Friday, February 23
Noreen and I took the train and then the double-decker bus to Aberdeen, which is on the south side of Hong Kong Island. We went to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant with some of Noreen's teaching friends for dim sum. As many times as I had talked about going in Seattle, I never had, so it was great to have my first experience in Hong Kong with people who actually knew what stuff was. It was yummy!
After lunch, Noreen and I went to Lantau Island to the Ngong Ping 360 skyrail tram which takes you over some nature preserves, I think, and you can see the airport, and it takes you to the Ngong Ping village and the Tian Tan Buddha, which is supposedly the world's largest outdoor buddha. We had to wait about 2 hours to get on the tram to get over there, but the ride was really cool. It was overcast and foggy, but we could still see the airport and the mountains around, and the buddha as we approached the village. We hung around there for a little while, but it was really chilly, and we didn't get there very long before it closed. It had been so nice and sunny when we were at dim sum! Oh well. We got Starbucks to warm up. Yes, they really are EVERYWHERE! I tried to support the local Pacific Coffee Co when I could instead. Anyway, we took a double-decker bus back to Tung Chung where we had caught the tram. It was a very winding, twisty ride in the dark through narrow mountain roads. Noreen almost lost her cookies!
We took the train back into the city and met up with Noreen's friend Harmony and her friend Sherri who is also travelling (from Saskatchewan!). They had been at dim sum too. We all met up at Ned Kelly's, an Australian pub in Tsimshatsui (Kowloon Peninsula) where they have live Dixieland jazz every night played by the China Coast Jazzmen! That was sort of a weird combination of cultures, but it was really cool. Hong Kong really is a "world city", with people and influences from all over the world, especially in the main tourist and business areas.
Saturday, February 24
Noreen and I went to the south side of Hong Kong Island to Stanley, where there's a really great market. Stanley, like a lot of places on the south side of the island seemed to be sort of a resort town. I kind of went crazy with the shopping at this market, because stuff was so cheap!! There were tons of little shops selling silk, art, clothing, jewelry and all kinds of Chinese stuff. Stanley has a really nice boardwalk along the waterfront. Noreen and I had some fish and chips, then went back through the market to pick some last things, then headed back on the bus to Central. The views along the winding roads were beautiful, looking out over the water. But once again, the ride was a little bit of a thrill ride. I am amazed that these tall, narrow double-decker busses go so fast on those really narrow, curvy roads.
When we got to Central (one of the main business areas on Hong Kong Island), we did a little bit of shopping, and went through mid-levels up the really long escalator that the neighbourhood is famous for, and through an area called SoHo that has lots of happening bars and restaurants.
Then we went for a Chinese foot massage. This is more about reflexology vs a gentle, soothing foot rub! Noreen had been there before. First they soaked our feet in tubs of hot water with something else in it, and then massaged the feet and up to the knees. The Chinese-style foot massage (and actually the body massage I got in Shenzhen too) is deep tissue massage. It's hard to explain it in words. The guy that was doing my massage was really into it. The expressions on his face were hilarious! It was like my feet were speaking to him or something! I have to say this foot massage was pretty painful, especially on my toes and the center of the bottom of my foot. I thought I might scream a couple of times, but I just sat there trying to appear relaxed and casual. :) Other parts weren't bad. It was interesting to me that totally different parts of the feet and legs were painful for Noreen than for me. The reflexology was definitely an experience!
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