After my excursion to Macau, I spent my last two days in Hong Kong visiting the last of the touristy sites in the city. Friday was a day downtown while Saturday I went to the northern area of Hong Kong's city limits.
Friday I visited Victoria Peak, Hong Kong Zoo, and the Walled City Garden. Vitoria Peak is one of the most notable tourist destinations in Hong Kong boasting some of the best views of the city. On the top of the peak, there are a few shopping centers (it is Hong Kong after all, shopping opportunities around every corner) along with multimillion dollar homes. After a few photos, I had lunch in the shopping center overlooking the city before taking the famous tram down to the city.
Hong Kong Zoo is a fusion of gardens and animal pens. In addition, half of the zoo is on one side of a main street right downtown with an underground tunnel connecting it to the other half on the opposite side. I liked how the zoo didn't feel like a mass of cages on concrete, it had more of a park like feeling similar to the St Louis zoo. For it being right downtown a couple minutes from the bay, it had a nice calm atmosphere.
The next day I went to the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas on the northern city limits of the city with Mike. He hadn't visited this very peculiar temple, so it was something new for the both of us. This particular temple was built in 1974. It consists of over 10,000 different images of the Buddha in different artistic styles from different cultures. It is the second largest Buddhist temple in land mass in the Western Hemisphere consisting of several places of worship as well as a monastery. As you make your way up to the temple, the sides of the path are lined with several thousand Buddhas each displaying a different emotion that you must discard in order to reach enlightenment. I must say there were some pretty interesting Buddhas on that path! I'm not sure exactly what some of them were trying to let go in terms of emotions, but there were a few like the extremely angry Buddha or the glamorous Buddha that were pretty obvious.
The complex was pretty interesting, it had a very different layout compared to Korean Buddhist temples. The architecture was a lot more flamboyant and extreme compared the the subtle style of Korean temples. While I found that this temple had unique qualities, I don't think it represents the philosophy of Buddha in the same way Korean temples do. Buddha never wanted to be considered a deity, and while every Buddhist deifies him, I felt like this temple took it to a commercial extreme. Buddha was focused on letting go of earthly things and finding peace, I think the more subtle introverted approach is more fitting of the philosophy. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed visiting this temple, it displayed something to me in a new light: every individual religion has diversity in itself. I think we Christians like to focus on the differences we share, but we don't tend to look at other main religions and how they have argued for centuries over doctrine. I find this fascinating not only the variety of different religions, but the diversity of ideas within a religion.
After visiting this temple, we went to see the Lutheran Church of Hong Kong Synod's seminary. It is located a few kilometers from the temple. Oh my gravy.....this seminary is the most beautiful place of study I have ever seen! It was built in the 1970's as the seminary for the Hong Kong Synod. The Hong Kong Synod became the sole Lutheran church in China after the Communist Revolution. Christians were forced out of the mainland so many Lutherans from China moved to Hong Kong in hopes that China would open its doors again. The seminary is built in traditional Asian architecture, gardens included!
This place was one of the most beautiful places I have visited here in Asia. I loved seeing the way Christianity mixes with cultural aspects in order to display the diversity we share as the Body of Christ, yet there is unification in the message. I think it is beautiful to see a Christian church that embraces the splendor of a culture it is located in while resonating that universal message. It was nice to walk around this campus, seeing Bible verses written in Chinese next to a pagoda with beautiful greens and blues displaying a cross on the roof. I hope in the future Christians in Asia will build their churches in a similar fashion. God created us with diversity so I think it is wonderful to see different expressions of churches.
Showing posts with label Hong Kong/Macau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hong Kong/Macau. Show all posts
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
A Day in Macau
On Thursday I decided to venture over to Macau for a day. Macau is an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong, and like Hong Kong it is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. As a result, I can travel to Macau without a Chinese tourist visa. Macau is a fascinating place with an interesting story. It receives more foreign tourists than Hong Kong each year and is considered the Vegas of the East, with many wealthy businessmen and leaders coming in search of luck. In fact, one of Kim Jong Il's sons comes to Macau quite often squandering his share of his father's wealth.
I left pretty early in order to catch a morning ferry. The ferry terminal is located near Hong Kong station, and it was pretty packed in the morning. I left Hong Kong around 9:30 and arrived in Macau about an hour later. Next was customs....oh boy.....
There was a designated line for Macau residents, while the rest of us foreigners (including Chinese nationals) stood in a separate line. As I was standing in line, a very dramatic scene unfolded. I noticed a Chinese family very subtly sneaking their way farther into the line. Not knowing the language and not in a huge hurry, I figured it would be best not to say anything, the last thing I would want would be to cause an international incident in the customs line to Macau. However, the couple right in front of me would not have it. They said something to this line hopping couple in Mandarin that I could only imagine was very blunt and insulting, because the next thing I knew, the line hopping man was putting his fist up as his wife tried to hold him back. It got very tense as the line hopper yelled at the top of his lungs and glared at the other man with a look of utter hate. The other man tried to ignore him at this point, because he was getting very threatening. As the line hopper tried to lunge at him again, a group of about six men made a human wall protecting the other man. A few of them indicated to that man to quickly get through customs and get out as fast as he could, which is what he did. One thing that really surprised me throughout all of this is that the guards glanced over once and besides that did not get involved. Very strange, but the whole incident was my welcome to Macau!
After getting through customs, I took a city bus to the old district of Macau. Macau was developed as a Portuguese settlement in the 16th century. It has very distinct European roots that have a significant place in the culture to this day. The old district of the city is home to the area that the Portuguese built their area for trade with Ming China.
While in the old district, I visited seven different churches, each with a unique story in Macau's history. I visited several smaller Catholic churches before visiting the ruins of St Paul's. I found it very strange to find churches reminiscent of European architecture not only in Asia, but well established pieces of the city. It was fascinating walking into these churches with all of the text in both Portuguese and traditional Chinese characters. Viewing the art of these churches reminded me of the Catholic cathedrals back home.
St Paul's Cathedral was built from 1582-1602. It is a sight to behold as you make your way over a hill to see this dominating stone masterpiece. It has fallen into ruin, but it is still an amazing place where history comes to life. One of the coolest things about St Paul's is that they have kept the catacombs of the early Chinese Christian's graves intact under the church. You can walk through this area and see the very beginnings of Christianity in this area. One thing that was very interesting as I walked through this as well as the relics chamber was to see the reactions of Chinese nationalist tourists. They approached these places with similar fascination as I approach a Confucian or Shinto temple: A curiosity for the traditions and an inability to fully understand the importance of this space to the people of that faith. It was weird seeing it from the other side of the spectrum (believing in the faith of the place while watching others who do not hold that faith)while walking through these ruins.
After St Paul's, I visited an old Portuguese fortress that overlooked the cathedral as well as the casinos today. I found it quite ironic that many of the cannons that have stood here for 500 years seemed to point directly at the casinos. My imagination?
I then walked one of the old winding streets to the Protestant church and cemetery. This was one of the few places of worship for non-Catholics. The graveyard holds a lot of very interesting historic characters, including Robert Morrison, who wrote the first English/Chinese dictionary and translated the Bible into Chinese as well as George Washington's grandson, Joseph Adams, who was an opium trader around the time of the Opium War. In addition, there were countless Opium traders that on their graves indicated that they were killed during the War. I have mixed feelings about these men. On their graves, they write about their deep profound faith, yet that faith was not enough to defeat the lust for greed and power. I did not live in that time, so I can't be too judgmental about their desire for comforts over doing what's right, especially when there are issues that happen today that I may not condemn with my actions as much as I could. It is interesting how at that time, they may have thought what they were doing was nothing too terrible, yet now history views them as some of the most manipulative individuals of that time. It makes me wonder how history will view my generation....
I made my way back to the ferry around 5pm. It would be another two hour trek back to home base: ferry, subway, bus...the tour of public transportation! Nevertheless, I was glad that I was able to visit Macau for the day. The short trip sparked my interest in learning more about this very deeply rooted European region of China.
I left pretty early in order to catch a morning ferry. The ferry terminal is located near Hong Kong station, and it was pretty packed in the morning. I left Hong Kong around 9:30 and arrived in Macau about an hour later. Next was customs....oh boy.....
There was a designated line for Macau residents, while the rest of us foreigners (including Chinese nationals) stood in a separate line. As I was standing in line, a very dramatic scene unfolded. I noticed a Chinese family very subtly sneaking their way farther into the line. Not knowing the language and not in a huge hurry, I figured it would be best not to say anything, the last thing I would want would be to cause an international incident in the customs line to Macau. However, the couple right in front of me would not have it. They said something to this line hopping couple in Mandarin that I could only imagine was very blunt and insulting, because the next thing I knew, the line hopping man was putting his fist up as his wife tried to hold him back. It got very tense as the line hopper yelled at the top of his lungs and glared at the other man with a look of utter hate. The other man tried to ignore him at this point, because he was getting very threatening. As the line hopper tried to lunge at him again, a group of about six men made a human wall protecting the other man. A few of them indicated to that man to quickly get through customs and get out as fast as he could, which is what he did. One thing that really surprised me throughout all of this is that the guards glanced over once and besides that did not get involved. Very strange, but the whole incident was my welcome to Macau!
After getting through customs, I took a city bus to the old district of Macau. Macau was developed as a Portuguese settlement in the 16th century. It has very distinct European roots that have a significant place in the culture to this day. The old district of the city is home to the area that the Portuguese built their area for trade with Ming China.
While in the old district, I visited seven different churches, each with a unique story in Macau's history. I visited several smaller Catholic churches before visiting the ruins of St Paul's. I found it very strange to find churches reminiscent of European architecture not only in Asia, but well established pieces of the city. It was fascinating walking into these churches with all of the text in both Portuguese and traditional Chinese characters. Viewing the art of these churches reminded me of the Catholic cathedrals back home.
St Paul's Cathedral was built from 1582-1602. It is a sight to behold as you make your way over a hill to see this dominating stone masterpiece. It has fallen into ruin, but it is still an amazing place where history comes to life. One of the coolest things about St Paul's is that they have kept the catacombs of the early Chinese Christian's graves intact under the church. You can walk through this area and see the very beginnings of Christianity in this area. One thing that was very interesting as I walked through this as well as the relics chamber was to see the reactions of Chinese nationalist tourists. They approached these places with similar fascination as I approach a Confucian or Shinto temple: A curiosity for the traditions and an inability to fully understand the importance of this space to the people of that faith. It was weird seeing it from the other side of the spectrum (believing in the faith of the place while watching others who do not hold that faith)while walking through these ruins.
After St Paul's, I visited an old Portuguese fortress that overlooked the cathedral as well as the casinos today. I found it quite ironic that many of the cannons that have stood here for 500 years seemed to point directly at the casinos. My imagination?
I then walked one of the old winding streets to the Protestant church and cemetery. This was one of the few places of worship for non-Catholics. The graveyard holds a lot of very interesting historic characters, including Robert Morrison, who wrote the first English/Chinese dictionary and translated the Bible into Chinese as well as George Washington's grandson, Joseph Adams, who was an opium trader around the time of the Opium War. In addition, there were countless Opium traders that on their graves indicated that they were killed during the War. I have mixed feelings about these men. On their graves, they write about their deep profound faith, yet that faith was not enough to defeat the lust for greed and power. I did not live in that time, so I can't be too judgmental about their desire for comforts over doing what's right, especially when there are issues that happen today that I may not condemn with my actions as much as I could. It is interesting how at that time, they may have thought what they were doing was nothing too terrible, yet now history views them as some of the most manipulative individuals of that time. It makes me wonder how history will view my generation....
I made my way back to the ferry around 5pm. It would be another two hour trek back to home base: ferry, subway, bus...the tour of public transportation! Nevertheless, I was glad that I was able to visit Macau for the day. The short trip sparked my interest in learning more about this very deeply rooted European region of China.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Hong Kong Touring
Monday was a day of temples and history. I spent the morning at Chi Lin, which is a Buddhist Nunnery and garden. I then toured Wen Tai Sin, which is a Taoist temple and garden. After Wen Tai Sin, I went to the Hong Kong History Museum.
The Nunnery was empty on a Monday morning, so I wandered the compound with only the gardeners around. It was very peaceful, the sounds of morning chants coming from the rooms of the nuns. The garden was gorgeous, didn't realize that such a green space was in the heart of one of Asia's largest cities. There was a traditional rock garden as well as a lake, and some walkways amongst flowers. I still don't understand rock gardens, but it was still fascinating to see all the shapes.
Wen Tai Sin was a complete contrast from Chi Lin. It was packed! I think there was a festival for a god or something because there was a lot of incense being sold and families coming with gifts for the temple. It is still a foreign place for me to be caught in the middle of an event like that. I don't understand the meaning behind it so it confuses me as I try to see what is going on. The garden was lovely. It overlooked the temple so it was a good way to see the festival going on in the temple.
I received quite an education at the History Museum after visiting Wen Tai Sin. I learned a lot about the politics of the Opium Wars and how much it changed Hong Kong socially, economically, and politically. I also learned a lot about Hong Kong's involvement in WWII. The story of the people of Hong Kong trying to defend their city from the Japanese and the resulting atrocities committed by the Japanese was something I had never learned. It was one of the most well arranged history museums I have seen. There is no place in the world that has had such a contrast of two cultures trying to find harmony together.
I spent Tuesday with my friend Bernice and her friend Melanie. Bernice is my friend from SCH who has family in Hong Kong. We went to visit the Lantau Buddha and see the Kung Fu festival. We took the subway to the gondola terminal where we took a 20 minute gondola ride to Lantau peak. As we rode the gondola, we were able to see the airport from above as well as the island of Lantau. Lantau is like the countryside of Hong Kong. It has a lot of open land and the quiet nature of a small town. Once we reached the top, we made our way to see the big Buddha. He was a big one! We went inside the Buddha to see a display about Buddhism in Hong Kong and a "tooth" from the Buddha. It was an interesting display. The view from the overlook by the Buddha was breathtaking. Lantau is so lush with vibrant greens in the trees and deep blues in the ocean. Combine that with gorgeous coasts and it's quite a sight!
After the Buddha we went to Ngong village (which is adjacent to the Buddha) to see the Shaolin Kung Fu festival. We made it just in time to see a performance from the monks. Oh my gosh, they were unbelievable! I was amazed by the feats they performed and shocked by effect this training had on their bodies. They were dense, all muscle, it looks so unnatural. The intensity of their performance and how every movement is so deliberate and determined was very impressive.
Wednesday was an epic day: museum day. I spent the morning in the Art Museum soaking up beautiful Chinese art as well as innovative contemporary pieces. I then went to the Space Museum, which displayed the history of astronomy from an Eastern viewpoint, very interesting. China hopes to put a man on the moon by 2020, we'll see....
After these morning museums I went to the Avenue of Stars, the Hollywood Stars for Asian film. I stopped to take pictures of some of my favorite Asian moviestars plaques and soak up the view of the city from the waterfront.
I then went to the Coastal Defense Museum, which is located in a coastal fortress built in the 1800's. It was an expansive museum, but a great display of history coming to life.
The Nunnery was empty on a Monday morning, so I wandered the compound with only the gardeners around. It was very peaceful, the sounds of morning chants coming from the rooms of the nuns. The garden was gorgeous, didn't realize that such a green space was in the heart of one of Asia's largest cities. There was a traditional rock garden as well as a lake, and some walkways amongst flowers. I still don't understand rock gardens, but it was still fascinating to see all the shapes.
Wen Tai Sin was a complete contrast from Chi Lin. It was packed! I think there was a festival for a god or something because there was a lot of incense being sold and families coming with gifts for the temple. It is still a foreign place for me to be caught in the middle of an event like that. I don't understand the meaning behind it so it confuses me as I try to see what is going on. The garden was lovely. It overlooked the temple so it was a good way to see the festival going on in the temple.
I received quite an education at the History Museum after visiting Wen Tai Sin. I learned a lot about the politics of the Opium Wars and how much it changed Hong Kong socially, economically, and politically. I also learned a lot about Hong Kong's involvement in WWII. The story of the people of Hong Kong trying to defend their city from the Japanese and the resulting atrocities committed by the Japanese was something I had never learned. It was one of the most well arranged history museums I have seen. There is no place in the world that has had such a contrast of two cultures trying to find harmony together.
I spent Tuesday with my friend Bernice and her friend Melanie. Bernice is my friend from SCH who has family in Hong Kong. We went to visit the Lantau Buddha and see the Kung Fu festival. We took the subway to the gondola terminal where we took a 20 minute gondola ride to Lantau peak. As we rode the gondola, we were able to see the airport from above as well as the island of Lantau. Lantau is like the countryside of Hong Kong. It has a lot of open land and the quiet nature of a small town. Once we reached the top, we made our way to see the big Buddha. He was a big one! We went inside the Buddha to see a display about Buddhism in Hong Kong and a "tooth" from the Buddha. It was an interesting display. The view from the overlook by the Buddha was breathtaking. Lantau is so lush with vibrant greens in the trees and deep blues in the ocean. Combine that with gorgeous coasts and it's quite a sight!
After the Buddha we went to Ngong village (which is adjacent to the Buddha) to see the Shaolin Kung Fu festival. We made it just in time to see a performance from the monks. Oh my gosh, they were unbelievable! I was amazed by the feats they performed and shocked by effect this training had on their bodies. They were dense, all muscle, it looks so unnatural. The intensity of their performance and how every movement is so deliberate and determined was very impressive.
Wednesday was an epic day: museum day. I spent the morning in the Art Museum soaking up beautiful Chinese art as well as innovative contemporary pieces. I then went to the Space Museum, which displayed the history of astronomy from an Eastern viewpoint, very interesting. China hopes to put a man on the moon by 2020, we'll see....
After these morning museums I went to the Avenue of Stars, the Hollywood Stars for Asian film. I stopped to take pictures of some of my favorite Asian moviestars plaques and soak up the view of the city from the waterfront.
I then went to the Coastal Defense Museum, which is located in a coastal fortress built in the 1800's. It was an expansive museum, but a great display of history coming to life.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tai Tam and a Camera
Ok peoples, I'm finally getting around to blogging about Hong Kong. Seriously, my procrastination of transferring travel journal entries to my blog is getting ridiculous! I will try to get you all updated about everything thus far both from the trip and the semester.
I arrived in Hong Kong Saturday morning around 9:30am. The night before was filled with goodbyes from everyone in Chiayi, followed by a 2am bus to the airport. It would be an understatement to say that I was tired when I arrived in Hong Kong! My plane landed at the airport near Lantau, which is about forty minutes from downtown. After landing, I proceeded to customs, which took quite a long time. There were quite a few planes that landed at the same time as mine, so there was a mass of people flooding to the customs line. After making it through customs, I took the airport train downtown Hong Kong. My stop was at the International Finance Center, which is the building that Batman jumped off of in the Dark Knight! Batman was absent this afternoon, so I continued on my way by taxi to Tai Tam.
Tai Tam is the area of Hong Kong Island where Mike Kersten teaches. It is outside of the city and is home to a lot of the foreigners that work in the city. It is a very ritzy area, I guess you could say the Malibu of Hong Kong. One thing that really struck me about Hong Kong is that it is like the San Francisco of Asia, it is very hilly! My taxi ride was a continuous up and down over the hills. The taxi ride from the IFC to Tai Tam was a trip with very stark contrasts: The IFC is right downtown, the hustle and bustle of the city, while Tai Tam is a more quiet area apart from the rich racing their sports-cars around the twisting roads. I had not envisioned Hong Kong as a place with such differing environments. I think my perception of Hong Kong as one very large city is probably the picture most people have in their minds when thinking about this city.
I arrived at Hong Kong International School around lunch time. I will be couch surfing at Mike's teachers apartment at the school while touring for the week. It is always nice to see a familiar face and stay with a friend while touring instead of a large hostel full of strangers. I am very thankful that Mike opened his home to me for the week so that I could have a comfortable place to stay while running around Hong Kong. After unpacking a few things and having some lunch, I was completely exhausted, so I took a nap. I had only about 3 hours of sleep the night before on the bus to the airport and I literally melt away without enough sleep.
Today (Aug 20) marked a year since arriving in Korea, so it was a reason to celebrate, what better way to celebrate Asia than to have German food? Wait a minute...yeah why not! Once I was recuperated from my lack of sleep, we took a bus to the Stanley area, which is located on the southern coast of Hong Kong island. This is still a very foreigner abundant area. We went to Murray House, which is an old Victorian mansion that has been relocated to this area and filled with restaurants. It is very strange for me to see so many Western buildings that have been a part of Hong Kong's history for over a hundred years. Coming from Korea where Westerners were not welcomed until about a hundred years ago, it is a stark contrast to the well established Western influence and legacy in Hong Kong. At Murray House, we ate at the German restaurant, where I had my first brat in over a year. It was pretty legit German food! Very strange to eat food that reminds me of family potlucks in Asia, but it was a nice way to connect my experience in Asia with my roots at home.
Early Sunday morning, I joined Mike and his friend Jose for a bike ride at 6am. It was my first bike ride in over a year, but I was determined to try to keep up biking up and down the hills. Oh my gravy! I am really out of shape! It was a gorgeous bike ride however and I really enjoyed seeing the area in a unique way. Tai Tam has such a beautiful mesh of green spaces and hints of urban modernism. We biked down to the beach and I was able to put my feet in the South China Sea. We had breakfast near the beach before biking back to the school.
We went to one of the local Lutheran churches later in the morning. It has been an interesting experience worshiping with so many different congregations in Asia, yet despite the geographical differences the message remains the same. After church, we went downtown Hong Kong to see the business sector of the city.
We walked by the IFC along with the Bank of China tower and the City Hall. As we were walking we passed by a lot of Filipino women sitting and eating together. Mike explained that these women work in the homes of the rich in Hong Kong as housemaids. They work for six days a week and receive Sundays off, which was why they were enjoying lunch together. Unlike other migrant workers that come to Hong Kong, they are never granted residency, even after they have exceeded the requirement of living in Hong Kong for seven years. Residency would help them be recognized as a contributing community of the city. It was an issue I had never heard of concerning Hong Kong and to learn about it while seeing the women enjoying their only time away from their work was very eye opening.
We passed the Hong Kong Mosque, which was just finishing prayers, on our way to Chunking Mansions. Chunking Mansions is a large building right downtown that is filled with a variety of mom and pop restaurants from all around the world. It was one of the coolest displays of the world coming together to share something that is very universal: FOOD! We ate at a Pakistani restaurant, which had excellent chicken curry with naan. I had some strawberry flavored goats milk, which was very rich and tasty.
After lunch, Mike had to head back to HKIS to make lesson plans. My mission while still downtown was to find a camera. At some point while in transit between Taiwan and Hong Kong, my two month old Samsung camera decided to die. Once again, I was camera deprived. I went to the electronics street downtown, which has camera stores lining the streets. It was quite an experience again to camera shop in Asia. Unlike my last experience in Korea where I had to muster enough Korean to figure out the megapixels of the Samsung, I found that every salesman in these stores spoke English fluently and were able to answer every detailed question. I decided on a Nikon, which was the brand of my first camera that lasted me five years. Now I'm ready to take pictures of my adventures through this city!
I arrived in Hong Kong Saturday morning around 9:30am. The night before was filled with goodbyes from everyone in Chiayi, followed by a 2am bus to the airport. It would be an understatement to say that I was tired when I arrived in Hong Kong! My plane landed at the airport near Lantau, which is about forty minutes from downtown. After landing, I proceeded to customs, which took quite a long time. There were quite a few planes that landed at the same time as mine, so there was a mass of people flooding to the customs line. After making it through customs, I took the airport train downtown Hong Kong. My stop was at the International Finance Center, which is the building that Batman jumped off of in the Dark Knight! Batman was absent this afternoon, so I continued on my way by taxi to Tai Tam.
Tai Tam is the area of Hong Kong Island where Mike Kersten teaches. It is outside of the city and is home to a lot of the foreigners that work in the city. It is a very ritzy area, I guess you could say the Malibu of Hong Kong. One thing that really struck me about Hong Kong is that it is like the San Francisco of Asia, it is very hilly! My taxi ride was a continuous up and down over the hills. The taxi ride from the IFC to Tai Tam was a trip with very stark contrasts: The IFC is right downtown, the hustle and bustle of the city, while Tai Tam is a more quiet area apart from the rich racing their sports-cars around the twisting roads. I had not envisioned Hong Kong as a place with such differing environments. I think my perception of Hong Kong as one very large city is probably the picture most people have in their minds when thinking about this city.
I arrived at Hong Kong International School around lunch time. I will be couch surfing at Mike's teachers apartment at the school while touring for the week. It is always nice to see a familiar face and stay with a friend while touring instead of a large hostel full of strangers. I am very thankful that Mike opened his home to me for the week so that I could have a comfortable place to stay while running around Hong Kong. After unpacking a few things and having some lunch, I was completely exhausted, so I took a nap. I had only about 3 hours of sleep the night before on the bus to the airport and I literally melt away without enough sleep.
Today (Aug 20) marked a year since arriving in Korea, so it was a reason to celebrate, what better way to celebrate Asia than to have German food? Wait a minute...yeah why not! Once I was recuperated from my lack of sleep, we took a bus to the Stanley area, which is located on the southern coast of Hong Kong island. This is still a very foreigner abundant area. We went to Murray House, which is an old Victorian mansion that has been relocated to this area and filled with restaurants. It is very strange for me to see so many Western buildings that have been a part of Hong Kong's history for over a hundred years. Coming from Korea where Westerners were not welcomed until about a hundred years ago, it is a stark contrast to the well established Western influence and legacy in Hong Kong. At Murray House, we ate at the German restaurant, where I had my first brat in over a year. It was pretty legit German food! Very strange to eat food that reminds me of family potlucks in Asia, but it was a nice way to connect my experience in Asia with my roots at home.
Early Sunday morning, I joined Mike and his friend Jose for a bike ride at 6am. It was my first bike ride in over a year, but I was determined to try to keep up biking up and down the hills. Oh my gravy! I am really out of shape! It was a gorgeous bike ride however and I really enjoyed seeing the area in a unique way. Tai Tam has such a beautiful mesh of green spaces and hints of urban modernism. We biked down to the beach and I was able to put my feet in the South China Sea. We had breakfast near the beach before biking back to the school.
We went to one of the local Lutheran churches later in the morning. It has been an interesting experience worshiping with so many different congregations in Asia, yet despite the geographical differences the message remains the same. After church, we went downtown Hong Kong to see the business sector of the city.
We walked by the IFC along with the Bank of China tower and the City Hall. As we were walking we passed by a lot of Filipino women sitting and eating together. Mike explained that these women work in the homes of the rich in Hong Kong as housemaids. They work for six days a week and receive Sundays off, which was why they were enjoying lunch together. Unlike other migrant workers that come to Hong Kong, they are never granted residency, even after they have exceeded the requirement of living in Hong Kong for seven years. Residency would help them be recognized as a contributing community of the city. It was an issue I had never heard of concerning Hong Kong and to learn about it while seeing the women enjoying their only time away from their work was very eye opening.
We passed the Hong Kong Mosque, which was just finishing prayers, on our way to Chunking Mansions. Chunking Mansions is a large building right downtown that is filled with a variety of mom and pop restaurants from all around the world. It was one of the coolest displays of the world coming together to share something that is very universal: FOOD! We ate at a Pakistani restaurant, which had excellent chicken curry with naan. I had some strawberry flavored goats milk, which was very rich and tasty.
After lunch, Mike had to head back to HKIS to make lesson plans. My mission while still downtown was to find a camera. At some point while in transit between Taiwan and Hong Kong, my two month old Samsung camera decided to die. Once again, I was camera deprived. I went to the electronics street downtown, which has camera stores lining the streets. It was quite an experience again to camera shop in Asia. Unlike my last experience in Korea where I had to muster enough Korean to figure out the megapixels of the Samsung, I found that every salesman in these stores spoke English fluently and were able to answer every detailed question. I decided on a Nikon, which was the brand of my first camera that lasted me five years. Now I'm ready to take pictures of my adventures through this city!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
One Year in Asia
Ok, I really need to keep up with this blogging stuff, especially when I have a lot to say about the past few weeks. I will get these posts up as soon as possible about Taiwan.
I realized today that it was a year ago that I boarded a plane for South Korea to begin this adventure. A year ago, I wouldn't have considered that the adventure would continue to see this day. But life has a tendency to move in directions not initially anticipated. I am so glad that this adventure of learning and traveling has been extended. In a year, I have lived in Korea, I have visited Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, North Korea (for all of ten minutes but I'll still put it on the list), and now currently Hong Kong.
I arrived safely in Hong Kong this morning. Last night was filled with goodbyes from everyone in Taiwan (more in a future post about Taiwan). Me and Cana left by bus to Taipei (Chiayi is in the southern part of Taiwan while Taipei is on the northern tip) at 2am to get to the airport before our flights. I flew out of Taiwan in the early morning and arrived around 9am. Landing in Hong Kong was one of the most interesting experiences I have had on a plane. I couldn't see the land until we were almost to the ground (the airport is on an island outside the city). After a very long customs line and exchanging some money, I took the airport train to downtown. Once downtown, I took a taxi to the Hong Kong International School, where Mike Kersten teaches. I will be couch surfing at his apartment while touring the city and visiting a friend from school.
Amazing how far you can come in a year!
I realized today that it was a year ago that I boarded a plane for South Korea to begin this adventure. A year ago, I wouldn't have considered that the adventure would continue to see this day. But life has a tendency to move in directions not initially anticipated. I am so glad that this adventure of learning and traveling has been extended. In a year, I have lived in Korea, I have visited Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, North Korea (for all of ten minutes but I'll still put it on the list), and now currently Hong Kong.
I arrived safely in Hong Kong this morning. Last night was filled with goodbyes from everyone in Taiwan (more in a future post about Taiwan). Me and Cana left by bus to Taipei (Chiayi is in the southern part of Taiwan while Taipei is on the northern tip) at 2am to get to the airport before our flights. I flew out of Taiwan in the early morning and arrived around 9am. Landing in Hong Kong was one of the most interesting experiences I have had on a plane. I couldn't see the land until we were almost to the ground (the airport is on an island outside the city). After a very long customs line and exchanging some money, I took the airport train to downtown. Once downtown, I took a taxi to the Hong Kong International School, where Mike Kersten teaches. I will be couch surfing at his apartment while touring the city and visiting a friend from school.
Amazing how far you can come in a year!
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