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Bryan Stumpf's China Journal |
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My
Trip to Hong Kong One of the first Hong Kong surprises happened before I even set foot in the city. Before I came to China, I applied for a multiple entry visa. But because of miscommunications and misunderstandings, I received a TWO-entry visa instead. After I arrived in China, I made a few inquiries at the Chinese consulate about my two-entry visa. I was a bit surprised to find out that if I wanted to stay in China for my full 5 months, I had no choice but to leave and re-enter the country between June 1st and June 20th. Under these circumstances, I figured my best choice would be to fly to Tokyo for a weekend – the flight from Shanghai to Tokyo would be quick and relatively cheap. So I started making arrangements: contacting friends who had been to Tokyo and buying a Lonely Planet guidebook to Tokyo. And to my chagrin, I would be taking this trip alone – Yaping didn’t have the time, money, or visa status for such a trip. And then, Yaping announced that she had been chosen to present at a conference in Hong Kong on Monday, June 14th. I suggested that we tour the city on the weekend before her conference. Yaping was cool with the idea, so we started making arrangements for a weekend trip to Hong Kong. And that is when I found out that, according to the Chinese consulate, Hong Kong is a considered a separate country from mainland China. In one way, this was a good thing because it meant that our trip to Hong Kong would be my opportunity to leave and re-enter China within my time window. But it also meant that I would have to cancel my trip to Tokyo. So scrapping all my plans for a Tokyo trip, I prepped instead for a trip to Hong Kong. And Hong Kong required more preparation on my part because Yaping already had her plate full preparing for her presentation. Of course, because of the language barrier, Yaping had to make the flight and hotel arrangements. But once we were in the city, it was my deal. So in the days prior to our trip, I did my research by reading up on Hong Kong in my Lonely Planet guidebook. Hong Kong is like no other city in China - primarily because Hong Kong was a British colony from 1898 all the way up until 1997. So while mainland China underwent the Communist Revolution, Hong Kong remained capitalist. When the British handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, there was concern that the city’s thriving economic base would be overhauled to accommodate for communism. But an agreement was made - Hong Kong would become a “Special Administrative Region.” It would be a part of the country of China in every way politically, yet it would retain its capitalist economy. Since the city is located in the Canton region of China, the people of Hong Kong would be speaking Cantonese instead Mandarin. So believe it or not, in this part of China, Yaping would have as much trouble communicating with the native speakers as I would. Fortunate for both of us, English is also widely spoken in Hong Kong. Also, the Cantonese cuisine would be very different than what we had sampled in Beijing and Shanghai. The food would be very spicy. And the ingredients of some of the meat dishes are often very surprising to foreigners. But the most popular Cantonese dish is “dim sum.” Dim sum is actually appetizers, not really a dish, and it is served as breakfast. It includes various kinds of dumplings and steamed buns. I’ve actually had dim sum quite a few times in Seattle’s Chinatown, but I looked forward to trying authentic dim sum in Hong Kong. By the way, you may have noticed that I keep referring to the rest of China as “mainland China.” Well, that’s because Hong Kong is a city of peninsulas and islands. Our hotel would be on the peninsula of Kowloon. And Hong Kong’s airport is on the island of Lantau. The main downtown area is on the northern side of Hong Kong Island. The southern side of Hong Kong Island is mostly beaches and undeveloped rural land. And separating the island’s urban north and the rural south is a surprisingly mountainous stretch of land -Victoria Peak is its highest mountain at1800 feet.
On Friday morning, Yaping and I took an early bus to the Shanghai Airport. My flight to Hong Kong would be my first time flying in China and I’d actually be doing it alone. Since Yaping would be staying in Hong Kong longer, we had to book separate flights, with separate itineraries. But her flight was leaving only an hour earlier than mine. So after seeing her off, I hung out in the airport and waited for my flight to start boarding. While waiting to board, I noticed a foreign woman, probably American, sitting across from me. I just noticed her, we didn’t talk or even make eye contact, but this woman would end up having a significant role in my Hong Kong trip. I soon boarded my plane and two hours later arrived at the Lantau Island airport. I found Yaping near the baggage claim and we set off for the Kowloon peninsula on double-decker bus. And from our view from the bus’s top deck, my first glimpses of Hong Kong reminded me of San Francisco. We crossed a Golden-Gate type bridge to get from Lantau Island to the Kowloon peninsula. Once in Kowloon, we were surprised to see people driving on the wrong side of the road and bilingual signs (English and Cantonese) – two sure distinctions of the British influence. We checked into our hotel, dropped off our luggage, and ventured out to see what else set Hong Kong apart from mainland cities. As we walked the streets of Kowloon, I discovered that Hong Kong and Shanghai are about as different as night and day. With bilingual signs, it’s very easy to navigate around Hong Kong. And with British street names like Queen Victoria Road and Salisbury Street, I have to admit it’s much easier for me to distinguish between the different streets. Also, there are tourist friendly street markers pointing the direction of various city attractions, like the St. John’s Cathedral, the Victoria Peak Tram, and Kowloon Park. Unlike Shanghai, Hong Kong sidewalks are actually the pedestrian safe-havens they are intended to be. We were surprised to see that the sidewalks are miraculously free of cruising mopeds and cars. Also, pedestrians actually obey the WALK/DON’T WALK signs. And, believe it or not, vehicle drivers are considerate enough to allow pedestrians to cross the street at the crosswalks. Yaping was so impressed by the fully-functioning crosswalks that she kept saying she would write to the mayor of Shanghai and insist the city adopt the street plans of Hong Kong. But Hong Kong’s most appealing distinction is the city’s acquiescence to nature. In Shanghai, the urban sprawl can sometimes feel oppressive. Even though there are several parks scattered around Shanghai, when you visit these parks, you get the feeling that the city is trying to shoehorn nature into its sprawling network of streets. In Hong Kong, it’s the other way around. It’s like the city developers somehow shoehorned a city into the middle of a wilderness – this makes Hong Kong similar to Seattle. You find yourself thinking, “How did the city planners think it was possible to carve out a city in this dense wilderness?” To me, a city nestled within a wilderness is more aesthetically pleasing than a city of sprawling concrete with dabs of nature here and there. And even on streets congested with cars, you’ll notice there is much less pollution in Hong Kong than in Shanghai. You could simply credit the city’s location on the ocean for fresher air. But Hong Kong’s environmentally friendly electric streetcar system probably also plays a significant role in curbing pollution. And also, Hong Kong has an overabundance of thriving trees that buffer pedestrians from excessive noise pollution – oh yeah, by the way, there’s no honking in Hong Kong! And so, thoroughly impressed with our discoveries in Kowloon, Yaping and I sauntered toward the waterfront to get a better glimpse of Hong Kong Island. The waterfront area is similar to the Bund in Shanghai, yet Victoria Harbor is much less polluted than Shanghai’s Huangpu River. We saw fishermen hunched over the harborside railings, hoping to haul in one last catch of the day. And cruise boats, sailboats, and ferries were crisscrossing the harbor. As we reached the southernmost tip of the Kowloon peninsula, the sun was setting behind Victoria Peak and Hong Kong Island was awash in gold. Yaping pointed out the distinctive buildings of the downtown skyline - the Bank of China building, with its cross-hatched design, the International Financial Center - Hong Kong’s tallest building, and the Convention Center, which resembles Sydney’s Opera House. Looking down the Kowloon waterfront, Yaping pointed out a tiered section with benches set up like stadium seating. She suggested it would be a good place for us to watch the lights of downtown come on. Along the way, we walked along an area called the “Avenue of the Stars.” Like the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, the Avenue of the Stars was a sidewalk that honored various celebrities by having their handprints imprinted in the concrete. But here, they were all Chinese celebrities. I found the handprints of Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and John Woo. Of course, I had to pose for pictures with my hand over each person’s handprint; all three had smaller hands than I expected. And I discovered that both of Jackie Chan’s index fingers curve inward. And then, we sat in the tiered section and waited for the city lights to come on. There was a young man sitting next to us; he turned to me and asked if I would take his picture. Recognizing his British accent, I asked what part of Britain he hailed from. When he said Nottingham, I quickly mentioned that I used to live in Chester, which is just west of Nottingham. I hoped we could talk about my old stomping grounds, but he only gave me a curt nod, thanked me for taking his picture, and excused himself to catch a plane to London. After seeing the impressive array of city lights buzz to life on Hong Kong Island, we walked further down the waterfront and then explored more of the streets of Kowloon. We looked for a Singapore restaurant recommended by my guidebook. Of course, with the streets easy to navigate and it wasn’t long before we found our destination. After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel. Our hotel, the Royal Garden, happened to be very impressive. From the hallway on our floor, we could look down on an open courtyard complete with shallow pools, fountains, and marble terraces – all outlined by living trees and hanging creeper. It was also a dining area, so at night we could smell various foods simmering in the kitchen and watch tour groups and families enjoying their meals. But the most enchanting part of the courtyard was the piano player playing classics like “Unchained Melody” and “Country Roads.” I fell asleep that night listening to “American Pie.”
The next day, I had our whole day planned. First, we would hop on the subway to Hong Kong Island. Then, we’d walk along the island’s waterfront. Then, some shopping and finally, up to Victoria Peak to watch the sunset. Well, it turned out that the waterfront of Hong Kong Island isn’t quite as enchanting as Kowloon’s waterfront. On Hong Kong Island, the urban development reaches all the way to the water’s edge. So due to various urban obstacles, we had to cut our walk short. But, as we walked into the heart of the downtown area, we discovered there are footbridges and walkways above and along practically every thoroughfare in the downtown area. And not only that, but it was very common to see escalators assisting pedestrians up to the elevated walkways. And the biggest treat for all pedestrians was the ten-block long escalator. For ten blocks, you could ride a moving walkway like the ones they have in airports. It wasn’t necessarily just for lazy people. Like Seattle, the city is built on hilly terrain, so I’m sure this escalator comes in handy for a lot people. Hong Kong Island is a pedestrian’s paradise. Using all the walkways and escalators we could, we easily made our way to the bustling Central District, the heart of downtown Hong Kong. Here we had the intention of doing some shopping. Yaping brought a shopping list with her, but she hadn’t concocted the list herself – her friends had given her a few purchasing requests before she left Shanghai. Apparently, Hong Kong has a reputation as having good quality products at reasonable prices. One friend asked Yaping to buy her some jewelry. I anticipated our jewelry shopping in Central to be a bit boring. But at each jeweler we visited, they gave us little paper cups of tea – I found this quite classy. Also, I got to see some big spenders mulling over the 3-5 carat diamonds. After narrowing down her choices, Yaping decided the actual purchasing could wait for another day. And that was all the shopping Yaping wanted to do. I was a bit concerned because we were moving a little too quickly through the day’s itinerary. It was only noon and next on my itinerary was going to Victoria Peak to watch the sunset. I tried to stall a bit by looking for a restaurant. My guidebook listed a dim sum restaurant not far from Central. At this point in the trip, we discovered two frustrating themes that would weave their way through the rest of our trip. First, my guidebook, published in 2000, was apparently outdated – so a lot of the restaurants we sought no longer existed. And second, though Hong Kong is supposedly chock-a-block with dim sum restaurants, we would have the hardest time finding one. In fact, in our four days in the city, we never found a single one. So in Central, we never found our dim sum restaurant. But on the street where it was supposed to be, we found a recommended Indian restaurant. After lunch, I couldn’t stall any longer – it was time for Victoria Peak. The primary way to the peak was the Victoria Peak Tram, which was located right in Central. The grade from Central to Victoria Peak seemed quite steep so I was expecting the tram to be like a ski lift. But when we found the tram terminal, we discovered the tram was more like streetcar. But instead of running on electricity, it was dragged up the steep grade by a thick cable, kind of like a roller coaster before the first big plunge. As we rode to the top, the incline was so steep that, when we passed buildings, it almost seem like the tram was as vertical as the buildings. When we finally reached the top, I was still concerned by how ahead of schedule we were - the sunset wouldn’t be for another four hours. I suggested we kill time by walking the various trails around the peak. As we hiked around Victoria Peak, I was pleased to discover the trails were carved into the mountainside like real, actual mountain trails, except that these trails were paved. And the views were incredible. Plus, high above the city, the temperatures were a lot cooler. Although Hong Kong’s weather is a bit on the warm side, as you walk the city streets, you can almost always feel a cool breeze off the harbor. And you could feel the cool harbor breeze even more so on the peak. Not only were there great views, but we also found a thriving population of flying critters. Bright and multicolored butterflies seemed to always be alighting the wildflowers around the trail. And the cicadas were not at all shy. Cicadas are huge insects, about the size of a grown man’s thumb, and they are LOUD – imagine a cricket with bullhorn. Walking along the trail, we heard them more than saw them. Also, large brown eagles were swooping along Victoria’s slopes. It was a good time for Yaping and me because, away from the noise of the city with seemingly all the time in the world until sunset, we had some great conversations. After a couple of hours of walking and talking, we finished a loop around the peak. Since we still had about two hours to spare before sunset, we took another trail that led to a botanical garden at the very peak of Victoria. From the botanical gardens, we could see the pristine sand beaches on the south side of the island. Beyond the beaches, we saw more islands and the dark blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The sun was nearing the ocean’s horizon, so we hiked back to the Viewing Terrace near the tram terminal to see the sunset over the city. We watched as darkness fell over the Hong Kong and lights from each building lit up. The night before at this time, we were watching the city from across the harbor; now we were peering down on the city from the top of a mountain. It almost looked like a totally different city. At around 7:30pm, we took the tram back down to Central. And from there we took the metro back to Kowloon. But rather than returning to our hotel, I wanted to visit the Temple Street Night Market. Feeling a little hungry, I was hoping it would be as snack-filled as the Wushan Night Market in Hangzhou. And according to my guidebook, the market was a good place for Cantonese snacks. But again my guidebook proved to be outdated. We were disappointed to find that the market now sold mostly clothing and appliances. Yaping suggested we try out a nearby vegetarian restaurant, but after sitting down and looking at the menu, we discovered the choices were not authentic Cantonese. So we went looking for a different place to eat, hoping to find authentic Cantonese food. After walking more streets, we found a Cantonese restaurant recommended by my book, and lo and behold, this one actually still existed. But after sitting down and looking at the menu, we discovered it no longer served Cantonese food. So again we went looking for a different place to eat. After more searching, and feeling ready to give up, we finally found a place that served Cantonese style porridge. Good enough! We couldn’t believe it would be so difficult to find authentic Cantonese food in a Canton city. We were back in the hotel by 10pm and the piano player was still playing. On this night, I fell asleep listening to “Candle in the Wind.”
Today, I planned for us to travel along the eastern shore
of Hong Kong Island and visit the southern side. I chose a route that was
supposed to be the most scenic - for the first half of the route we would take a
streetcar, and for the second half, a bus. On our way to the ferry terminal, we stopped at a bakery and bought some breakfast to go. Then, we made a brief stop in Kowloon Park and had a breakfast in front of the Bird Lagoon. Because of the recent bird-flu scare, there was a sign saying that we should wash our hands if we touch any bird droppings. During breakfast, Yaping read through her Hong Kong tourist brochures. She found out that that every night at 8pm there was a laser lightshow from the rooftops of the downtown skyscrapers. I couldn’t believe it – two nights in a row we had watched the lights of the city come on, and both nights we walked away before the laser lightshow started. Yaping suggested we make sure we didn’t miss it on this night. After the park, we rode a ferry to Central and from Central hopped on a streetcar. Though the streetcar ride was quaint and only $2, I had a really hard time figuring out when to get off. I knew the streetcar route and I knew the name of our stop, but apparently, the streetcar stops don’t have signs. Luckily, the streetcar route followed the subway route, so I was able to gauge our distance and location by subway stops. It was like being in a boat and using the constellations to find our direction. Fortunately, we got off at the right stop. From there, we boarded a bus to Stanley, one of the beach towns on the southern side of the island. Remember how I said that when you’re in a city like Hong Kong, you sometimes wonder, “How did the city planners think it was possible to carve out a city in this dense wilderness?” Well, on this bus ride, I found myself wondering, “How did they think it was possible to carve out a ROAD on this SLOPE?” There were hairpin turns and steep drop-offs along the road, all without guardrails. But the views were arresting – all along the way you could see a turquoise sea with lush, hilly islands jutting out of the water. As we neared Stanley, we saw the first of many sandy beaches. The day was sunny and people were strolling the sandbars and swimming in the surf. Once we reached Stanley, I suggested we look around, get some lunch, and maybe visit a beach. After wandering past dozens of souvenir sellers, we found a small, somewhat secluded beach. There were only about a dozen people sunning themselves and about half dozen in the water. Seeing the people splashing around in the water, I decided I had to go for a dip. Yaping did her usual eye rolling as I stripped to my skivvies and ran to the water. The water was very warm and I had a great time splashing about. Yaping got all paparazzi and took a few pictures of me swimming in my boxer shorts. And then I was surprised to see her take off her shoes and socks and do a little wading. The beach was surprisingly pristine and mostly untouched by the tourism industry - no five star hotels were encroaching on the beachfront. And the souvenir and food vendors apparently preferred shaded alleyways to beachside business. And I couldn’t help but notice that practically all of the sunbathers and swimmers were foreigners. There were some native Chinese at the beach, but they were all sitting at the fringes. Also, they were dressed in conservative attire – long pants and button-down shirts. It reminded me of the beaches of Acapulco, where I saw native Mexicans being asked to leave the beach by hotel security. On the Stanley beach, no one was insisting on the Chinese to stay off the beach, but they still seemed like outsiders on their own island. After our beach excursion, Yaping and I grabbed a quick lunch and then boarded the bus for Aberdeen. The city of Aberdeen is a popular place for tourists because of the sampans. Literally “motorized boats,” sampans cruise people around Aberdeen’s floating fishing village. I think the sampans also appeal to tourists because of their rough appearance. From a distance, sampans appear relatively harmless. They are painted with broad strokes of green and red. And to shield passengers from the sun, there’s an overhead canvas tarp that covers the boat’s entire 25-foot length. But up close, they look mean-tempered because truck tires are nailed along their edges as bumpers. Also, you might recognize sampans from various movies about Hong Kong - they are the boat of choice for criminals smuggling illegal goods. The gruff countenance of the sampan conjures up images of modern day pirates and packages of contraband. Yet once on the boat, it’s as tame as a Disney theme park ride. When we boarded our sampan, we were greeted by our boat guide, who was by no means the pirate type. With thick glasses and a slightly balding pate, he looked more like a businessmen on a weekend outing. And as if mocking the mean-tempered integrity of his sampan, he showed us his collection of sombreros and invited us to wear them as we posed for pictures. But I was by no means disappointed. The floating fishing village is actually quite a sight, reminding me of the houseboat villages on Lake Union in Seattle. The large boats, looking like the bigger brothers of our sampan, were tied together and anchored in the middle of the harbor. The boats were both home and livelihood for a community of fishermen. As we passed by the boats, we saw some families cutting bait and others sitting down for lunch. It was just like a real neighborhood – as our sampan passed one boat, a family dog trotted out to bark complaints at our intrusion. The “high point” of our ride was circling the ostentatious and very touristy floating restaurant. But on the ride back, there was a surprise - remember the American woman I saw in the Shanghai airport? Well, I was surprised to see her again – our boat was cruising downriver while her boat was cruising upriver. I pointed at her, in some feeble attempt to communicate with her, but she didn’t see me. Small world. But this wouldn’t be the last I’d see her… Eventually, we returned to our dock and thanked our mild-mannered “pirate” guide. There really didn’t seem to be much more to see at Aberdeen, other than the floating restaurant, so we took the next bus back to Central. Not taking the scenic route this time, we were back on the north side within 30 minutes. It was only mid-afternoon, so I suggested to Yaping that she resume her shopping responsibilities. But rather than walk the streets of Central again, she suggested we check out the big mall near the ferry terminal on Kowloon. Soon after riding a ferry across Victoria Harbor, we were shuffling down the corridors of the Ocean Centre Mall. It was actually a pretty gargantuan mall so Yaping had little trouble in finding the right stores. The problem was it seemed to take hours to walk to them. Yaping kept saying, “This has got to be as big as the Mall of America!” And Yaping should know - the poor girl lived nine months in Minnesota. After she collected a sizeable stash for her friends (and a few items for herself), we headed back to the hotel. It was almost 6pm and we wanted to get a prime viewing spot along the waterfront to see the laser lightshow. And then, I had another surprise about halfway across the peninsula. Remember the American woman I saw earlier that day on the sampan in Aberdeen? Well, I saw once more – she was on the other side of the street, walking in the opposite direction. And again, I pointed at her, in some feeble attempt to communicate with her, but she didn’t see me. I was starting to get creeped out. It’s a small world, but… By 7:30pm we were at the waterfront, 30 minutes early for the lightshow, but there were already crowds of people. We wanted to sit in the tiered section of the waterfront, where we sat on our first night in Hong Kong, but it was obvious all prime seating was already taken. So we just joined the crowd and waited. I really wasn’t expecting too much - I figured the show wouldn’t be much more than a couple of laser beams twirling around to the music of “It’s a Small World After All.” But it turned out to be a lot more than just lasers and bright lights. About 10 buildings from downtown Hong Kong participated, and each building had its own color and light scheme. Through speakers along the waterfront, Chinese music and Cantonese narration accompanied the show. As the narration introduced each building, there’d be a little dance of light coming from that one building. I couldn’t help but think of the incredible amount of wattage that must go into a show like this, and it was even more amazing considering they did this EVERY night. Since it was our last night in Hong Kong – I had a 5pm flight the next day – we decided to dine at the Royal Garden, right in the courtyard with the piano man. The food was good and the music was great. Yaping and I reminisced about our time in Hong Kong and we both concluded that it was the most charming Chinese city we had been to yet. As we said our goodnights, I wished Yaping good luck with her presentation the following day. I also promised I would call her the following night and let her know I made it safely back to Shanghai.
Today, I was on my own in Hong Kong and my goal was to visit the parts of the city that didn’t interest Yaping – namely, the British parts. First off, I had a full English breakfast, including baked beans on toast, at a British cuisine place called “Chippy.” Actually, Yaping and I spotted Chippy on our first day on Hong Kong Island. Though I tried to persuade Yaping to eat at Chippy, she, presumably having heard all the rumors about British cooking, refused. But on my way for my British gourmet breakfast, I had a bit of a scare – I was followed by someone for about four blocks. No, it wasn’t the American woman. It was a tall, lanky man of slightly Asian descent, with long scraggly hair pulled back in a ponytail. I had spotted him sitting on a stoop as I walked down one street; he gave me a weird look as I walked by. In my periphery, I saw him get to his feet and mosey in my direction. I didn’t think much of it until I turned a corner and soon afterward he too turned the same corner. I became even more suspicious when I turned a different corner and again he turned the same turn. I decided I better try to shake him off, so I ducked into a crowded alleyway. I stopped by a booth and checked to see if he followed me into the alley. The coast seemed clear, so I turned to walk away…and I bumped right into the man. I was a little concerned, but felt safe since we were in a crowd. But why had he followed me? He said to me, “I just wanted to ask you where you got that t-shirt.” I looked down at my shirt - it was just a gray shirt with the letters H and T in green. It was a shirt from Highline’s Athletic Department. The letters stood for Highline Thunderbirds. I couldn’t imagine what the man found so intriguing about my shirt. I quickly said, “In the U.S.” The man said, “Really? What state?” Wanting to end our conversation, I quickly said, “Seattle,” and walked away. I knew I made a mistake in calling Seattle a state, but I just wanted to get out of there. He probably meant no harm, but I had no time for weird inquiries about my attire, I had places to go. And so from there, I sauntered through the Soho area of Hong Kong. If you squinted, you could almost mistake Hong Kong’s Soho for London’s Soho. And in Soho, I hopped on the ten-block long escalator and rode it to the Zoological and Botanical Garden. The Zoological and Botanical Garden turned out to be an inspired choice because the hillside park had a great view of downtown. Plus, the animal exhibits were actually impressive. Since there was no admission fee for the zoo, I expected the “exhibits” to be not much more than a couple of prairie dogs behind Plexiglas. But once again Hong Kong impressed me with exhibits ranging from lynxes to monkeys to lemurs. I parked myself on a bench in front of the macaque cage. It was a nice spot, plenty of shade and the top of Hong Kong’s tallest building visible over my left shoulder. But most importantly, the macaques were lively today. Here, I bided my time until I was hungry enough for lunch at an English pub. It was peaceful in the park. I wrote in my journal and occasionally watched people walk by. There weren’t many people in the park. I only saw three Chinese teens and a young American couple pass by. Then, just as I was mid-sentence in my journal, there was a scream directly behind me. I jumped off the bench and looked around. It was coming from the lemur exhibit. The Chinese teens and the American couple came running to see what all the commotion was about. Apparently, there was some sort of lemur brawl – a couple of lemurs were shouting at each other, giving each other menacing looks, and clenching their little paws into fists. There was a porcupine in the cage with them, but he didn’t seem to be posing any threat. In fact, he seemed to be ignoring to the whole shouting match. I jokingly suggested to the Chinese teens and the American couple that maybe there was a love triangle between the two lemurs and the porcupine. The teens and the couple looked at each other, looked back at me, and slowly backed away. The lemur screaming and taunting lasted for about five minutes, then it was quiet again, as if they decided to put aside their difference and be friends again. It was surprising behavior considering they are usually such docile animals. Eventually, it was time for my pub lunch. So I went back to Soho and dined at a pub called The Globe, named I assume after Shakespeare’s theatre. After lunch, I sauntered back to the Central subway, got off in Kowloon, grabbed my luggage from the hotel, and soon I was on a bus to the airport. As I waited to board my flight, I reflected on what a surprise Hong Kong had turned to be. If Hong Kong were a mixed drink, it would be one half China, one half Britain, with a dollop of Seattle, and a splash of Acapulco. But there was one more surprise to come. On the flight back, I saw AGAIN the same American woman that I had seen now at the Shanghai airport, Aberdeen, and on a sidewalk in Kowloon. This was too weird. I figured I had to say something to her once we got off the plane. But once we touched down in Shanghai, there was too much of a crowd disembarking. So I thought, “Forget it, I won’t be able to find her in this crowd anyway.” On my way to customs, I made a quick stop in the restroom. Believe it or not, on my way out of the restroom, we passed each other again…what I mean to say is, she was walking into the girl’s room as I was walking out of the boy’s room, of course. Anyways, this was too much. I had to say something to her. I stood outside the restrooms and waited for her. But within seconds, I considered how weird it would be for her to walk out of the restroom and be greeted by a stranger. So again, I thought to myself, “Forget it.” I continued on toward customs. I couldn’t help but to peek over my shoulder one last time. And lo and behold, there she was, right behind me. I guess she wasn’t in the restroom very long at all. I couldn’t take it anymore - either she was following me or there was too much weird coincidence. I turned to her and said, “You were in Hong Kong all weekend right?” A little surprised, she said, “Yeah, do I know you?” I then recounted all the times I had seen her. She was amazed she hadn’t seen me any of those times. We talked as we walked to customs and stood in line. Her name was Amy and she was also teaching in Shanghai. She was from New Jersey, she went to NYU, and she actually knew where my hometown, Cape Vincent, was located. After three months in China, it was nice to talk with someone from home. After customs, we walked out the baggage claim exit and into Shanghai’s damp night air. Amy’s ride was already there waiting for her, so we quickly shared e-mail addresses and said, “good-bye.” Yaping had written down specific instructions on how to get from the airport to my apartment - I just needed to take the bus to Xujiahui. The bus wasn’t there yet, so I waited. Of course, I was accosted by various cab drivers trying to persuade to take ride with them. I declined all offers and continued to wait patiently for the bus. I thought of Yaping, still in Hong Kong. She was so lucky to still be there. I missed Hong Kong. But after talking to Amy, I missed New York even more. Hope all remains well on your side of the globe! |
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