Hong Kong Part II- Recluses, Junks and Street Food

 My second day in HK started with a walking tour of Central, which was interesting and informative.  Apparently 2 of the former directors of the original HK bank- HBSC- thought it would be a good idea if they could remembered as the lion type managers that they were and so had these famous lion statues placed in front of the bank HQ-

Better than fancy stationary, I think.  Interesting that these huge buildings use bamboo scaffolding- 

It is hard to capture in pictures but Hong Kong has such incredible energy and dynamism-

My afternoon took me across the harbor on the famous Star Ferry to Kowloon, the working heart of Hong Kong.  The Star Ferry has been in continuous operation since about 1860, but recently their prices have skyrocketed from $3HK to $HK (or about 50 cents USD for seniors).  

In Kowloon, I decided to pop in to the HK Art Museum where they had an exhibit on medieval (Ming and Qing dynasties) Chinese Caligraphy.  Apparently, most of these famous art works were created by recluses who had to determine where and how they would live in the world and, importantly, how they might navigate changes in emperors (i.e. regime change), as many were employed by the imperial court.  Evidently,  there were different types of recluses-

The exhibition had some advice for these recluses (or perhaps party hacks) in times of regime change-

Apparently not everyone qualifies or succeeds but My favorite type of recluse was this one-

Takes real skill and training to be a good imposter recluse 

The museum was huge and quite interesting overall.  And most importantly, free.  Not nothing in expensive Homg Kong  

Kowloon is grittier than HK Island, though it does not feel at all dangerous.  Unsurprisngly, HK feels quite clean and safe . Kowloon has lively street markets with lots of different (and delicious) Chinese and other street food-

One place even had plastic forks.  I ate there 2x.  

I also booked an evening cruise on Hong Kong harbor on a genuine ancient Chinese Junk- 

I generally try and find authentic traditional activities and think I succeeded with the Junk.  I was amazed at how they were able to turn it into the wind under sail power without any loss of speed or to back down quickly as they approached their mooring.  I did notice some diesel smoke from other vessels in the vicinity, but that did not really detract from the authentic Junk experience. 

The view from the harbor, though different from the Peak, was just amazing.  Hong Kong is quite the city.  A feast for the senses really. While I have been to other stunning and beautiful cities- Sydney, Capetown, Rio- I have never seen anything like it.  

Maybe subtle it isn’t but still just jaw dropping- 

For my last activity I had lunch at a famous noodle place in Cental.  These popular places draw big lines as their seating is tiny. So they fill tables family style with whoever is line who can fit  Being solo had advantages as often there was only one empty place ar a table so you essentially go to the front of the line  That was how I met 3 young travelers from Taiwan here on vacation   Sadly I forgot to take a photo but it was very fun  Conversation by Google translate  

Hong Kong- Chopsticks, Queques, the Peak and Pooh Bear

 I started my Round The World (RTW) trip in 66 days on a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong seated next to a young Chinese fellow who evidently had a cold as he kept sneezing and coughing. Bit I was not worried about catching his old as there was a good centimeter between us and the well known fact that nobody ever catches a cold on an airplane. 

I rarely sleep on planes and so I just settled in and waited for dinner.  With my usual impeccable sense of timing, I promptly fell asleep and only woke up  as the stewardesses were collecting the trays.   I was comforted, however, by the fact that breakfast was only 12 hours away.  I slept little the rest of the way.

I arrived in Hong Kong at 4:30 am and found the airport strangely understaffed.    Apparently they start late in Hong Kong.  

In any case, I made my way downtown on the express train (after it opened) and found my hotel, which was located a little less than a mile above the main city (Central it is called) on Hong Kong island.  Oddly the hotel staff thought it was a bit early (7am) to allow for check in so I just dropped my bags and went to walk about the city. HK has the world's longest escalator (outdoors) and it helped me immensely as I made my to and fro to my hotel (not that is was designed for me- I learned on my walking tour that it was created to shuttle commuters - working people- from their apartments to their offices in Central down below near the harbor)  

What with my early start, I decided to hike up to Victoria Peak, the mountain behind the city, for its world famous view and to get a sense of the city's layout.  The path was overgrown and apparently little used or maintained, but I managed to bush whack my way to the top-

The morning view from the Peak more than justified my effort-

The density of the city and the number and height of their skyscrapers is astonishing and certainly rivals New York or any other place on earth.  How they build them into the steep mountain side is beyond me.  

One small thing that I overlooked in my planning is... eating, or more precisely using chopsticks.  I thought using chopsticks was an old custom that had mostly bone by the wayside, but apparently 1 billion+ or so people didn't get the memo.  I ordered a dish of crispy goose at a famous HK restaurant and then was quite puzzled as to how I was actually going to cut it up and eat it-

Knife?  Fork?  (Actually crispy didn't do it justice- bone crunching or teeth shattering would be more accurate).  I thought to myself I will need to budget 2+ hours for every meal.   Maybe eating with one's hands isn't so bad after all?  

I decided I would return to the Peak (as we call it here in HK) via the famous tram at dusk to see the stunning city and harbor in the twilight, an idea that seemed to have occurred to the rest of the Hong Kong population as well- 

I have rarely seen such lines.  There were queques just to get in other queques.  The question then wasn't whether I would see the city at dusk, but whether I would get there before daybreak.  

In any case, I made it to the top and was pleasantly surprised to find that, while there were shops, HK didn't go in for kitchy tourist trap stuff and maintained an understated style- 

They say that the view from the Peak, especially at night, is one of the world's very best.  What do you think?

Just amazing.  

My granddaughter Julia noted that there is a meme online about how the dictator of China- Ji-  resembles Pooh Bear.  It is, however, apparently against the law to picture him so.  She urged me to get a placard with that image on it and display it as some form of protest.  I found one in a souvenir shop but it had the following disclaimer attached-  "Public display of this image may subject you to 25 years in the gulag making iPhones".  Hmmm.  You know, I have never believed in violating famous trademarks like Pooh Bear and so decided to pass on that. 

But pandas are ok-