Day 572 Hong Kong Day 1; a Peak in the news

On my way to the airport!  Never saw this before...
I wonder what it says??? I realllly need to learn Mandarin.

I left after school on Friday, the beginning of the Qingming festival, and hopped an early evening flight to Hong Kong. I arrived after 11pm, checked into Sohotel, in the CBD, and promptly called everyone who might be available- the room came with a phone that had free international calls!  I was up until 2am, chatting it up.  No worries; I don't have to get up for school tomorrow!

After a leisurely breakfast delivered to my room, I put on my backpack and headed out into the city.  I had just one item I wanted to cross off the Hong Kong to-do list, and that was to ride the funicular known as "The Peak" up to the top of a mountain for better views of the city.  

It was lovely walking around the city.  It is
densely populated, but all contained within a
small area- so everything is built up.  The
streets were winding and narrow due to the
hilly terrain, a pleasant surprise. Of course,
seeing tropical foliage always make me :-)

Found it!  I got there soon after opening, and there
has hardly a line...by the time I came back down,
I would have been in line for hours.

Up we go...I am going to apologize now
for the abundance of selfies...I was
traveling alone :-)

At times the tram was at a 27 degree angle which created
an optical illusion...

...the buildings were leaning!

The further up we climbed, I could tell it wasn't
going to be a good day for viewing.  It was
very hazy- a combination of pollution and
a front moving in from the ocean to the harbor.

Once the tram arrived, there was still
a six story mall to go through to get
to the observation deck.  There was a
display of the Chinese New Year, and
I discovered I am the rabbit.
Keep your comments to yourself, please ;)

What?!  There's a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant
on the fifth floor!  For a second I thought I was at
Navy Pier in Chicago :-)  Who knew???  I will say
this, as I walked around the CBD, Hong Kong has
way more Westerners than Beijing.  It felt very
comfortable and international- and a super easy city
to navigate around, even on foot. Unlike the 'jing.

I stepped out on to the observation deck, and the
first thing I saw was Ji Zu`...

Adolph von Chickenfoot's brother from another mother!

As I suspected, no views of the harbor from up there.  It was
still interesting to listen to my headset to learn about the
history of the city and various landmark buildings.

On a clear day it would have looked like this... dang it.

I was able to look down and see another tram coming up.

After I made a complete round on the observation deck,
I decided to do a little souvenir shopping. I bought a Chinese
junket print for our guest bathroom, a magnet to add to
my collection, and some postcards.  There was a post office
in the mall. While I was writing out my cards, I met these
boys from Beijing who were also visiting HK for the holiday.
They were very friendly, and both of them work in the
technology industry. (I thought they were students!) The
young man next to me said his family name is "Fan"
(pronounced fawn) which I knew in Mandarin means 'sail'.
As it turns out, his father is a sailmaker for a living, down
in Shanghai.  I then showed him pictures of Marquesa, and
of Willis T Cat on the bow of the boat. He couldn't
believe I was a sailor, anymore than I could believe his
family name is 'sail'. We shared a good laugh about that,
and then he asked for a selfie :-)  It's the Chinese way.

I decided to grab a caramel macchiato, and
wait to see if the air was going to clear up at all.

I was thrilled to be able to read an English newspaper!
They are difficult to find where I live in Beijing- so it was a treat.
Trump is a Fascist, huh?!

This story kills me- a 7 year old boy used his father's
phone and ordered 20 tickets for his classmates
to go to Disneyland in Hong Kong. The father's
response was that he didn't want anyone to feel
left out, so he bought enough tickets for every
child in the class AND their parents. Consumerism
is alive and well in China with their One Child.
If one of my kids had done something like that?
There would have been seven layers of hell to pay-
and not on my credit card, that's for dang sure!
 But that is how these only children are over indulged :-(

 

It appears that the Western tradition of April
Fool's Day has made it's way to China, and
China is not pleased. The government announced
that "The April Fool's Day celebrations agree with
neither China's socialist core values, nor Chinese
traditions." Apparently no fake wedding or baby
announcements on social media, nor practical jokes
played on your coworkers are allowed.
And that's no laughing matter :-(

This comes as no surprise...China Eastern Airlines is boosting
their North American routes by 50%.  I read in a related article
that Chinese students now account for one third of all international
students enrolled at US colleges and universities.  300k + and climbing.
Shoot, at Purdue nearly 25% of their student body is international
students, and over half of them are Chinese! 

I showed the documentary "Globesity" for
my unit on Health Psychology.  Diabetes and
heart disease are serious health issues here
in China due to the rising rate of obesity.
I would encourage you to watch the film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGL3iT5MMdQ
It is a very eye opening film on how quickly we went from
a world crisis of malnutrition to a world crisis of obesity.

Even Dilbert had an Asian theme, lol

I am happy to see mental health issues like
depression and suicide make the news.  It has
been this country's tradition to not acknowledge
mental illness in an effort to "save face".
I read that since January 2014, 39 Beijingers
have taken their life by jumping on to the
tracks of an oncoming subway train. One
young man took his life this way just last month.

We Westerners keep a close eye on the exchange rate.  One of
the reasons I negotiated a hefty pay raise for next year is because
the exchange rate was 6.17 when I hired in. Today it is 6.43rmb/1USD.

While there is a growing middle class and the uber
wealthy in China, the peasants still far outnumber the
total population.  Many rural farming parents are forced
to migrate to the cities to make more money, leaving behind
their children. (Yes, they often have more than one child
because they are not registered with the government. As
such, these kids are 'non' people.  They have no record of
birth, no identification, cannot attend school, get a job, etc.)
Sometimes these 'left behind' children may be left in the care
of aging grandparents, other villagers, or they must simply
fend for themselves.  This article was about four siblings
who were left behind and were starving. They all drank
pesticides to put an end to their miserable existence. So sad.

The last article to catch my eye was the latest
craze on social media that is body shaming to
young women.  Chinese girls and women are
posing with A4 paper, banknotes, iPhones and
such to demonstrate how thin they are on social
media.  The latest craze involves taking a photo
of yourself using two pencils cris-crossed across
the face.  If their face is smaller than the length
of the pencils, they advertise themselves as
meeting "ideal beauty standards".  I have caught
some of my senior girls doing this very thing :(((

After my cup of Joe and the morning paper,
I caught the next tram down.

I chose to stand up by the conductor
for a bird's eye view- it was the best ride!

  

I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the CBD, making my
way down to the waterfront.

I popped in St. John's Cathedral for a prayer and to light
a candle for Grandma, Grandpa, and Dad.  It's a thing I do,
in whatever city I find myself in.  I've lit candles all over the world.

As I walked in a tunnel that lead to the waterfront,
there was the strangest scene.  It was full of women;
most were eating, playing card games, on their cell
phones, in 'cubicles' they built for themselves. 

They didn't appear to be homeless, they were
dressed nicely and clean, it was like they just
came to the tunnel or the bridge to hang out
with their friends for the day. So I googled it, and
discovered they are foreign domestic helpers (maids) who
congregate there on their day off to hang with friends!

As I crossed the pedestrian bridge to the waterfront ferry docks,
it turns out there is a Hong Kong Eye, like the London Eye
and the Tianjin Eye.  Not a pretty day for a ride on the Eye.

Star ferries, crossing between the islands of Hong Kong, are iconic.
I found a Maritime Museum down by Pier 8 that I plan to visit
at the end of my stay here, before I return to Beijing.  I walked
down to Pier 4, paid my $2.50 fee, and caught the Yung Shue Wan
ferry to Lamma Island, where I have a two night's stay on the beach :)

I would guess that Hong Kong and Singapore are among the
two busiest shipping port cities world wide.  Boats of all 
sizes were everywhere, and container ships were anchored out
waiting their turn to come into the harbor to offload.  The boat
traffic was crazy, with water taxis, ferries, container ships, private
boats, pilot boats, junkets, and little fishing boats, zigzagging all
over the place.  It would make me a nervous wreck to be at
the helm!  I thought these two were going to collide, but they
both held their speed and course, and the boat in the foreground
just slid past the container ship's stern- I was holding my breath!

I settled in with my pbj, and just enjoyed
being back on a boat on the ocean once again <3

I knew I had picked the perfect destination for a weekend
getaway when this was the scene as the ferry docked. Lamma
Island is like Mackinaw Island, only much, much bigger.
There are four villages on the island, but the island is all
covered in paved walking paths- only foot traffic allowed.

Yung Shue Wan village reminded me alot of
when Len and I went to Koh Phi Phi,
Thailand.  It is the more developed village
with restaurants, bars, cafes, shopping,
and markets situated on a stretch of
about four narrow streets.  I had a 20
minute walk to get to my beach resort.

It was very hilly terrain on the island, and it is known
for its hiking.  Many HK residents come to Lamma
Island to spend the day hiking and picnicking on the beach.
I was looking forward to some hiking over the weekend :)

  

I passed through another small village...

I was getting closer to the beach!

Down one more hill....

I made it to Hung Shing Ye Beach!

I checked in to my room at Concerto Inn, and this
was the view from my balcony :-)  I could literally
feel myself decompress to be back on an island.

I couldn't get changed in to my bikini fast enough!
I stopped and bought a sliced of grilled pineapple
for a late snack, and proceeded to put my toes
in the water and a$$ in the sand to enjoy the
rest of the afternoon.  I brought a book with me,
no school work whatsoever, and I fully intended
to spend the next two days pleasure reading.

I ordered some delicious spring rolls for dinner,
enjoyed a cocktail, and had a delightful conversation
with a Brit who happens to be a building principal
at an IB school in HK.  He lives on Lamma Island
and commutes by ferry daily.  Now THAT'S what
I'm talking about!  ...and he has an opening for
a college counselor.  One of the first questions he
asked me was if I was under contract for next year.

I am.

Dang it.

I think I'm going to like this place; stay tuned!

G'nite, y'all