Planes, Trains, and Wagons East

I woke up at 5:00am to my alarm and an email saying my flight was canceled. It had snowed overnight, and was still snowing. An hour later, after showering and using up my one free skype phone call to Expedia, I was trudging down white streets to the subway station, on my way to the airport to see if I was in fact going to leave the country.


I got there just in time to make the 9:50am flight they had put me on without my knowledge, which, after running to the gate, was delayed another two hours. Of course, I missed my connection in Beijing. No sweat, thought, I’m a happy traveler (when I’m leaving home, not returning as I later found out). At 3:15pm, after being reasonably stern with a woman behind a desk, I was put on a plane departing at 3:00pm. No, that’s not a typo. Let me take this opportunity to say the Beijing Airport is the most inefficient, poorly constructed airport I’ve ever seen. I had to run the length of at least two football fields to get to my gate – E30, I started running at E25 – and that was only a quarter of the terminal, of which there are three. Fortunately, the plane was still there. Not that it mattered, because we sat in the plane for another two hours while they cleared, not the runway, but the way to the runway. The plane couldn’t back up away from the gate, through snow the baggage carts had no problem with, until the pavement was cleared. I arrived in Hong Kong at my hostel at 11:30pm. Long day.

I did have the pleasure of enjoying a film put out by the Chinese government on my 2nd flight. What a masterpiece. It was about an earthquake, not unlike the one that recently happened in Shanghai, a devastated town, and how its people persevered until the Chinese army arrived to rescue them after overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles getting there. It was hysterical, yet it offered a serious insight into the operations of the Chinese government. It was complete propaganda, saturating the recycled air with communist ideals. Organization, discipline, dependence on the state, the group over the individual. Despite all the propaganda, the Chinese army did in fact save many lives and help rebuild in Shanghai. I couldn’t help thinking of a certain natural disaster in the US in recent years in which democracy and her offspring failed where the communists succeeded. I’m looking at you, Bush and Katrina. My neighbor, a Chinese engineering student, helped me better understand the context of the film. We laughed together.

Day 1: Cloudy. Grey. Hazy. Perfect day to go to the beach, which is what I had planned. Instead I took the ferry to Hong Kong Island and walked around the city. I found a great local lunch joint with a line up the block, so I jumped in. I got two recommendations for wonton noodles, and they didn’t disappoint.

With a full stomach I continued to wander, and I found myself riding an escalator through the city, up the side of a mountain. Thirty minutes later and I was at the top of the world’s longest covered escalator, or so I found out later. All of Hong Kong is riddled with pink signs pointing to touristy things. One nearby the escalator told me I was close to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden, so I decided to check it out. It was a nice, quiet park in the middle of the city with a couple of animals in cages, a good place to sit and read.


Then I walked back down the mountain to visit another one of Hong Kong’s parks: Hong Kong Park. Much more visited, it was not as relaxing, but still a nice place to walk around. After that I found myself in Wan Chai, a place charged with nightlife and food. But first, the reunification monument where I learned a bit of Hong Kong’s history (which I will spare you). I had roast pork and duck for dinner. Best meal of the trip. I took the ferry back to Kowloon shortly after and tried to watch the Symphony of Lights, a light show from the Hong Kong skyline, but it was too hazy so I went back to the hostel.

Day 2: More clouds. More grey. More haze. Less beach. More art museum. One of my goals on this trip was to relax, so instead of burn myself out trying to see all the sites in crappy weather I decided to take a slow day. Coffee and a read (at a Starbucks unfortunately) was a good ease into the day. Gave me a little energy to look at some art. I need energy for that.

The Hong Kong art museum is not all that impressive. Mostly jewelry and pottery from old China – there were some astonishing Ming vases though. And paintings. Some of the paintings were great. After finishing up at the museum I headed to Temple Street Night Market across the city. 

Interesting wares, mostly for tourists, and lots of open air restaurants. I sat down at one, had some delicious food and cheap beer, and people-watched for a while. A little excerpt from my journal:

“Hong Kong, like Seoul, is a city on the move. Everyone going everywhere as fast as they can. Not me though. I stroll while people fly with purpose. I meander while they scurry. I take it in while they tune it out. I guess I’m just a small(er) town kind of guy. At least I’m used to it, though. Four months in Seoul will do that to you.”

Day 3: Still cloudy, grey, and hazy, but it was time to get out and see some sights. Let’s get some geography down first. The Hong Kong you’ve heard of is Hong Kong Island, home to the famous skyline. Then there’s Kowloon, the poorer district on mainland China opposite the Hong Kong skyline. Then there’s the New Territories including many outlying islands as well as some land further into mainland China. Day 3 I went to the largest island in the New Territories, Lantau Island. A giant Buddha lives there. I took a cable car ride across the mountainous island, a ride made much more interesting by the haze, to visit him.


Next I headed to Tai-O fishing village on the other side of the island. Known as the Venice of the orient, it is a very old, poor village mostly on stilts over the water. A beautiful place, even in the rain that began to emerge from the haze.

SoHo, an upscale glamour district on Hong Kong Island was on the menu for dinner. Another night ferry ride before bed.

Day 4: Finally, a break in the haze. Still cloudy, but I was going to take advantage anyway. Repulse Bay Beach on Hong Kong Island was the choice for relaxation. Sand, water, music, Subway (shut up, they don’t have Subway in Korea and its my favorite thing ever) and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy made for a relaxing day.

Since I was close I decided to check out Stanley market which turned out to be completely for and mobbed with tourists. I didn’t stay long. Instead I found a beautiful rock outcropping and sat for a while. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit and think. I made it back to Hong Kong Island in time to head to the Peak at the perfect hour. The Peak is home to one of the best views of the city, and I caught it just as the sun disappeared. It really is a beautiful city at night.


Day 5: SUN!!! It was almost like seeing it for the first time. Perfect day to hit some more beaches and do some hiking. I went to Llama Island for that. Curried Grouper at a little island town propelled me along the trail to beach #1 where I sat down and started reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Then more hiking to beach #2 where I read some more before heading to the only other town on the island where I ate dinner on the water.

A couple ferries took me back to Kowloon where I sipped some hot chocolate and read some more before retiring.

Day 6: My last day. Headed to Sai Kung, a town on the coast of mainland China, because it was sunny and I thought there were beaches. The sun quickly faded behind clouds before I reached Sai Kung and found there were no beaches around. Oh well, I walked around for a bit, then headed back to Kowloon to a Starbucks with an open-air deck on the water looking across at the Hong Kong skyline. I stayed there the rest of the day, enjoying the view, the air, and finishing my book. And what a book it was. Seriously. Read it. I watched the sun fade again – this time below the horizon – and the lights of the skyscrapers come on almost simultaneously, cutting through the approaching darkness.

Then I headed back to Temple Street Night Market for some souvenirs and some Dim Sum. Delicious.

Then I came home. Home. Korea. It’s strange when your home isn’t your home. It’s strange how leaving a home that isn’t can make it feel more like one.