The Adventurous Miss HK

Here is an account of my time spent in Russia.  It only goes to the second day because dehydration and frustration took most of my attention.

            Although our circumstances are not the worst, we have seen so many people in dreadful conditions on the news, it is hard to remember at times.  Being stranded in a country with no real information or control over your actions is a hard thing to bear.  An account follows of our time spent so far in an undeniably plush ‘prison.’

The situation did not improve much after a breakfast of stale bread and jam, followed by lunch at five and our evening meal at nine.  A representative of Areoflot was due to come and speak to us, we waited for three hours in the corridor and not a soul showed up.  The Korean embassy sent a representative round to give the stranded Koreans some food, the US embassy and the UK embassy did nothing.  When we finally left, the morning of our third day, we were thrilled to be going home.  Our wait in the airport was brief and we arrived in the UK with no issues other than lost baggage.  Our suitcases, it seemed, had decided to stay in Moscow.  

I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year.  Next stop, Berlin!

Despite it being my last day I woke up at four in the morning.  It was the first day of the Pang family festival and for one time only I was an honorary Pang.  We got dressed, eyes bleary and walked through the chilly darkness.  I had no idea what to expect and was completley floored by how beautiful it all was.  

It’ll sound silly but it brought to mind how I had always percieved my wedding day, white and muted, tasteful and calm.  

Looking at the garish, wild and carnivale colours of that morning it makes me wonder if in fact I should just bite the bullet and go for the extravegance.  

There’s something amazing about walking through a dark street and coming across a huge, brightly lit building made of bamboo and sheets of metal.  

Coloured lanterns were strung amid the bunting, bright lights reflected off the pond and in the distance dozens of people wandered about wearing special robes.  We saw pictures of the men of the village through the years and Wai’s dad pointed out his own photograph, decades before.  Beside these were ariel shots of the village and we could track the changes that had occured over the years.  The chance to see the development within a community is amazing and it made me long to have been a part of it so that years later I might have been showing my own children.  Wai Wai explained to me that when the men reached the age of fifty they had specialrobes to wear and that because the festival takes place every ten years, her dad will wear the robes at the next one.  The oldest man of the village has a special robe that only he is allowed to wear.  We watched a ceremony accompanied by some crazy music.  I say crazy but only because it is completley unlike any instruments you find in the uk.  As the music played a man in a red robe read out the names of everybody in the village, it took a long time and I cannot imagine how he continued his steady pace.  The instruments accompanying the ceremony were, like I said, bizarre. They sounded reedy and nasaly, as if someone had shoved my flatmate Lewis into a tube and blown down it.  A man in a red robe was dancing in front of a row of young men, I dont know how or why they were picked but there only about eight of them representing the village. 

After the music ended everyone gathered in close and the scroll that had the names written on it was covered in chicken blood.  The method used was quiet upsetting, having had a sheltered childhood, but I did my best not to show it and not to judge.  The man holding the bird cut the crest repeatedly and dipped it in water to help it flow better and I think they put blood on each village members name.  The reason I say ‘think’ here is that most of this was reported to me by Wai Wai.  The occasion was solemn and we were not meant to smile or show any emotion and I knew that if I watched it I would be visibly upset rather than just shaken.  Luckily it was over before long, the chicken had been alive the whole time, but you have to put it out of your mind.  Wai Wai told me that it was upsetting for her too, but that it was her culture and I knew exactly what she meant.  It was hard for me to understand but it was not my culture, I am an onlooker and I was honoured to have been there.

After the ceremony we went to get some breakfast in the old market.  I had my first bowl of congee (yum yum yum) noodles, chinese pasta and these fried things that were like dumplings.

Because of being so tired and so shaken I think it was probably the best meal I ate while on the trip.  Wai’s dad took us to his old school, there was bunting in the playground and a little group of school girls.  Their teacher was obviously late and as he approached them they all looked at their watches and screeched chastisingly at him.  Although I cannot speak cantonese the joke was universal and made me chuckle.    As we walked back to the flat we saw the festivals procession moving over a bridge.  

There were hundreds of people and we got swept up in the crowd, walking along as if we were a part of it all.  We passed a tree covered in Christmas ornaments, christmas trees and reindeer, and it was the first thing of the trip to make me realise that when I got home it would be snowy and very nearly Christmas.  Despite having such an amazing time I was longing to see the kittens again but still wanted to make the most of my last day.

That afternoon Wai Wai and her brother took me shopping in Sheung Shui to buy the last of the gifts I needed and then Wai Wai and I moved onto Sha Tin so I could buy toys for myself.  I bought a few action figures, a couple of One Piece ones and a Sonny Angel, as well as a few gifts for my friends.  Once we were done with shopping we returned to Sheung Shui, I packed my bags and then Wai’s aunt invited us to hers for dinner.  I met a few more of the family including a very cute baby and an adorable four year old.  They were lucky I’m not Angelina Jolie or I’d have had them both!  I spoke to Wai Wai’s older cousin about university life in Hong Kong and the differences between there and the UK.  We talked about the cost of travel and about how she would love to visit the UK but it was harder for her to make the journey than for me, simply because of the exchange rate.  If I end up out in Hong Kong for a semester with Uni it would be nice to meet up with her, a friendly face in a foreign place!

And then the trip was over.  I put my bags in Wai’s Uncles car, we drove to the airport, I checked in, said goodbye and got on a plane to Moscow. 

To be continued…

Both Wai Wai and I knew that we wanted to visit the fishing village of Tai-O and I am so thankful that I waited till we were together to go for a visit.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue and despite a slight chill the weather was beautiful.  It was a really long journey to get to Tai-O, we had to ride the MTR, make two changes and then hop a bus.  Wai Wai was suffering quite a lot on the bus ride because it took us through the gorgeous winding views of Lantau Island.  We saw a glimpse of the Bhudda statue as we hurtled past the dark green of the trees and the bright blue of the island pools.  Unlike the No2 the bus we were on took us to several stops on the island, one was a correctional centre and the other was a prison.  I remember thinking how lovely the views were for the inmates and the way it took several minutes to realise that they could not see it over the 30ft wall surrounding the prison.  We also passed stunning beaches, we wanted to get off the bus and go for a walk but didn’t.  This is something I am looking forward to doing when I go back to Hong Kong, Lantau island is certainly very pretty and the two trips I made there were definitley not enough.  I never would have expected blue skies and white sand when I headed out for my trip but this is just evidence again of how Hong Kong always keeps a few surprises.

When we reached Tai-O I was overwhelmed by how amazing the views were.  We could see people working on their boats, the buildings on stilts and the water was endless.

 I toyed with the idea of just bringing a boat out here to live, but how would you even fund that?  I could work as a fisherman I suppose, fixing nets and the like.  There was some fun looking graffiti on the walls so I snapped a picture of it.

In the same way that the old village terrified me, Tai-O intrigued me from the beginning.  There is something about visiting parts of Hong Kong that lack the hustle and bustle of the inner city.  Although Tai-O is a definite tourist spot there were so few people who looked like tourists it was easy to forget.  It brought back a lot of memories of holidays spent on the Ilse of White with my grandmother, but without the ice-creams and the miniature golf.  Most of our day was spent simply walking the streets and taking pictures of everything we saw.  We visited a temple, like all over Hong Kong, the colours were vibrant and it was full of incense and statues.  I really enjoy exploring the temples out here, they are so unlike the churches of home.  While we were walking a woman began de-scaling some fish.  The fish was alive and I was really disturbed by the woman slashing away, scaled flying everywhere, as the fish flopped on the chopping board.  Wai Wai told me that as I stood there turning pale, all around us the locals were exclaiming ‘Fresh fish!’ and getting closer to find out how much it was.  It seemed in-humane to do it while the fish was still alive.  My first real culture-shock since getting out here.  I don’t know if fish feel pain, if they do then of course I feel bad about just standing there and taking pictures, but what I will say is that the woman was very very fast at her job and it was over very quickly.

While we were walking Wai Wai got talking to an old man who was telling her about the village.  I lagged behind a little, enjoying the chance to stop and snap up everything I saw.  He showed us all the old houses that were being done up and his identity card from when the Japanese were in charge.  

He was talking in Cantonese so Wai Wai had to translate when he was saying things.  Understandably Wai Wai began to feel a little uncomfortable, the man was taking us away from the main part of the village and seemed intent on discussing the women who come to Hong Kong from China to work as prositutes.  We did the only thing we could, thanked him for his time and the tour, then made a speedy exit back to the water.  He had told us we would not be able to find a boat to take us on the water because it was too early on in the day, but with a bit of luck we managed to blag a ride out of the harbour.  We were told to look out for pink dolphins but there were none to be seen, I did not mind so much, I was just thrilled to be on the water again.  We were stood up for a lot of the ride but then the waves became too rough and we were tossed about in the boat and thrown back down onto our seats.  We did manage to take the compulsory Kate Winslet shot at the front of the boat, head thrown back and arms wide open.

When we were done in Tai-O (as if we ever could be) we headed back but instead of going toward Tung Chun and the MTR I suggested we hop a ferry back from Mui Wo and get the MTR from Central instead.  Wai Wai was all for this idea because it meant the bus ride was a lot shorter.  While there I had my first McDonalds and suffice it to say it has been the only meal to make me ill.

Despite being in a bit of a rush to get back for dinner Wai Wai thought we’d at least be able to get to the top of Victoria Peak.  I was all for this as I’d resigned myself to not seeing it this time round.  We did however decide to not take the Peak Tram as the queues were far too long.  We took a taxi instead and felt very liberated for it.  Apparently the peak is where all the celebrities live, amongst the trees and away from the roads.  I can understand why, the views from their houses must be spectacular.

The views at the peak are definitley worth the trip, especially at sunset.  I saw the burnt sienna sky fade to inky black and watched as Hong Kong lit up, building-by-building.  The skyline was a mass of lights, like a static Christmas parage, and because of this the viewing platform was absolutley packed.  We stayed for quite a while, Wai Wai quickly doing a few sketches for her art project in the last of the light.  Inside the viewing tower was Bubba Gumps Shrimp Restaurant.  I wanted to eat there so badly, the novelty value was extreme, but we couldn’t.  Outside the restaurant was a bench, just like the one from Forrest Gump, so we took our pictures next to it.  It seemed to alien, so out of place, havinng such a cult American film as the theme of a restaurant.

Despite needing to be back for dinner at half seven we were nearly an hour late.  It took us two hours to get from the peak back to Sheung Shui.  Most of that was spent on a horrific bus journey as we were stuck in traffic and when we finally got back to the restaurant we were both exhausted.  I was feeling very ill, my face was sore and I washed out but the food was excellent.  I had a delicious noodle dish with lobster in a buttery sauce, goose, rice, pork, vegetables; everything I was coming to expect from a family meal in Hong Kong.

Sleep, of course, came very quickly.

Not being able to post about the last two days of my trip means I am really going to struggle letting you guys know what I got up to with Wai Wai.  This is really horrible because I did so many things together and I have all the amazing pictures to prove it but not the words to share with you!

I should be updating you all on the last few days of my trip.  I should be but I wont.  Trapped in Moscow, flight was delayed by 11 hours, and now being taken to a hotel.  Good times.

Today I woke up at at around seven as we had an early start.  Wai Wai needed to renew her passport/visa/something-along-those-lines and we needed to hop on an MTR to go to Sha Tin.  After everyone was up and dressed the family popped next door to say howdy to her grandparents.  She lives in this little village that their family has always had a house in so it was really sweet that her grandparents were so close.  It is surrounded by these ancient trees with thick, twisting roots (or vines) hanging from their branches.  You get a real sense of age standing beneath their branches.  As someone who spent a lot of time in England looking at tress it was fascinating to really study the crazy species over here.  

Before Wai Wai sorted out the bits she needed to we had a little adventure pf our own searching for a 7Eleven.  This task proved harder than either of us thought it would and we spent a long time going uo and down in an elevator trying to track down the recently elusive shop.  We were asking countless people for directions and ended up standing in the elevator and getting more and more confused by the lack of food.  Once we had found it, the boy that worked there could not speak English very well so I had difficulty ordering the sausage I wanted.  It looked like a Mr Wimpy bender-burger but they had none left so I got four little cheese sausages that were tasty. They had a smoky quality and were probably the most western thing I could have ordered. Wai Wai bought these packets of food that the guy microwaved for us, yakatori chicken skewers which were yummy and some fish balls that I did not try.  We ate those after she had sorted the visa/passport/something-along-those-lines and while we waited for her mum and brother to appear.  

For lunch the family treated me to some dim sum, I’d been looking forward to eating some all week and now here was my chance.  Eating as a traveller on your own means that you know if you like something but not if it is very good.  Eating with Wai Wai’s Mum, Dad, brother and Grandma meant that I was getting a running commentry that the food was not that great.  We had all sorts: pig skin, chicken feet, yam past, turnip past, pork buns, pancake rolls, congee, tripe and even more fish balls.  On our way back to the MTR I was thrilled to discover that I knew the way (mainly from the road signs) though Wai’s grandma did not agree with the directions I was giving.  I felt like one of those kooky tour guides albeit without a nylon flag to wave.

Shopping was great and it made me all the more sure that I want to move out here eventually; if only because the shop we found was AMAZING.  It sold all the best kinds of furniture: funky lamps, filing cabinets, desks, moose heads etc and it was good fun going through and pointing to everything and saying how we would have it in our house.  We also found this insane place to hold the umbrella we had with us, like a safety deposit, and best of all it was free.

 You just popped the umbrella in, locked it, and took away the key.  Wai Wai managed to find the building that did not house all of the shops, just the furniture ones and would not let me into Ikea because ‘all Ikeas are the same’. On our way to the main shops in Sha Tin I spotted a monk I had seen at the Po Lin monestary.  Bizzarely it made me feel like a local, you never expect to see a familiar face when you are travelling.

The first thing we did when we got there was buy meat.  Dried meat.  It was really tasty and we realised that in fact most cultures and countries have a form of dry meat.  I am not complaining, I love the stuff, but it is funny when things like that are so universal.  After the meat shop we paid 50HKD to go in a ‘diamond maze’.  This was a massive rip off as it was not a maze; just a pretty photo-opportunity.  Plus it was all cordoned off so that you had to walk in and turn around and walk out again.  Being the rebels we are, Wai Wai and I simply climbed over the rope and carried on around though it would only take a minute to walk around the whole thing.  Like I said, good photo opportunity.  Check out Wai Wai thinking she is a rockstar!

After the ‘maze’ Wai Wai was going to take me to Snoopy World…but it was shut.  Again, still got a whole load of photographs becuase it is out of doors and this cheered me up no end.  I agree that Hello Kitty is cute but she doesn’t really do it for me so finally there was something to get excited about.  SNOOPY!

The shopping was good.  I managed to find Log On, my new favourite, and bought some presents for Ben’s christmas stocking.  Wai Wai seemed to like there too and there was so much I wanted to buy.  Things I did not buy today include countless action figures, a gillette, a rucksack, a camera, a camera strap, leg warmers, gloves, a hat, a mug, a jar, furniture, more furniture and pencil sharpener.  Really wish I had more money to blow on myself here but sadly it cannot be.  Ah well, I’ll just save up mega-hard for when I next come over here!  I did buy myself a nice flannel shirt for UniQlo which was pretty good!  Wai Wai got one too so we can match like little twins!!!

We headed back to Wai Wai’s Grandma’s house in Sheung Shui.  This part of Hong Kong is totally different to all of the busy areas I have been before and the whole day has been a really nice change of pace.  We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring an old village and on the walk there saw these two oxen seperated by a river.  Because I am staying on the very outskirts of Hong Kong we saw some buildings ACTUALLY IN CHINA!  That is how close to the border we were.  Wai Wai told me I should not try and cross because she did not have her ID card and we would be shot.  It would have taken us way too long to walk there anyway so it’s okay, I have not been shot today! I am going to write a story about it called ‘Vega and Altair’ and it will be based on the Chinese Valentines Day myth.  When we got to the village it turned out to be terrifying as loads of doors were opening into dark, caved in rooms.  We saw an empty school but at one point could hear children really close…we never found them…it was spooky.  I took loads of pictures of the creepy buildings and it got to the point that I just needed to get out of there.  We did find an old saucer that has a crown and the letter HK on it.  Clearly left there for me to find?  Wai Wai is insisting it is for Hong Kong but I am pretty sure it is a plate destined for me!  Her Aunty washed it off for me when we got back to the house and again tried to convince me they are not my initials.  I will not be fooled.

This evening we went out for dinner and I had sushi again but there was so much of it I cannot begin to list what we ate.  Wai Wai had to teach me how to say I am full and despite repeating it several times, I kept finding myself with chopsticks in hand, munching away.  That was some good eating!  

It is certainly still very strange being surrounded by Wai Wai and her family.  I am seeing a totally different way of life to how a traveller would be doing things and it is a great opportunity.  I think one of the best parts is that I would never have visited this area of Hong Kong if it wasnt for staying with Wai Wai.  It is also confirming that I would love to live here with Wai so that we can hang out like this all the time.  It would be the best thing ever.  Now just to graduate!!!

  Wai Wai is currently having a nap while I watch National Treasure 2 with her brother.  Night night world