Hong Kong

Friends, Romans, Colleagues, Countrymen and women (as Ish would say) I have missed you so! This stretch of the trip has brought a little stretch of homesickness and I have missed my family, my wonderful friends (both the ones reading this blog and the others that rely on others to read the blog and tell them what’s happening), Take-it-Away, my UVa football, the ONSP crew and quote board, Oprah (new episodes—Tab, are you watching? Learney and That Jeff can’t be trusted), my dissertation…nope, not really, just making sure you were paying attention! I think I’m experiencing just a small taste of the frustration that can build when you live and work and eat and sleep and work-out (occasionally) all in the same place. It’s just so frustrating (that’s for you, V Hawes!)
A case of the blahs is probably not very well aided by the fact that I’ve developed a nasty head cold and had to cancel the trip I was leading through the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam (I’ve come a long way in my relationship with nature) because the medical clinic didn’t think exposure to a 200-kilometer network of underground tunnels formerly used by the Viet Cong would help my sinus infection. They did think it was appropriate to charge me $135 for a five day antibiotic, however. Eeek! Good thing I noticed the charge and opted instead for the Linda Andres approved remedy of nonasprin, Delsym (gross and disgustingly vile cough medicine), and Neosporin. The supplementary upper respiratory drugs I got talked into at a Hong Kong drug store were also deemed not in my best interest. Something about it not being good to take medicines when you can’t read the language on the box to identify the contents of the medicine…surely it was just the Cantonese equivalent of Anacin. I think the nurse in the ship clinic wanted to give me an IQ test for purchasing and taking a medicine I couldn’t identify, but if she thought it, she kept it to herself.

But I digress…Hong Kong was wonderful and lovely and fabulous and amazing; I would go back in a second. I would just try to plan for that second to occur when it was monsooning, which it did for much of the two days I was there. Despite the rain, I was eager to looking forward to the city giving all the talking up Justin did about the place he used to call home. If the truth is told, I was feeling a little wistful that I hadn’t taken the plunge and made arrangements to head with one of the many groups of Semester at Sea students and professors heading to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Doing so would have not only cost me a good deal of denaro, but I would have lost one day (out of two) in Qingdao and one day (again out of two) in Hong Kong. One of the professors on the voyage, an emeritus UVa faculty knew that I was second guessing myself, assured me that while it was likely I’d experience Beijing in my lifetime it was much less likely that I’d return to the port city of Qingdao and get to explore China in a complete different, which was wonderful in it’s own way even without all of the big tourist “must-sees.” The experience was certainly authentic; there wasn’t any of that hollowness that sometimes can accompany rushing from site to site.

The group I traveled with in Hong Kong initially included three resident directors and two professors for most excellent dim sum. Dim sum actually translates to the “heart’s delight” and is technically a variety of foods—little fried and steamed dumplings, veggies and meats prepared in little bite size pieces, frequently with a little and airy pastry-like dough. Plus, there was hot tea. Always there was tea. Delicious! After our fabulous meal, I headed to the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which was three floors of art that included Chinese calligraphy and landscape drawings, as well as the feature collection on loan from Great Britain—art from over 25 different countries. It was really quite impressive and fun to do on my own. I also hit craft fairs, Hong Kong’s Walk of Fame, complete with stars’ names and hand prints, the gelato café (I had red date and lotus seed gelato in honor of the Mooncake Festival), the city skyline laser light show, the night markets (where you barter with the vendors to get the best deals).

Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the Temple Street night markets it was raining so hard that we couldn’t enjoy the appeal of the open-air markets. Instead, we headed for a dinner of Peking duck (hoo knew?) and it was delicious, if a former vegetarian can be so bold in making those claims. Betsy, when you come to Hong Kong you will have to include duck in your food reviews! Despite the rain, we courageously went back to the ship, changed into our third outfit of dry clothes for the day and headed out again to a bar called Felix which had been billed by many as the best in the city. What I learned is that when you are talking about a city like Hong Kong—“the best in the city” means something! Located at the top of the Peninsula hotel this restaurant and bar had panoramic views of the urban skyline and the harbor on its two longest sides. The drinks and dessert were just out-of-this-world delicious. I highly recommend the summer passion fruit martini and the chocolate air-whipped mouse. Just bring your graduate student aid for the year; it was not cheap!
The next morning fellow faculty member and UVa all-star, Patty Wattenmaker, and I met our group of 58 students (some twenty less than the confirmed number of paid participants) at 8 AM to lead a Semester at Sea trip to Lantau Island. We attribute the small numbers to the fact that many students were exhausted from their 1 AM Beijing-return flights that morning. Lantau is the largest outlying island of Hong Kong and home of the Po Lin Monastery, the main center of Buddhism in Hong Kong. On our way to the monastery we stopped at the Tai O fishing village, which is built on stilts in the river and was the home of Hong Kong’s salt panning industry for over 100 years. The village was nestled in the mountains and quite beautiful to explore even in the rain—the small homes standing tall in the water and the numerous residents selling their wares—mostly live and dried seafood in the streets.


The biggest eel I have ever seen calls Tai O his home, although I’m sure he is no longer among the living, having graced someone’s dinner plate not long after we departed.


Back on the bus, we stopped once more…this time at Cheung Sha Beach, famous for its white sand beaches, which were perhaps not fully appreciated by everyone given the steady downpour There we visited the world’s largest outdoor Buddha—approximately 26 meters high.


We also enjoyed a multiple course meal at the monastery, which was the heartiest and best multiple-course vegetarian meal I’ve ever had. Even those who were uneasy when they found out the meal was going to be a vegetarian one, left sated. Our hour and half ride back to the dock, brought many views of the government owned livestock that just roam the country roads acting as mowers—huge steer just standing in the road with no concern for our haste to get home to the ship and get dry. It was truly a magical day and one that was easy on the wallet, given that our fees are waived in exchange for our trip leadership. The ship sails again; Saigon here we come!