Skye and Olmpic critters

Here's Skye in front of the Olympic critters at the Waterfront Promenade, at the tip of Kowloon peninsula at Tsim Tsua Tsui

Vicky

Vicky, Peter's oldest daughter, in a photo taken by Skye with her v-tech camera.

Peter, Judy, Mom, Poly, Skye

Here they are eating at the dim sum place at Hong Pak, where Poly's mom lives with Peter, Winnie, Vicky, and Becky.

Becky, mom, and dim sum

Poly's mom and Becky, Peter's daughter, having dim sum with us in early May.

Coral Sea ferry

This is the great Coral Sea ferry that we took so often from Judy's place on HK island to Poly's mom on the mainland side.  Much smaller and more fun than the star ferry on the west side of the harbor, the coral sea ferry route is for locals, not tourists.  And it's cheap too -- about 60 cents US!

ship traffic in hong kong harbor

I saw this person in a sampan in the harbor on the east side (we always take the Coral Sea ferry route from Sai Wan Ho to Lei Yue Mun (Carp Gate).  Hard to believe that this type of transport is still being used!

rare double decker with no air conditioning

This is the ONLY non-air conditioned double decker bus I saw in 6 weeks.  They are almost extinct.  Supposedly some people prefer them; perhaps old timers who don't like modern AC.  They are nicknamed "hot dogs" because of the roasting process that customers undergo when riding these in summer.  This one is on the number 16 line from Lam Tin to Olympic City.  It costs about one third less than the regular bus.

dinner with friends from 40 years ago

Here Poly and family meet with some old neighbors from the days of public housing 40 years ago.

Cathay Pacific flight HK to SF

Cathay Pacific has great features for travelers.  Check out the personal video screens with TV, movies, games, and music.  Also Skye got the yellow bag with goodies for free.  The seats lean back without the outer shell moving, so the people ahead never mess up our use of the video screen or the table tray.  Great design!  Fly Cathay Pacific!  

distressed traveler voucher

This is the voucher that we received from Cathay Pacific when we missed our connecting flight in San Fran due to the typhoon in HK when we left.  It's the "distressed traveler" voucher for food.  they also put us up in a nice Mariott hotel for  the night. 

rare photo of homeless bed on the street

Not too far from Judy's place.  It's the only homeless bed I've seen on this trip, and we traveled all over HK.  Notice that it's neat and well kept.  Nearby is a public bathroom.  It seems the homeless problem is not a major issue; the public housing system is really excellent.

Thursday, June 26: San Francisco

Well, the typhoon delayed our flight so much that we missed the connector in SF, so Cathay Pacific gave us a hotel room and comped us for three meals.  We left the next morning and arrived Thursday afternoon in Crystal Lake.  An extra day added to our vacation.  Photos later.

wed. june 25 typhoon weather!

it's 8 am and we leave this morning.  there is a typhoon in the area and we've had heavy rain and wind all night.  However, we checked our flight and it's still listed as ready to depart on time.  We leave the apartment at 10 am.  right now the number 8 flag has been hoisted (HK's typhoon warning system, on a scale of 10, but it isn't really that bad).  It looks like school is cancelled here, and the taxis are not out.  I don't know about the buses.  Also there's a landslip warning in effect (might be landslides), and the rain warning is at red level (black, next up, is highest).  what a fun day to be leaving!!!  

our flight is cx870 from HK to San Francisco, by the way.  scheduled to depart at 2:10 pm.  

tuesday, june 24: waiting to leave

so today so far (2 pm).  went to mcdonald's for breakfast.  Here is Judy's breakfast: a patty and egg, basically from an egg mcmuffin, in a pasta soup.  that is a mcdonald's breakfast choice in HK.  Looks pretty good!

  then went to the park briefly.  the number 1 typhoon flag has been hoisted in HK, but the weather is still good.  By tomorrow it might be at level 3, but I think our flight will be OK.  the typhoon will head to Taiwan they predict.  some photos from today will be posted later.  tonight we will go out and meet some of Poly's childhood neighbors from the old housing estate, along with Judy, mom, and Peter.  

tomorow we leave!  Next post will be from America, where I'll finish up this blog and post pictures for previous entries.  Our 6 week vacation comes to an end!

monday june 23: packing to leave

on this day Poly packed our suitcases.  we stayed home.  No photos from this day!

Sunday, June 22: police museum and the peak

on this day we visited the police museum and then went to victoria peak.  The  museum is pretty cool, and has a room devoted to the old triad gangs.  One exhibit has a folding fan with the spokes made of steel; it was used as a weapon and seems to have blood stains on it.  Photos were not allowed inside, so I can't show you all the cool stuff there.  Machine guns, a heroin lab, police uniforms, medals, the head of a tiger shot in 1915 in HK, and more.

saturday, june 21: poly visits friends

on this day poly visited her school friends and had a nice dinner party at Connie's apartment.  From left to right are Connie, Alex, Josephine, Moon, Polly, Terrence, and Poly. 

friday june 20 disneyland

yes, on this day we went to hong kong disneyland, in all it's hot, sweaty glory.  I'll post a lot more pics from this day later on.  

Thursday, June 19 toy street

on this day we went to toy street to buy -- toys!  i got a tiny rc car, like a matchbox sized, for 20 dollars HK (1 us buck = 8 hk dollars).  also got a model jet and taxi for my office.  skye got a toy cell  phone.  and i got another hard case for my ipod nano.  oh and we got a raincoat and rain boots for skye.  great fun.

Wednesday, June 18: chicken feet!

On this day...I was fully recovered from the cold.  We tried to go the police museum at the peak, but once again the pouring rain stopped us.  Instead we went to an electronics mall in wan chai (near central Hong kong island side).  I looked for some knockoff ipod accessories but found none.  We took a break at mcdonalds, then we went back to the apartment while judy and gary continued shopping.  Mom had been with us earlier but left -- she had no interest in a crowded maze-like warren of little electronic shops selling stuff for laptops and cell phones and such.  

For dinner we went to Tai Hing roast restaurant, my favorite eating spot in the neighborhood.  A classic HK diner with chinese and western food; nothing fancy.  In fact, you can order things like peanut butter toast if that's all you want, or go and splurge on roast goose, the specialty there.  

The dish of chicken feet above might be from another day, and I certainly didn't eat it!  I tried it once; it's like gnawing on cartilage.  

desserts in Hong Kong

Some of the delicious tea time snacks we eat regularly here in HK.  I'll have to on a diet when I'm back home!  the blue one was Skye's.  All of these were bought at a bakery near Poly's mom's place.  

Judy and Gary on the night ferry

Judy and Gary on the night ferry between Lam Tin and Sai Wan Ho.  It's the Coral Sea ferry service, not the Star ferry.  Our little ferry line is very local with few tourists, just locals.  It's on the east side of the harbor.

tuesday June 17 feeling better

this morning I feel better and I hope we do something after breakfast!  Will post details later.  Here are two views, from either end, of Judy's apartment.  Nice place!

Monday June 16 sick and dad's day cake

still sick today.  Saw Dr. Pang again for new meds to deal with cough.  Feeling better.  lots of rain today.  And this is the father's day mango cake I got from Poly's family.  We ate it monday morning for breakfast.  It's supposed to be shaped like a man's shirt.  Very tasty!

Sunday June 15 sick

on this day I stayed home with a cold.  Also visited Dr. Pang and got some good meds.

Saturday June 14: a six hour lunch

photos here from the double decker on the way to the infamous 6 hour lunch.  2.5 hours to get there because of heavy traffic, two hours or so of dim sum with relatives, then a few hours back.  Took from noon to six.  I started feeling sick this day and should have stayed home.

Above is from the 2.5 hour trip to dim sum.  It's a public light bus with 16 seats; very common here.  

Friday June 13 shopping

one photo here of a part of a bus depot, on the way to some shopping trip, I think one rather far into HK city.  This is a little shack for the drivers in between shifts.  It has air conditioning; notice it at the left.  I wonder what the inside looks like.  

thursday june 12 columbarium

on this day we visited the Columbarium where the ashes of Poly's dad are kept.  It's like a memorial hall or mausoleum for cremains.  It's not far from the lam tin district where Poly's mom lives; it's on the other side of a mountain.  The place is like a huge multistory complex where the walls are lined with thousands of plaques; the cremains are behind.  Each plaque has a photo and the relevant data.  It's hard to explain unless you've seen one.  Space is valuable in Hong Kong so everything is stacked up like skyscrapers.  Poly didn't want any photos taken.

In this pic Skye is holding a type of shuttlecock that is used in China like a hacky sack for a kicking game.  Real feathers are attached to a padded disk of paper layers.  I've seen groups of hong kongers kicking these around in parks.

wednesday June 11 Won Dai Sin temple

On this day we visited Wan Dai Sin temple, the family's temple of choice for "ching ching" and fortune telling.  You can see Skye and Poly's mom on the right.  The place is very smoky from all the incense.  It's always busy with people praying and burning incense; tourists there too to take pics.  This is actually a side temple; the main area is being renovated and a few floors added to the structure.  

tuesday June 10 harbor shots

photos of various boats in the habor, viewed while crossing via the Coral Sea ferry trip from Sai Wan Ho to Lam Tin.  This is one of the police boats of the Harbor patrol, which has its headquarters in Sai Wan Ho right next to the coral sea ferry pier.  Cool ship!

Monday June 9 ancestral hall

On this day we visited an ancestral hall out in the New Territories around Fanling.  Here's Poly and her mom in front of a currently occupied traditional walled village entrance.  A sign inside reminds visitors that people still live there, and not to take pictures.  Pretty cool, right?  The old ways are still here.

Sunday June 8 2008 Hakka

On this day we visited the Hakka clan village museum.  You can see the Hakka village is now surrounded by high rise apartment buildings.  It's a little piece of old HK in the middle of the 21st century.  

Saturday June 7 2008 defence museum

On this day we went to the Coastal Defence Museum near Sai Wan Ho.  No good pictures from inside -- no photos allowed.  this one shows the mountains behind the museum, which is east of Sai Wan Ho on the "edge" of the city on the island, harbor side.  Farther to the east are more skyscrapers.  That building in the background is at a public park way up in the hills.  We heard bad things about that place.  Supposedly illegal immigrants from the mainland were camped up there, and crimes took place there.

columbarium visit

Today we visited the columbarium, the memorial hall, where Poly's dad's remains are.  It's at the Chinese Permanent Cemetary near the Lam Tin district, high up on a mountaintop.  A beautiful view of mountains and the ocean.  Poly's mom burned offerings and had a table of food and drinks set up for dad, and lots of incense.

I"m far behind in my blog.  I will probably have to catch up once I"m back in the US and can post more pictures.  Until then I'll just tell you the day to day events.

After the visit we, being me, poly, skye, judy, gary, becky, and vicky, all went down to Monkok.  I had to pick up a wristwatch that was being repaired.  At Monkok we split up and me and poly and skye went across the harbor to city plaza, where poly had to pick up some pants that were tailored.  then we ate vietnamese food at the food republic, and walked home.

yes, judy and gary arrived two days ago and are staying here at the apartment.  they will be here more than a month.  we leave in 2 weeks.

weather is hotter and more humid!  30 c, which is 86 f.

poly at food republic

food republic is a chain of food courts in hong kong with various asian cuisines.  My favorites are vietnamese and taiwanese.  Here poly is eating a viet dish.. mm yummy!  on 4 june 2004  wednesday.

skye in HK

Skye at kowloon peninsula, the water front.  tsim sha tsui.  yesterday on June 4.  great weather; not too hot, clear air.

tip of the peninsula

Yesterday the 4th of June was so clear; it was great for pictures!  We're at the tip of Kowloon peninsula.  The skyscrapers are on the island side of HK.

Visit with Andra

now it's 3:45 pm and we are already at home.  We need a rest today!  for lunch we went to Causeway Bay, with Lau, to meet Poly's old workmate friend Andra at a Japanese restaurant at Times Square (yes, that's the name of the plaza).  It was on the 13th floor and the elevator went up the side of the building and was half glass so we got a great view of the outside as we went up.

the food was quite good.  towards the end a man sat at a nearby table.  a middle aged chinese guy who spoke excellent English with a great British accent.  He sounded like a BBC narrator.

That's it for today!  We plan for once to stay home and relax. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we hope to go to the science museum at tsim sha tsui in downtown kowloon, at the tip of the peninsula.  

rare photo upload

Skye and myself at the UCC Cafe in Sha Tin after the 10,000 budhha and one million mosquito monastery.

10,000 budhha monastery

now it's 8 pm.

today we visited the 10,000 buddha monastery in Sha Tin.  There are 12,800 buddha statues there, from small ones two inches high to giant ones 15 feet tall or so.

It was hot, humid, and buggy going up the steep hill.  Mosquitoes everywhere.  We had to stop and rest several times.  Poly's mom went with us.  

the statues themselves are not particularly well made or artistic.  I took a ton of photos.  Here's one with a few of the thousands of statues.  

not much

yesterday we did very little.  Auntie Ying visited, so we went to dim sum at a nearby harborside restaurant.  then we stayed  home.  Auntie Ying and Ha and Poly's mom had a lot of talking to do.  then we went out to dinner at the food republic at cityplaza, a food court.  then we went home.  then bed.

mcdonalds in HK

shogun burger: japanese theme; teriyaki pork patty with lemon mayo sauce

shogun burger with egg: same as above with an egg

mcnuggets sauces: kimchi, curry, sesame mustard, and a few others

special fries;  fries with a powdered flavor.  put them all in a bag and shake them up for curry fries, kimchi fries, seaweed fries, etc.

happy meals; Available all the time, including breakfast.  The toys lately are from keroro, a japanese cartoon about small aliens who try and take over the earth but instead are kept as pets.

red bean pie; sold alongside apple pie

cancelled view from the peak

yesterday we tried to get up to victoria peak for the stunning view of Hong Kong.  However, heavy rains at the top ruined our plans.  

it was the 120th year of the funicular tram, and the price yesterday was the 1888 price of 30 cents.  

Poly's mom, Lau, and auntie Ha were with us.  We took bus 15 from central district up to the peak; that in itself is a fun, windy trip with spectacular views of the city as the bus winds its way up the peak.  Towards the top the heavy rain started.  At the peak where the tram ends there is a station with a small mall of shops and restaurants.  We stayed in side there, as did most people.  Still, many were lined up, under umbrellas, determined to ride the tram and get the souvenir ticket.  we weren't that crazy.

We stayed a while, bought some snacks and ate, then took the bus back down the peak.  that's when the rain really started pouring -- just heavy tropical rain while our double decker bus navigated tight twisting roads down to central district.  Pretty exciting!

At central we got a bus that took us all the way to Lau's place via one of the cross-harbor tunnels.  but it was rush hour and we were stuck.  It took  3 hours to get from peak to Lau's place -- way more than usual.

then we had a nice late evening, night, dinner and went home via ferry.  a long day!

Above is Auntie Ha with Skye.

catholic gift shop

yesterday we went a catholic gift shop in central district to get something for one of my colleagues.  I also bought a small wood dove pendant for myself.  It is a small shop but pretty well stocked with typical catholic knick knacks. 

We then took the longest elevator in the world up to the mid levels of HK.  It is a set of elevators that go up the peak -- it really is quite long.  Skye and I are standing beside one section of it in the picture.  We don't see many panhandlers in HK, but there we saw two men, terribly burned, sitting and asking for money.  I"m glad Skye didn't seem to notice; they were very disfigured.  I've seen panhandlers on Nathan road in Kowloon also; people in wheelchairs and a legless guy.  But very few compared to the mainland cities I visited in the 90s.

At the top of the escalator we had to figure out how to get down, and we basically walked back down to central on very steep sidewalks and public staircases.  On the way down we stopped at a lovely catholic cathedral; immaculate conception.  We stayed there a bit and cooled off, donated a bit and took some virgin Mary cards.  Skye liked the interior and just enjoyed sitting in the cool quiet church.

It was hot and humid yesterday and I sweated my shirt until it was drenched.  I also almost lost my dove pendant when the knot slipped and it fell on the escalator, but I got it before a man almost stepped on it.  Later at home Poly tied a decent strong knot and now it's good to wear.  

Today (it's 11 am) it's been raining all morning.  We planned to take the tram up Victoria peak, but we'll see if the weather clears.  Today is the 120th anniversary and the ticket is only 30 cents HK, the original fare.  

Ipod case and pants

Yesterday we went shopping with Ee at some malls nearby Lau's place.  I bought two cases for my ipod nano, a hard case and a soft case.  five dollars total.  I also got another pair of pants that are a little looser and lighter material.

In the pic is Ee, Auntie Ha, Skye, and me.

We had lunch at the dim sum place at Lau's complex, and then dinner at her apartment.  I took some photos of the dishes which I hope to upload later.

Today this morning there is heavy rain, so we may stay home.  Ugh.  Also this morning Ee took the bus back to China.  Ha is still with us, as is Lau.  She's staying at our place while Ha is with us, for about 5 more days.  

OK, time to play with Skye!  She's bored on a rainy day!

guests from the mainland

Last night Auntie Ha and her daughter Ee arrived to stay with us a few days.  Poly's mom, Lau, usually invites Ha over when either we're staying here in Judy's place or Judy herself is here in the summer.  We plan to visit Wan Dai Shin temple today or tomorrow, depending on the weather.  It's Poly's family's usual temple to go for fortunes and other chinese buddhist things.  We also are planning a trip to a temple with 10,000 buddha statues somewhere in HK.  

Auntie Ha brought some of my favorite steam cake from the village.  It's a desert, sort of the texture of a twinkie, made with simple local ingredients.  It's mildly sweet, and cooked between large leaves of some type.  Peel the leaves away and dig in!  MMM.  

Ha and Ee live in the village of Shintong, which is near HK in Guandong province.  I was there years ago, in the 90s.  

Pictured above is a slice of that delicious steam cake!

Maritime Museum

Today we went to the Maritime museum in Stanley, on the other side of HK island.  It's a great little museum with the history of ships in HK from the Ming dynasty to today.  Lots of wonderfully made models of ships from junks to cargo carriers.  Also a neat gift shop!

great interactive exhibits there.  In one you try and steer a simulated cargo ship.  tough job!  There's a big lag time  in steering.  In another you try and tap out morse code messages for various disasters.  Get it right and the guy lives; wrong and he dies.  I got "fire" but didn't get "overboard."  that guy drowned.

by the way, gas is 7.50 US dollars a gallon here.  Don't complain, USA!

back online, again

my internet connection is easy come easy go.  Right now it's Go.  It's raining heavily at about 5: 15 pm Monday the 26th.  

We went to Lamma island today by ferry; about a 40 minute trip.  Ate lunch at a small diner in the village and walked around a bit.  that was enough, and then we returned home.  Lau was with us, Poly's mom.  See it above.

Last night we had a meeting with Poly's high school friends.  Josephine and Jonathan, Moon and Patrick, Terrence and Sing, and the other Poly, and Alex.  All the girls are her friends; they went to a catholic girls' high school.  the men are the husbands, like me.  Also there were Moon's two sons, the other Poly's daughter, Terrence's daughter, and Josephine's son.  We had a great time at Terrence's apartment.  Later we went to the local rec center to play ping pong and jumprope and take pictures.  then we went to a local restaurant for a big seafood feast.  It was food from northern coastal Guandong province; a particular cuisine.  

I'll try and upload pics if I can; depends on the wifi.  

a sign seen in HK

I'll get a photo of it next time:

No Cat Feeding!

well, that just about says it.

health tips

The current fear is of hand, foot, and mouth disease, which children are vulnerable to.  The best advice is to wash hands often, so we have  a strict wash hands rule after every outing.

I've seen public signs about mosquitoes, because of Japanese encephalitis and dengue fever.  Don't catch it!

No talk of SARS now.  

Basically, don't touch anything and wash your hands!

back online

I've emailed most of my readers so far.  I"m back online using a wifi from somewhere -- either a near apartment or perhaps a cafe downstairs.  Judy's apartment, where we're staying, is on the second floor of the complex.  On the first floor are businesses like cafes, laundries, a 7-11, etc.  Several have free wifi so I may be picking that up.

After a few rainy days the weather is hot, humid, sunny.  30 C and 90% humidity.  You just have to go out and get sweaty!

transportation here is always fun.  Many days involve a taxi, a ferry trip across the harbor, a double decker bus, and the subway.  In what other city can that be done?

Outside in the park people practice tai chi, a sword tai chi version, and kick around a chinese hacky sack that looks like a badminton shuttlecock.  

Skye is doing well under the heat and humidity.  Walking uphill in this weather is tough!  And on the mainland side in lam tin we go uphill often around Lau's place.  

lei yun mun fishing village

in English it's called "Carp Gate" village.  It's next to the ferry pier on the mainland side.  We go past it when visiting Poly's mom.

scene from double decker bus

a little out of focus -- bumpy road

subway

Skye and Poly on the subway, the MTR.