1. Everyone who heard I was heading to HongKong this week, for the very first time ever, presumed I would love the city.They were right and how!
Few cities have the spark in them that ignites my fire -enough to have me say those famous 4 words - "I can live here!" This week I am happy to announce Hong Kong is one of them!
Going from swanky, posh, squeaky clean and super-new Singapore, HongKong obviously came across as the good ol', grungy, rough-edged, gritty, hard city - the characteristics in an urbanity that I am so much in awe of. It's weathered, well-seasoned look reeked of a historic colonial past, something it shares with Singapore as well. Yet, in Singapore that past peeks at you from behind sanitized clean buses or train stations that all look alike. HongKong lets it's urbanity co-exist with it's colonialism - every train station looks different, there is no trace of an overall all-encompassing stroke of uniformity over the city as is strikingly evident in the face of Singapore. And in HongKong, people abound, possibly in a quantity that would only be yielded if you put all the New Yorkers and Mumbaikars together. HongKong has hills and mountains and tall towers everywhere. Towers on flat lands and towers on mountains, making it the tallest vertical city I've ever been to; where even a hard-core Manhattan-ite would sprain their neck out of arching it so much, to find the top of a tower, from the street level. It's insanely packed density lends it an equally insane (in a nice way) energy, a spectacular drive and enthusiasm that inherently puts a spring in one's first step and an immediate leap in the second. Although not as cosmopolitan as Singapore, being mostly Chinese due to it's allegiance to the mainland, the city projects a global air like none other - none of it's Western counterparts for sure! Sometimes I wonder if people like me who've spent over a decade of their lives in NYC are just so taken by living there that we do not realize how narrow and 'West-centric' our world-view really becomes. Cities like HongKong make one realize that there are a few other places in the world, where multiple worlds collide and co-exist, without actually melting into each other. So while it may be called Asia's New York, I wonder if New York will ever be able to match-up, to be called America's HongKong someday?
2. The weekend was spent visiting Lantau Island by cable car, much to the delight of the wonder-eyed Zoe, who pointed to the glass floor of the cable car, as it soared above the hills and the ocean, yelling "Look Mamma, Trees...Look Mamma, Water" underneath. The glass-floored cable car ride (as against the opaque-floored cable car ride) is a must-do on a visit to HongKong. This cable car takes one across several hills and forests, looming over the South China sea, sailing into the clouds, all the way up to see the World's Tallest Buddha aka Tian Tan Buddha at Ngong Ping on Lantau Island.
On most days HongKong is misty and dewy and the Saturday afternoon we were up there, was no different. For many Buddhist devotees this is a real pilgrimage and as goes with most pilgrimages, the path to the destination is often as important as the destination itself. While in the cable car, we could sight a few people hiking their way up endless stairs, all the way up to the Buddha, on what seemed like a beautiful trail that wound through thick, lush rainforests and multiple shades of greens, going up and down mountains.
A friend who's lived in HK for a few years now, had advised us to eat lunch at the 'Vegetarian Kitchen' - the cafetaria of the Po Lin Monastery, where the monks prepare a simple yet delightful vegetarian lunch - the kinds one can only get at a monastery. It was one of the best tips ever on this trip. The three of us (baby included) savoured the three course meal, (which might seem bland to some at first but then the freshness of the ingredients makes up for it), as we washed it down with sips of warm comforting green tea - a perfect culinary experience to go with the place and the temperature which had slightly dipped with an increase in altitude.
There are about 260 steps from the base of the Buddha statue to the top and fortunately we are at a stage now where our eager toddler insists on climbing at least 80% of these, what with going up and down stairs/ escalators being one of her favourite activities during transit. The funny part was when she reached the top and strained her neck upwards to look up at the Buddha Statue that sat serenely perched with one hand in a 'blessing' pose. In Little Zoe's books, where words such as 'blessing' and 'prayer' do not exist, this was just another 'Uncle' seated up there, engaging her with a mighty "Hi five" to which she respectfully retorted - "Hi five" causing much amusement among the tourists and locals alike! At least this wasn't half as embarrassing as when she pointed out to the gleaming white head of the Laughing Buddha in Vietnam and yelled out "Mumma...Look Moon" making her Mumma break out into silly, sheepish smiles suddenly!
3. Our hotel - The Excelsior Mandarin Oriental was nicely located in Causeway Bay, close to the MTR station (It's funny how trains all over the world play around with their acronyms - MRT somewhere is MTR someplace else).
We were welcomed with what can possibly be called one of the most delicious cups of green tea I have ever had in my life yet (And I've had quite a few of them, given my recent fascination for collecting natural teas on all our travels). Contrary to some mass-churned out 'Welcome drinks' that we've had on our earlier travels, this one stood out in utmost sincerity, pledging it's allegiance to the place and people, like none other. I was already sold on the idea of living here, given the chance - with a basic green tea being so soul-stirringly delicious, who wouldn't want to?
4. I have always believed the best way to a see a city is by traveling through it, like it's middle-class does - using it's public transport, traversing edges like the common man, striking up conversations with random strangers/ co-passengers sitting next to you. HongKong gave me ample opportunity to do exactly that - what with it's diverse opportunities to ride a tram/train/bus/taxi/ferry/ cable car in the 4 days that we spent there.
Unlike in Singapore, we took the train everywhere we went to, in HK. Even the two exclusive 'Mommy & Zoe' days we spent there, were entirely traversed around by train, hopping between islands, train stations, escalators and turnstiles.
The train systems in Asia are relatively newer than in the West, making them that much more efficient and (signage-wise) more advanced to use. All exits are called out as letters of the alphabet (A,B,C etc) and sub-exits within larger exits are broken down further into A1,A2,A3 etc, so one knows exactly where one needs to go, unlike the NYC Subway for instance, that only calls out sub-exits as per direction (Northeast/ Southwest etc).
The 'Octopus card' works like a charm, being accepted anywhere and everywhere you go (shops, restaurants, trains, buses, taxis) just as the 'SMRT' card works in Singapore similarly. In fact at the end of your stay, the Octopus card can also be returned at train stations for a credit for the leftover amount on it, sans a 'processing fee', which is a highly effective system to facilitate ease in public transport.
Station platforms are quite narrow, but railings put up everywhere around escalator landings, make it easy for people to circulate uniformly across the length of the train, versus crowding at certain 'door' spots alone. For a change, unlike in Singapore, it's nice to hear train announcements in just two (Chinese & English) and not four languages (Mandarin, Malay, Tamil & English). I know I am going to miss this multi-lingualism in public announcements, when I move back to The States next year!
Trams that look like slender, slimmer versions of BEST double decker buses, with a romantic colonial air still navigate the busy streets of HK. The street-scape of this city is as dynamic as the people walking on it are. I went on a happy shutter-frenzy clicking away at streets - trying to capture all the modes of transport on them often. Fortunately I managed a few shots with trams and buses criss-crossing each other in narrow lanes, as red rustic taxis sped past expensive high-end cars.
My only qualms about the public transportation system in HK were - Well none whatsoever actually! My qualms about the public who were using the transportation were - that not many wanted to help me - a lady wearing a backpack pushing a stroller with a child in it! I am not the mother who expects help usually, especially when the system is designed for me to be independent enough. But when it is not and I have to haul a stroller and a pretty heavy kid up a long flight of stairs, I think I'd be happy with some helpful intervention!
It's probably a cultural thing, I know, but with all the multi-ethnic living we are doing in big cities these days, surely there's been a sprinkle of this 'etiquette' around too? In HK, as I found out, not as much!
That is how I believe the West spoils you - Having become a mother in that part of the world. I've pretty much taken for granted that random strangers will help mothers-with-strollers-standing-at-the-ends-of-staircases, like me. My interaction with locals all over Asia this far has taught me clearly that "When in China, don't expect help"...... So I knew I was pushing my luck when I stood lazily at the end of a long flight of stairs, pretending to look all lost and forlorn with a 'How-will-I-do-this?' kinda look on my face, while Zoe peacefully snored away in her stroller.
As in Singapore, where I usually just squat like a Sumo wrestler and weight-lift the stroller in it's entirety with Zoe sitting in it, in HongKong the terribly long flights of stairs from the underground train stations to the street levels above brought out the sheer 'lazy' in me. 5 out of the 6 such times that I stood at HK stations, I must confess, help did come to me. But always after a good 5 minutes had been spent by me, standing there, waiting for it to arrive. And when it did arrive, it was almost always in the form of a young Chinese/ European/American man - clearly one who had acquired this 'nicety' of helping a stranger from having lived abroad.
5. Unlike most of Asia, HK is blessed with seasons and a topography that is so dynamic, that it creates temperature dips. We welcomed the dip in temperature we faced, when we went up to The Peak - one of HongKong's most popular vantage points. Reminiscent of San Francisco in an odd sort of way, the Peak is another must-do on a short or long itinerary to this city. It can usually be accessed by a 120 year old railway, called - The Peak Tram. Unfortunately, the lines for the Peak Tram were long and winding and with no patience to wait it out for over 2 hours, we took the easy way out and flagged a taxi down, to go all the way to the top. We knew we were giving a classic HK experience a miss as we were doing this, but in our hearts we thought this was the perfect excuse to plot a return trip here sometime - just to experience this magnificent, almost-vertical train ride, that rises 1,300 feet above sea-level and for that reason alone needs to be taken, at least once in a life time!
6. Language was not a problem in HK. Well not as much as it was in Vietnam at least. Most people spoke/ understood English. Those who didn't, understood what I meant, through my incredibly expressive dumb-charade acts that I have now successfully mastered over the last 8 months of being an expat-traveler in Asia. They are such an ingrained part of my personality now that sometimes the Hubster needs to remind me, that he does understand English and I can do without the 'descriptive handy-work' in his case!
*If you do visit hard-core ethnic restaurants in neighbourhoods such as Sham Shui Po though, you might need to know some Cantonese or alternatively be really good at dumb charades, to explain to the wait-staff what you'd like for supper!
7. My ex-colleague from NYC and his wife, both Koreans, now live in HK. They were gracious enough to spend their entire Sunday with us, taking us around Kowloon (the island across from HongKong island), through it's crowded markets and heritage structures. With them we took the famous Star Ferry from Kowloon back to HongKong island, walked the Kowloon waterfront, window-shopped through the 1881 Heritage area, ate lunch at a random local Chinese eatery called Tam's Yunnan Noodles in the Sham Shui Po area, where we ordered a deliciously vegetarian fare entirely through gesture-making and later had the most delightful mango, rice, red bean, matcha & green tea Asian desserts at HoneyMoon Desserts. We also strolled along the famous Ladies Market - buying and bargaining our way through Chinese fare, while the little one partially slept, partially sang her way all afternoon long, keeping everyone entertained throughout!
.....To be continued!
The remainder of the trip crosses over the weekend and into the next week. Stay tuned for more, in next week's update!
Shweyta
Few cities have the spark in them that ignites my fire -enough to have me say those famous 4 words - "I can live here!" This week I am happy to announce Hong Kong is one of them!
Going from swanky, posh, squeaky clean and super-new Singapore, HongKong obviously came across as the good ol', grungy, rough-edged, gritty, hard city - the characteristics in an urbanity that I am so much in awe of. It's weathered, well-seasoned look reeked of a historic colonial past, something it shares with Singapore as well. Yet, in Singapore that past peeks at you from behind sanitized clean buses or train stations that all look alike. HongKong lets it's urbanity co-exist with it's colonialism - every train station looks different, there is no trace of an overall all-encompassing stroke of uniformity over the city as is strikingly evident in the face of Singapore. And in HongKong, people abound, possibly in a quantity that would only be yielded if you put all the New Yorkers and Mumbaikars together. HongKong has hills and mountains and tall towers everywhere. Towers on flat lands and towers on mountains, making it the tallest vertical city I've ever been to; where even a hard-core Manhattan-ite would sprain their neck out of arching it so much, to find the top of a tower, from the street level. It's insanely packed density lends it an equally insane (in a nice way) energy, a spectacular drive and enthusiasm that inherently puts a spring in one's first step and an immediate leap in the second. Although not as cosmopolitan as Singapore, being mostly Chinese due to it's allegiance to the mainland, the city projects a global air like none other - none of it's Western counterparts for sure! Sometimes I wonder if people like me who've spent over a decade of their lives in NYC are just so taken by living there that we do not realize how narrow and 'West-centric' our world-view really becomes. Cities like HongKong make one realize that there are a few other places in the world, where multiple worlds collide and co-exist, without actually melting into each other. So while it may be called Asia's New York, I wonder if New York will ever be able to match-up, to be called America's HongKong someday?
2. The weekend was spent visiting Lantau Island by cable car, much to the delight of the wonder-eyed Zoe, who pointed to the glass floor of the cable car, as it soared above the hills and the ocean, yelling "Look Mamma, Trees...Look Mamma, Water" underneath. The glass-floored cable car ride (as against the opaque-floored cable car ride) is a must-do on a visit to HongKong. This cable car takes one across several hills and forests, looming over the South China sea, sailing into the clouds, all the way up to see the World's Tallest Buddha aka Tian Tan Buddha at Ngong Ping on Lantau Island.
On most days HongKong is misty and dewy and the Saturday afternoon we were up there, was no different. For many Buddhist devotees this is a real pilgrimage and as goes with most pilgrimages, the path to the destination is often as important as the destination itself. While in the cable car, we could sight a few people hiking their way up endless stairs, all the way up to the Buddha, on what seemed like a beautiful trail that wound through thick, lush rainforests and multiple shades of greens, going up and down mountains.
A friend who's lived in HK for a few years now, had advised us to eat lunch at the 'Vegetarian Kitchen' - the cafetaria of the Po Lin Monastery, where the monks prepare a simple yet delightful vegetarian lunch - the kinds one can only get at a monastery. It was one of the best tips ever on this trip. The three of us (baby included) savoured the three course meal, (which might seem bland to some at first but then the freshness of the ingredients makes up for it), as we washed it down with sips of warm comforting green tea - a perfect culinary experience to go with the place and the temperature which had slightly dipped with an increase in altitude.
There are about 260 steps from the base of the Buddha statue to the top and fortunately we are at a stage now where our eager toddler insists on climbing at least 80% of these, what with going up and down stairs/ escalators being one of her favourite activities during transit. The funny part was when she reached the top and strained her neck upwards to look up at the Buddha Statue that sat serenely perched with one hand in a 'blessing' pose. In Little Zoe's books, where words such as 'blessing' and 'prayer' do not exist, this was just another 'Uncle' seated up there, engaging her with a mighty "Hi five" to which she respectfully retorted - "Hi five" causing much amusement among the tourists and locals alike! At least this wasn't half as embarrassing as when she pointed out to the gleaming white head of the Laughing Buddha in Vietnam and yelled out "Mumma...Look Moon" making her Mumma break out into silly, sheepish smiles suddenly!
3. Our hotel - The Excelsior Mandarin Oriental was nicely located in Causeway Bay, close to the MTR station (It's funny how trains all over the world play around with their acronyms - MRT somewhere is MTR someplace else).
We were welcomed with what can possibly be called one of the most delicious cups of green tea I have ever had in my life yet (And I've had quite a few of them, given my recent fascination for collecting natural teas on all our travels). Contrary to some mass-churned out 'Welcome drinks' that we've had on our earlier travels, this one stood out in utmost sincerity, pledging it's allegiance to the place and people, like none other. I was already sold on the idea of living here, given the chance - with a basic green tea being so soul-stirringly delicious, who wouldn't want to?
4. I have always believed the best way to a see a city is by traveling through it, like it's middle-class does - using it's public transport, traversing edges like the common man, striking up conversations with random strangers/ co-passengers sitting next to you. HongKong gave me ample opportunity to do exactly that - what with it's diverse opportunities to ride a tram/train/bus/taxi/ferry/ cable car in the 4 days that we spent there.
Unlike in Singapore, we took the train everywhere we went to, in HK. Even the two exclusive 'Mommy & Zoe' days we spent there, were entirely traversed around by train, hopping between islands, train stations, escalators and turnstiles.
The train systems in Asia are relatively newer than in the West, making them that much more efficient and (signage-wise) more advanced to use. All exits are called out as letters of the alphabet (A,B,C etc) and sub-exits within larger exits are broken down further into A1,A2,A3 etc, so one knows exactly where one needs to go, unlike the NYC Subway for instance, that only calls out sub-exits as per direction (Northeast/ Southwest etc).
The 'Octopus card' works like a charm, being accepted anywhere and everywhere you go (shops, restaurants, trains, buses, taxis) just as the 'SMRT' card works in Singapore similarly. In fact at the end of your stay, the Octopus card can also be returned at train stations for a credit for the leftover amount on it, sans a 'processing fee', which is a highly effective system to facilitate ease in public transport.
Station platforms are quite narrow, but railings put up everywhere around escalator landings, make it easy for people to circulate uniformly across the length of the train, versus crowding at certain 'door' spots alone. For a change, unlike in Singapore, it's nice to hear train announcements in just two (Chinese & English) and not four languages (Mandarin, Malay, Tamil & English). I know I am going to miss this multi-lingualism in public announcements, when I move back to The States next year!
Trams that look like slender, slimmer versions of BEST double decker buses, with a romantic colonial air still navigate the busy streets of HK. The street-scape of this city is as dynamic as the people walking on it are. I went on a happy shutter-frenzy clicking away at streets - trying to capture all the modes of transport on them often. Fortunately I managed a few shots with trams and buses criss-crossing each other in narrow lanes, as red rustic taxis sped past expensive high-end cars.
My only qualms about the public transportation system in HK were - Well none whatsoever actually! My qualms about the public who were using the transportation were - that not many wanted to help me - a lady wearing a backpack pushing a stroller with a child in it! I am not the mother who expects help usually, especially when the system is designed for me to be independent enough. But when it is not and I have to haul a stroller and a pretty heavy kid up a long flight of stairs, I think I'd be happy with some helpful intervention!
It's probably a cultural thing, I know, but with all the multi-ethnic living we are doing in big cities these days, surely there's been a sprinkle of this 'etiquette' around too? In HK, as I found out, not as much!
That is how I believe the West spoils you - Having become a mother in that part of the world. I've pretty much taken for granted that random strangers will help mothers-with-strollers-standing-at-the-ends-of-staircases, like me. My interaction with locals all over Asia this far has taught me clearly that "When in China, don't expect help"...... So I knew I was pushing my luck when I stood lazily at the end of a long flight of stairs, pretending to look all lost and forlorn with a 'How-will-I-do-this?' kinda look on my face, while Zoe peacefully snored away in her stroller.
As in Singapore, where I usually just squat like a Sumo wrestler and weight-lift the stroller in it's entirety with Zoe sitting in it, in HongKong the terribly long flights of stairs from the underground train stations to the street levels above brought out the sheer 'lazy' in me. 5 out of the 6 such times that I stood at HK stations, I must confess, help did come to me. But always after a good 5 minutes had been spent by me, standing there, waiting for it to arrive. And when it did arrive, it was almost always in the form of a young Chinese/ European/American man - clearly one who had acquired this 'nicety' of helping a stranger from having lived abroad.
5. Unlike most of Asia, HK is blessed with seasons and a topography that is so dynamic, that it creates temperature dips. We welcomed the dip in temperature we faced, when we went up to The Peak - one of HongKong's most popular vantage points. Reminiscent of San Francisco in an odd sort of way, the Peak is another must-do on a short or long itinerary to this city. It can usually be accessed by a 120 year old railway, called - The Peak Tram. Unfortunately, the lines for the Peak Tram were long and winding and with no patience to wait it out for over 2 hours, we took the easy way out and flagged a taxi down, to go all the way to the top. We knew we were giving a classic HK experience a miss as we were doing this, but in our hearts we thought this was the perfect excuse to plot a return trip here sometime - just to experience this magnificent, almost-vertical train ride, that rises 1,300 feet above sea-level and for that reason alone needs to be taken, at least once in a life time!
6. Language was not a problem in HK. Well not as much as it was in Vietnam at least. Most people spoke/ understood English. Those who didn't, understood what I meant, through my incredibly expressive dumb-charade acts that I have now successfully mastered over the last 8 months of being an expat-traveler in Asia. They are such an ingrained part of my personality now that sometimes the Hubster needs to remind me, that he does understand English and I can do without the 'descriptive handy-work' in his case!
*If you do visit hard-core ethnic restaurants in neighbourhoods such as Sham Shui Po though, you might need to know some Cantonese or alternatively be really good at dumb charades, to explain to the wait-staff what you'd like for supper!
7. My ex-colleague from NYC and his wife, both Koreans, now live in HK. They were gracious enough to spend their entire Sunday with us, taking us around Kowloon (the island across from HongKong island), through it's crowded markets and heritage structures. With them we took the famous Star Ferry from Kowloon back to HongKong island, walked the Kowloon waterfront, window-shopped through the 1881 Heritage area, ate lunch at a random local Chinese eatery called Tam's Yunnan Noodles in the Sham Shui Po area, where we ordered a deliciously vegetarian fare entirely through gesture-making and later had the most delightful mango, rice, red bean, matcha & green tea Asian desserts at HoneyMoon Desserts. We also strolled along the famous Ladies Market - buying and bargaining our way through Chinese fare, while the little one partially slept, partially sang her way all afternoon long, keeping everyone entertained throughout!
.....To be continued!
The remainder of the trip crosses over the weekend and into the next week. Stay tuned for more, in next week's update!
Shweyta
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