Today my wee baby brother turns 40. Happy Birthday, John! I'm thinking of you, even with all what's going on.
I didn't get much sleep, what with the food poisoning or whatever has laid me low, so I decided not to push my luck by spending the day on the bus. Instead, I slept, drank water, and around midmorning roused myself enough to go to the convenience store four doors down from the hotel and buy a bottle of Sprite, which I diluted with bottled water and drank for the rest of the afternoon. Fred checked up on me - we happened to run into one another when I was off buying the Sprite, but he made sure I was OK and didn't need a doctor.
I ran out of books to read, since I'm saving my last one for the plane trip home tomorrow. Fortunately there was that TV set with lovely programming in English. I channel-surfed until I found the National Geographic channel, which was running a multi-part special on Marco Polo and the Silk Road. This was reasonably interesting, and whenever I woke up from another nap, there they were at a Tibetan village or the Great Wall or somewhere. It wasn't as good as "The Planet's Funniest Animals" - when I'm really sick, that's my all time favorite TV, utterly undemanding - but it helped a lot.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
China Day 19: Son et Lumière
Dad and I kicked back for a couple of hours this afternoon before getting up again to meet Frank and Alma and a few others for a walk down to the waterfront. Every evening at 8:00 they put on a light show with music and we wanted to see it.
We set forth from our hotel
and looked around the neon-filled streets,
which were as bright as day and so busy we didn't want to cross them unless it was absolutely necessary.
Fortunately this was easy: our hotel was only a block or two off of Nathan Road, one of Hong Kong's main drags:
We got to Nathan and just stayed on the left side of the street all the way down; about twenty minutes' walk takes you very near the waterfront. Then we ducked into this mall underneath the Sheraton Hotel. (Hong Kong puts their shopping spaces in odd localities...) The subterranean mall reaches all the way to the waterfront so we used it as a shortcut. When we emerged, we found the skyline was even more impressive at night:
There was a brief intense rainstorm about then, but it cleared off just before the light show was to start.
The show itself was fun, if not life-changing. The buildings across Victoria Harbor were rigged with lighting that changed color and turned on and off in time with the music playing through a (slightly too far away) loudspeaker:
See how that one building is a rainbow in the first picture and all blue in the second? The fog, which still hadn't gone away, had a sort of dry-ice special-effects vibe:
As soon as the show was over we started walking back uphill (it's always uphill going away from the waterfront). Since dinner is on our own tonight, Dad and the others were talking about where to eat.
Unfortunately, I was starting to feel a bit sick. Remember yesterday, when the girl on the riverboat next to us was washing dishes in the Li? My stomach was starting to not feel good at all. I begged off dinner and went back to the solitude of the hotel room. It's too bad, too - the crowd found themselves an excellent Italian restaurant up an odd little alley where they had a wonderful meal. *Sigh.*
We set forth from our hotel
and looked around the neon-filled streets,
which were as bright as day and so busy we didn't want to cross them unless it was absolutely necessary.
Fortunately this was easy: our hotel was only a block or two off of Nathan Road, one of Hong Kong's main drags:
We got to Nathan and just stayed on the left side of the street all the way down; about twenty minutes' walk takes you very near the waterfront. Then we ducked into this mall underneath the Sheraton Hotel. (Hong Kong puts their shopping spaces in odd localities...) The subterranean mall reaches all the way to the waterfront so we used it as a shortcut. When we emerged, we found the skyline was even more impressive at night:
There was a brief intense rainstorm about then, but it cleared off just before the light show was to start.
The show itself was fun, if not life-changing. The buildings across Victoria Harbor were rigged with lighting that changed color and turned on and off in time with the music playing through a (slightly too far away) loudspeaker:
See how that one building is a rainbow in the first picture and all blue in the second? The fog, which still hadn't gone away, had a sort of dry-ice special-effects vibe:
As soon as the show was over we started walking back uphill (it's always uphill going away from the waterfront). Since dinner is on our own tonight, Dad and the others were talking about where to eat.
Unfortunately, I was starting to feel a bit sick. Remember yesterday, when the girl on the riverboat next to us was washing dishes in the Li? My stomach was starting to not feel good at all. I begged off dinner and went back to the solitude of the hotel room. It's too bad, too - the crowd found themselves an excellent Italian restaurant up an odd little alley where they had a wonderful meal. *Sigh.*
China Day 19: Overlooking Hong Kong
On the way down the mountain (gotta respect these bus drivers on steep narrow roads!) we stopped at the overlook I noticed earlier. Things were considerably better down here below the cloud ceiling.
The city might have been more impressive from up higher, but it was more visible here!
Frankie pointed out the racetrack
where some Olympic equestrian events will be held, and he told us that the horses are already here, training and acclimating to the altitude (basically sea level), the air pressure, the heat, and the humidity. Poor horses.
As we stood there the fog lifted even further and we were able to see more of the harbor. I think this might be the Typhoon Bay area (Aberdeen):
Or maybe not. Pretty, anyway.
Everybody is starting to realize we only have a day or two left together, so there's a lot of photography going on. I got someone to take our picture
and I got one of Frankie
and one of Fred taking one of me.
The city might have been more impressive from up higher, but it was more visible here!
Frankie pointed out the racetrack
where some Olympic equestrian events will be held, and he told us that the horses are already here, training and acclimating to the altitude (basically sea level), the air pressure, the heat, and the humidity. Poor horses.
As we stood there the fog lifted even further and we were able to see more of the harbor. I think this might be the Typhoon Bay area (Aberdeen):
Or maybe not. Pretty, anyway.
Everybody is starting to realize we only have a day or two left together, so there's a lot of photography going on. I got someone to take our picture
and I got one of Frankie
and one of Fred taking one of me.
China Day 19: A Taste of Home
Hong Kong was full of little touches of home. To get to the overlook where we admired the fog, for example, you went through a pretty moon door
which was apparently funded by the local Lions Club!
Fred and Frankie realized the fog wasn't lifting soon, but they gave us half an hour in the mall to enjoy the feel of Western-style shopping.
Ashley, our teenager, was in heaven, because lo: the mall had a McDonalds, a Starbucks and a Haagen-Dasz. Lunch today was on our own, so most of us relished the chance to have "home taste" as Fred put it once. The prices were a little different from what we were used to, though:
which was apparently funded by the local Lions Club!
Fred and Frankie realized the fog wasn't lifting soon, but they gave us half an hour in the mall to enjoy the feel of Western-style shopping.
Ashley, our teenager, was in heaven, because lo: the mall had a McDonalds, a Starbucks and a Haagen-Dasz. Lunch today was on our own, so most of us relished the chance to have "home taste" as Fred put it once. The prices were a little different from what we were used to, though:
China Day 19: Victoria's Secret
Having killed all the time we could, we headed up Victoria Peak. It didn't look too bad at first; the road spiraled up the mountain and we could see over the side. We passed a gorgeous overlook where you could see the whole harbor spread out before you. Then we climbed the rest of the way to the peak, parked in a garage and followed Fred and Frankie up into - a shopping mall. It turns out there's a big multistory shopping mall up there, and that's how you get to the exterior. We walked to the overlook and saw:
Not quite, actually, but it was almost that bad. Here's the real one:
Not quite, actually, but it was almost that bad. Here's the real one:
China Day 19: Factory Shopping, Jewelry Edition
This is the last of our enforced shopping trips, and to my mind, this one is kind of pointless. We've had quite a few - cloisonne, jade, carpets, silk, embroidery, lacquerware, tea, and now jewelry
- and most of them have been really interesting. But jewelry...maybe it's because my buddy Robert's been making jewelry for years so I've seen plenty of techniques and processes. Maybe it's because I don't wear much jewelry myself. Maybe it's because the other factories' crafts were specifically Chinese and the jewelry is sort of generically international. But this place didn't do very much for me.
Admittedly some of the other folks on the trip seemed to find things they liked. While waiting and browsing around, I "helped" one lady buy an Omega chain. Some might call it enabling; I call it vicarious shopping!
- and most of them have been really interesting. But jewelry...maybe it's because my buddy Robert's been making jewelry for years so I've seen plenty of techniques and processes. Maybe it's because I don't wear much jewelry myself. Maybe it's because the other factories' crafts were specifically Chinese and the jewelry is sort of generically international. But this place didn't do very much for me.
Admittedly some of the other folks on the trip seemed to find things they liked. While waiting and browsing around, I "helped" one lady buy an Omega chain. Some might call it enabling; I call it vicarious shopping!
China Day 19: Miscellaney
Tall.
Up.
High.
Those are the most pertinent words that come to mind to describe Hong Kong.
I was intrigued by this old graveyard
essentially built right into a hill.
You can no longer ride rickshaws in Hong Kong, because they've been outlawed as traffic hazards. Therefore, you can buy one
and put it in your garden, I guess.
Some of the buses in Hong Kong are charming.
Thought you'd like to know!
Up.
High.
Those are the most pertinent words that come to mind to describe Hong Kong.
I was intrigued by this old graveyard
essentially built right into a hill.
You can no longer ride rickshaws in Hong Kong, because they've been outlawed as traffic hazards. Therefore, you can buy one
and put it in your garden, I guess.
Some of the buses in Hong Kong are charming.
Thought you'd like to know!
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