China Chapter 20

It's our free day in Hong Kong before coming back home. It was wonderful today. There was nothing requiring us to get up early this morning, there was nothing prodding us to be a million places in a matter of a few short hours, and there was no agenda. And could have been difficult as hell to figure out what we wanted to see and do, since there are so many things to do in Hong Kong.

Well, I first have to say, that last night before returning to the hotel, my mom and I went out for dinner. It was a bit of a challenge to determine what we wanted, since in Hong Kong, you can pretty much choose whatever you wish. So, we looked in my Hong Kong book that I brought along to see if there was anything interesting. I then looked at my China book to see what was listed. And then I looked at Frommer's online to see what they had for recommendations as well.

Well, we decided we were going to go with Chinese/Cantonese food one more time. After the mystery lunch we had in Guangzhou the day before, we figured we needed to give Cantonese style food one more shot. Well, it wasn't exactly Cantonese, but a Cantonese restaurant that had northern cuisine on the menu, called the Spring Deer Restaurant. Hey, the name was kind of cheesy, but after looking at all three of the sources I reviewed, it was mentioned as "highly recommended" in all three.

The bonus was that the restaurant was on the same street as our hotel, and was within walking distance (which most places in Kowloon are in walking distance). After passing the same Indian man pushing tailored clothing for the 8th time (and he offered and said the same thing to me EVERY SINGLE TIME-and my response being the waving hand waving him off), we got to where we needed to go. The restaurant was through this cheesy curio storefront, and up some stairs. We got upstairs and entered a HUGE dining hall, similar to all of the restaurants we had lunch in throughout China. There wasn't a lot of ambience, and it was probably the LOUDEST restaurant I have EVER been to in my life. Our server was no Guy Smiley, but found us a table (even though we didn't have reservations), and we were set between a banquet party of about 25, and then another squawking table of about 8. Shrieking across the immense round tables with lazy susans on them is the best word I can describe what it was like sitting there. And of course, to me, Cantonese sounds like gibberish.

Well, the food was fantastic! We had pork dumplings, a chicken and walnut dish, and then pork chop suey with fried egg on top. It was AWESOME! While my ears may have lost some permanent accuity, it was well worth the time. I guess those travel books are pretty accurate after all!

We were too late to see the light show, so we ventured back to the hotel, and ended up falling asleep.

We got up this morning at about 8 a.m. It was fantastic. We got to breakfast when we wished, and then decided we would go to Victoria Peak one more time, go back to the Stanley Market one more time, and then venture back. We figured that this time around, we could look a bit more closer at things, and look to see if we could find more things to bring home. We ended up getting loads of stuff, gifts for family and friends, and a suitcase for about $30. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up on our flight home tomorrow, but we figure we'll stuff all of our dirty clothing in there, and nothing breakable. That way in case our suitcase turns into a suitpancake, nothing will get too damaged.

With everything being so convenient and within walking distance from our hotel, we walked down to the pier, and took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor to Hong Kong Island. It's really cheap (about $2.2 HKD or about $.28 per person one way). We then walked all around the main streets to get to the Peak Tram, and all in all (with the ferry ride), it took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the top. We then looked around the peak, looked around the shopping center, and then had iced coffee (as it was about 82 degrees and humid at the top of Victoria Peak) before getting back on the funicular for a trip down the cliff. We then walked to the street corner, as mom got her map out and was looking at which direction we needed to start walking in to get to Stanley Market.

I suggested a cab....

At first, mom thought it was a quick jaunt of about 8 to 10 blocks away. Well, about 30 minutes in the cab, under a huge tunnel, over the mountains, and down a cliff. Yeah, if we would have walked the whole way, we would have missed our flight home tomorrow morning...

Anyhow, we went back to Stanley Market, bought some cool stuff and the suitcase, and then taxied it back to the Star Ferry pier, to go back across the harbor, and back to the Tsim Shai Tsui section of Kowloon where our hotel is located. We got back, dropped off our stuff, went to the lobby, had a couple of Stellas (Stella Artois beer for those that are not beer people), and then took a break to dry out, as I feel completely damp.

We're off to the jade market, then dinner, then the light show, and then back to the hotel for our flight back home on United.

Being gone for almost 3 weeks has gone very fast, which must be an indicator of the kind of time we've had. While we haven't seen our traveling compatriots since yesterday (and probably won't, thank goodness), we did manage to get an email from our friends we met on the Yangtze, Peter and Judy, who are currently in Beijing, and having all sorts of experiences as well!

Anyhow, I hope everyone back home has enjoyed the China report, and keep checking back. I hope to include a couple more chapters to wrap things up a bit, and to include photos. We look forward to getting back home, and I look forward to seeing family, my friends, and my puppies soon.

We'll keep you posted!