferry service. Look for the flashing Christmas lights and the enormous “Jumbo” sign.



Jumbo is notorious for its pricey fare. Joyce and her mother pour over the menus and order a dinner set of their own design – not on the menu – pasta in cheese sauce with lobster, Peking duck (my first time eating the dish), and to make full use of the duck, lettuce wraps of minced duck, soup boiled from the bones, and a plate piled with the leftover parts. The quantity of food is overwhelming. So is the quality. And, unfortunately, so is the bill – around $1,500HK (including cucumber/tofu appetizers and tea) – but most of the cost came from the lobster pasta at around $850.



Mrs. Choi treats us. She’s been winning in mahjong, says it’s a reason to splurge.

Thank you!

In Cantonese, “mm-goi (唔 該)” means “thank you (for a favor),” as well as “please,” and “excuse me.” When someone gives you a gift, like buying dinner, bigger thanks are needed. Use “Do je (多 謝)” in this instance (“many thanks”).

I can’t say “do je” enough – for both this meal and my stay in the Choi family’s home.

多 謝, 多 謝, 多 謝, 多 謝, 多 謝!

Here’s a link to the video that Joyce’s mother took at Jumbo:
http://video.xanga.com/amywong0709/d02e8760449/video.html

Before leaving Jumbo, we pose for photos on the throne in the center of the enormous third-floor dining room.



My camera lens fogs over when we leave the air-con. It creates an interesting effect.

Four Random Anecdotes

May 26:

Anecdote 1: The metro is crowded. I sit on the bench between two people. The woman on my left exits. An old Chinese man sits beside me. I try not to take up too much room, I realize that my shoulders are wider than the average MTR passenger, my legs are longer than the average Hong Konger. The old man, short and fat, spreads his legs. After a few minutes of rubbing against me, he asks in perfect English, “Do you mind moving your legs closer together? I want more room.”

Anecdote 2: On a bus, a boy plays with a package of Trident chewing gum. He wears a blue and white elementary school uniform. Tired of the game, he reaches into his mouth. The chewing gum becomes silly putty in dirty fingers. The bus hits a bump in the road. The gum falls onto the bus floor. The boy picks it up, examines the speckled crumbs, brushes them off, pops it back into his mouth. I laugh, and the mother wakes from her daze. She appears to scold the boy without conviction. The boy continues to chew his gum. I laugh. People give me dirty looks.

Anecdote 3: Men and women fish from the South Horizons oceanfront. I sit for a few hours around sunset. I see one man catch a three-incher. He puts the fish in his cooler and leaves.

Anecdote 4: Nighttime pedestrians walk and run along South Horizon’s oceanfront path. An elderly man speaks in an American accent to a young Chinese woman. He’s balding and wrinkled. She has a luxurious black mane and tight pants. “Baby, I wanted to talk to you about…”