Month: September 2003

Today, I had been originally planning to head down to Macua. This, however, went on the backburner as I pondered whether I might also want to combine it with a trip to Zuhai, as it seemed like a more pleasant location to head to, of the two SEZs that I’m able to visit without a full Chinese visa. Then, Typhoon Dujuan came and that permanently put all such plans on hold.

This morning I woke to a flat gray sky, menancing rain, and pondered whether to head out to Stanley after breakfast. Figuring that the rain would likely come sooner than later, I headed off to the Flower and Bird Street Market near the Prince Edward MTR station. After wandering through a long, long street of more flower varieties than I’d seen before, and seeing some beautiful birds, I went off to the Jade Bazaar near Kanusu Street. Guiltily, without really haggling at all, as I’m simply terrible at it, I picked up a green jade statue of Buddha for about US$13.

By this time the early rains had begun. Still, undeterred, I headed down to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, wandered around by the ferry terminal for awhile, and picked up a ticket to an Chinese Opera tomorrow night.

I also ended up speaking to a nice woman Emmie, who very much wants to meet up at Kowloon Park so I can meet her brother. Of course, with the Typhoon rating about to be raised from a 3 to an 8 (high numeric jump, yes, but it’s only the next step up the ladder) I’m not convinced this is the best idea. Since, after all, I’m told many things begin to close up once the rating jumps.

Well, we’ll see how this all turns out. And I wanted some excitement, so a Typhoon will just have to do.

Today marked my first full day spent in Hong Kong. This morning, after bumming around my hotel for about two hours shaking off jetlag and putting together an itinerary, I headed out in to the sweltering city of Hong Kong. Starting to sweat before I had even reached the street, I wandered down Nathan Road to locate a) the MTR station, b) Kowloon Park, and c) a Currency Exchanger offering fair rates (HK$7.73 vs. HK$7.2). Successfully locating all three, and taking a bath in my shirt, I spirited off to Hong Kong (forever abbreviated HK after this, because Hong Kong is taking too much time to write) Island. Two spots in, I alighted from the train and wandered uphill, thankfully via escalators for most of the way, to a decent eatery for lunch.

Heading onward, I wandered through the zoological gardens, enjoying some splendid views of animals (although the San Diego Zoo remains the creme de la creme). The monkeys were chattering quite a bit though, with screams echoing throughout the park. And the enclosed greenhouse felt refreshing, compared to the sweltering temperatures outside.

Nearby was the Peak Tram, and the skyline looking not-too-overcast, I headed up to Victoria’s Peak. This provided a fairly decent view of the surrounding areas, and a decent walk around the plateau area that took about an hour and a half or so to complete. Along the way I had a discussion with someone named Jeffrey, originally born in Canton province (I believe) and now living in Auckland, regarding travel, foreigners, and HK (see, I promised!). Splitting up back at the Peak Tram station, I wandered back to the viewing platforms and rested until sunset, which by then wasn’t very far off. While I waited, a cute young “couple” (probably, if I was forced to guess, in their early, early teens, but I’m terrible with age so they could have been older than me for all I know) asked to have their photo taken and then, to my amusement, have their photo taken with me! The guy sitting on the bench next to me was really amused by this, but of course I did. I’m starting to wonder how many strangers in foreign countries are going to have photos of me floating around.

Dinner followed the evening photo shoot, with a meal at the nearby restaurant. This was when I was first informed that there could well be a strong storm (i.e. minor typhoon) heading through tomorrow evening. Surprise, looks like tomorrow evening in to Wednesday will be a wash-out if the forecast is accurate. We’ll just have to see.