Landing in Hong Kong gives me that feeling of arriving at a home away from home. There is a familiarity that feels right. No matter how many times I visit, I am still amazed by the efficiency of this city. We landed at 7:30 am, by 11:30 am we were at our hotel in a second economic zone having passed through immigration twice, customs once, a train ride into the center of Hong Kong, a one hour ferry ride to Macau and a taxi to the hotel. Amazing.
We arrived back to Hong Kong on Saturday. An old friend from my Hong Kong days, Callum, is letting us stay at his and his wife’s Carolyns flat in the midlevels. We introduce Tim to Cal (Shrek) and get sorted out to go see the Causeway Bay Rugby team play. It was good to see a number of the boys still on the pitch (Phillip, Thomas, Kelvin) and see some of the others that are usually on the pitch (Will, Bailey, just missed George). Tim got to take part in a long standing Causeway Bay tradition, it was off to the pub after the game. We gathered at Carnegies, had some beers (sodas for Tim, although it seems everyone was trying to buy him one) and watched Bailey accept the man of the match award for the Pirates. The boys had organized a dinner for us that night. Fantastic food with Brian & Charlie, Charlie and Bonnie, Bailey and Kathy, Callum, Kelvin, Will and the three of us. It was a feast. Tim got to try a few things he had never had before, chicken feet and camel were two of them. Camel was great, the chicken feet were not his favorite, but he did eat them!
Sunday, we met some of the gang for Dim sum, another first for Tim. He tried everything and liked most of it. The jelly fish was a hit with him. After Dim sum, it was off to the Stanley Market. The ride over is half the fun, although after the buses in Peru, this was not the adventure it used to be. We purchased a few shirts and called it good.
The weather didn’t cooperate very well while we were in Hong Kong. It rained, and at times poured. As a result, we spent more time on school and less on sightseeing than we had planned. But as Tim kept saying, “we can see that when we come back again.”
Monday and Tuesday was more of the national past time in Hong Kong , shopping. We did manage to take Tim to one of mine and Karen’s favorite restaurants The American Peking. We ordered all the usual items (Shredded beef, mined chicken in lettuce leaves, fried egg plant, etc). Now Tim knows where we got the inspiration for a lot of the Chinese dishes we cook at home.
Tuesday night, it quit raining long enough for us to go to the Temple Night Market and on the way back, we stopped at the harbor on the Kowloon side to try to watch the light show we had heard about. The city lights are beautiful. Many of the buildings are decorated with lights for Chinese New Year. The light show is not all that exciting since the clouds are too low for the lights. The tops of many of the buildings are hidden in the clouds blocking the lasers on their roof tops. Even though the show wasn’t as great as it could be, seeing the lights on the buildings in the harbor is amazing. It’s moments like this that make you realize how big Hong Kong is.
On our last day, I got to go visit Lena (a friend from when I lived here) while Karen and Tim worked on school. It was great to see Lena again. I was able to catch up on 12 years of history and get her up to date on my life.
All in all, Hong Kong was wonderful, but our time was too short. There were a number of friends I wasn’t able to catch up with, some sights left unseen. I am hoping to see everyone we visited here at our home so we can repay the incredible hospitality we were given. Once again I am reminded that friends and family are the key to life’s pleasures for me.
~ Jeff ~
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