Hong Kong - Texas Toast and Pressed Ham
Trip Start
May 15, 2007
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2
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Trip End
Jul 15, 2007
Hong Kong,
China
Friday, May 18, 2007
Hi friends, We are in Hong Kong on top of Victoria Peak after sleeping 10 hours in utter exhaustion. the flight over turned out to be about 24-28 hours (we're finding it hard to calculate exactly) after the flight was delayed 3+ hours in Los Angeles and then we had to make a detour to Taipei for additional fuel as the headwinds were strong enough to deplete it earlier than anticipated. Then we arrived in HKG about 8:00 am and went to leave our bags at our "hotel" and then directly to the Burmese Embassy where, by some miracle, Charles managed to secure a visa with only another 3 hour wait. By the time we managed to find something for dinner, we were literally staggering back to the hotel. Each trip, like to the Embassy, requires bus/ferry/train/etc in multiple combinations and is quite fun usually but not after 36-48 hours of no sleep
01 Bunny waiting to fly
! Today though we took a bus from our hotel to the Star Ferry (always a favorite) and then a great bus ride up to the Peak. The view is incredible- what must it be like to be among the few who can afford to live up here overlooking one of the most beautiful and famous harbors in the world? When we finish up here, we'll take a bus back down tho the Central are and try to find a particular wonton noodle soup shop that Charles learned about for a new on line friend.
Sara and Shirin, we are so grateful to you both for taking care of Judo and the house. We would never have been able to do this trip without the 2 of you. I hope all is well at home, not just our home but yours and your families' as well. Write when you can. We leave here day after tomorrow for Burma and will be, I expect, completely out of touch for 10+ days. So I'll write again before we leave here. Love to all, Leslie
Jumping all over the place: Notes from Dallas - Sara moved in and Chris took us to the airport - Thank you Chris! We got there 3.5 hours before the flight - no problem. Leslie got shook down by security - what a relief that they are concerned about 60 year old Presbyterian women
02 What a wonderful thing to see
. Easy flight DFW to LAX, enjoying our "tripnic" as Leslie calls it (chicken salad, pesto, etc. from Central Market).Sitting in LAX remembering how the first few times we traveled how we marveled at all the people who looked and sounded different than we - now marveling at how quiet it is here in departure for flight to HK- we can hear Chinese Tagalog, Viernamese - I don't know what all - children and adults sleeping all over the place and we're fading fast. It's 1:45am - way past our bedtime and finally we get on and to our GREAT SEATS - on a 747 there are endless rows of 3 bulkhead seats, 4 center seats and 3 bulkhead seats. There are 3 rows of 2 bulkhead sats with almost a full seat's space between seat and bulkhead and that is where we are. Three cheers for seatguru.com.
Leslie watching Charlotte's Web on video on seat in front of us. I look over and there's a pig on the screen and I remark on how funny pigs look (I mean, they are funny looking), but Leslie has tears in her eyes. "It's sad," she says. "Charlotte is dying." "Why?" "Because that's the life cycle." I was about to listen to the Ipod, but thought better of it and watched her screen for 5-10 minutes to the end of the movie and wouldn't you know, I started feeling melancholy, because, yeah, it is the life cycle and we're both 62 ..
03 The bridge
.It's a long flight DFW - LAX - Taipei (had unscheduled stop to refuel because of strong headwind) - HKG ... counting time in airports, I think about 34-36 hours. Legs hurting, eyes puffy, very tired (although we both slept about 4 hours) - very tired and very happy.
At last, we're in HK. Dropped bags at Dragon Hostel. Dashed across harbor to Burma Embassy, paid for visa, left passport and went to lunch at a noodle soup place across the way. Had fish ball soup (none of your anemic fish balls like in the US) with chicken wings. Back to Embassy and picked up passport with visa. Ahhh. What a relief.
Back to Dragon. Noisy neighbors (this is a common problem since HK opened up to Chinese tourists - loud cell phone talkers and louder in-person talkers). Went to sleep about 7pm - more accurately, passed out about 7pm - were we tired or what! Slept until 5am (about 5pm Dallas time - oh man, I'm all confused). Got our gear squared away and were at Ho Fun restaurant at 7. Ho Fun is in same block as Sincere House (the building where our GH is). The restaurant is owned by Mimi and her brother, whom we met last time through. They're both nice to be around and Ho Fun has a pretty good breakfast (which the Australians call brekkie) with two eggs, sausage (not your American-style sausage!), toast (hey look, it's Texas toast!) and coffee for $19HKD (about $2.30USD)
04 Back of the bus
. The waiter is something else. He slams it down for everyone. And everyone gets the old finger in the tea. The first time we were in HK together (1978) we went in a restaurant and the waiter brought the little glasses of tea (finger in) and slammed 'em down - we thought he was jacking with us and got up and left. Now we know that's just the way it is in inexpensive Chinese restaurants. Hong Kong dollar exchange rate in $7.7 for $1 USD.
After breakfast we caught the bus to the Star Ferry - oh, happy happy day to be on the Star Ferry again - like in The World of Suzie Wong. Ferry across the harbor, 4 minute walk to bus stop and bus 15 for a fabulous bus ride up the Peak for $9.20. The usual way up is the Peak Tram, which is also good, but less scenic, more expensive, and faster (no virtue in fast).
Back down from the Peak, we went to place (Tsim Chai Kee) recommended by astroboy for wonton noodle soup. Alright! Menu had soup with shrimp wonton or fish balls or "fresh beef" ($14 for 1 of the above, $19 for 2, $22 for 3), vegetable with oyster sauce (like no other oyster sauce I've had), and soft drinks. A true happening place.
I just realized that I have some photos a little out of place. Oh well. I'm always challenged by computers and to upload the photos I had to go a place in the Chungking Mansions and so on and so forth ... More on Chungking Mansions next post.
Comments
Ah .... yes, now we're talking!
Fish ball soup ... wonder how it compares to the First Chinese BBQ version? The duck, chrisp pork, veggies and the won ton soup - man, it dosen't get any better than that. Really enjoyed the Burma piece. You write so very well.
Be safe, Bud