Hong Kong - Part 2

Ahhhh, so where was I? I think y'all heard enough about Saturday. How the rest of our stay?

Sunday, September 23rd

We met some native North Carolinian's, Brian and Chandra, who are expats in mainland China for lunch. Matt met up with them a few other times when he was on a previous assignment in Hong Kong. They are at the tail end of their assignment and were coming over to Hong Kong anyway to cross some more sight seeing points of interest off of their "list." You hear about lists a lot around here. I, personally am a huge fan of lists. I think in lists, although Matt may argue that I think in 2 points. I always seem to have 2 points to support my argument. But that's besides the point. Anyhow, what I'm really trying to get at is the fact that all foreigners make lists of places they want to get to before they move back home. This is hugely practical as many of us won't make it back to this side of the world ever again in our lives. Matt and I are working on our list. So far it is rather lame. We've got Guam, Japan, mainland China and Australia. Perhaps we need to do a little research and pin down some specifics. All in good time...

Back to lunch. Lunch was great, but getting to the lunch spot was where I officially fell in love with Hong Kong. It was a million degrees and I was carrying Caitlin and a back pack and holding on a conversation with Chandra, so I can't really say where I was or how I got there but I can best describe it as a smarter version of San Fransisco. You know how San Fran is a series of steep inclines all jam packed with shops and restaurants? Okay, this is exactly what I saw in Hong Kong only I didn't have to walk up all these crazy inclines I could hop on this outdoor, under cover (of course), escalator. How smart is that? It must be all those omega 3's they consume around here. In any event, it was on this smooth ascension that my eyes feasted upon more little coffee shops (which I absolutely adore and I don't even drink coffee...I just love the confections they offer), girly shops, delis, restaurants, art stores, shoe stores, clothing stores, Italian restaurants, pubs, Chinese food restaurants, sushi restaurants with conveyor belts, little markets, book stores and a Mediterranean restaurant called "Olive." All this on a narrow cobblestone street. It was a lot to take in. I really didn't know where I wanted to eat first! We decided to go with Italian - "Fat Angelo's" to be more specific - and it was very good. I was itching to explore the area more, but we needed to get back to the hotel and put Miss C in for a nap. More quality bathroom time for us - well, at least for Matt.

While Caitlin was happily sleeping I left Matt in the bathroom again and took off in search of one of those adorable silk Chinese outfits for my niece, Paige. I want her to have it before Halloween so she can dress up as a Chinese girl with an "authentic" outfit. I also was hoping to bump into one of those stands that sells knock-off designer purses since I think I am the only woman in Taipei without one and that seems to be synonymous with mention of the city of Hong Kong. Not that I actually carry a purse, but anyway off I go.

One of the titles of this blog was going to be, "The Things I Would Do For My Niece." Okay Paige, this is how much I love you. I take off into a foreign land all by myself in one million degree heat and 200 bazillion percent humidity and at first all I can find are furniture stores. Oh and a gelato place, an Italian Deli and a place called "The Mozzarella Bar." More love for Hong Kong. Either way, that's not going to do it. So I cut through a whole bunch of tall buildings and find a path labeled "Monmouth Path." That seems like it will get me to the other side of the hotel and SURELY there will be little silk Chinese outfits and knock-off designer bags over there. Hmmmm...not so much. Monmouth "path" is actually Monmouth "mountain." You see, they must not understand the direct translation of the word "path." A path does not have thousands of stairs that ascend upward at some radical degree. A path does not leave you completely sweaty and soaked through your clothes. A path surely would not end at a stinking gas station in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country. See, a path just wouldn't do all that. A mountain, on the other hand, just might. I absolutely climbed a stinking mountain in Hong Kong and there were no cute clothes, no people to bargain with, no purses - there was NOTHING at the top! So, I found the next "path" down and wound up at the British Consulate and then in a wonderfully manicured park. Hong Kong Park to be specific. It was soooo beautiful! I wandered around the park for at least an hour. It actually took my mind off of the heat, the Chinese outfit and fake designer bag for a little while. I must have snapped a hundred pictures. It boggled my mind how such a wonder of nature could be parked right in the middle of a bustling city. It had a pond and lots of waterfalls...I was just dying to jump in. People were, but I was wearing a white t-shirt that day and decided that wouldn't be my best idea...and apparently I was already short on good ideas that day. It was nearing wake up time for Caitlin and I headed back to the hotel empty handed. Sorry Paige, but I am determined to find one of those outfits though. You just might get it for Halloween next year.

This is what the people of Hong Kong call a "path." This was only half way up.

After nap time & snack...

We packed up the baby and headed underground to train over to Tung Chung. Tung Chung is home to the Ngong Ping Cable Car which offers a shorter means of travel to the highland city of Ngong Ping, home to Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha. The cable car ride is a 3.5 mile, approximately 25 minute ride in a glass enclosed ski lift. During the 25 minute journey, you can see panoramic views over the North Lantau Country Park, the South China Sea, Hong Kong International Airport, the Tung Chung valley, Ngong Ping Plateau and surrounding terrain and waterways. As you get closer to the city of Ngong Ping, you can see The Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. As uninterested in heights as I am, I have to admit that the views from up there are absolutely breathtaking.

Up, up, up we go!

This is the cable that carried our car over the water and up the mountains. How's that for feeling secure?

Matt & Caitlin enjoying the view

Our 1st glimpse of the "Big Buddha"

The view was spectacular!

The village of Ngong Ping

The tea house in Ngong Ping

The tea house garden. Sooooo pretty!

Before the cable car system was erected in 2006, there wasn't a city of Ngong Ping and the monastery and big, giant Buddha probably had an extremely quiet existence on this earth. Perhaps they grew tired of it that way or perhaps this sort of tourist attraction was necessary to provide the essential funding to keep it all financially afloat - I don't know, but I loved all the quaint touristyness that this little "town" had to offer. I only wish that we had more time there.

Matt, Caitlin & and the Big Buddha

We closed Sunday night with a rather uneventful dinner...we stopped at the first place we saw that wasn't McDonald's and the food really wasn't all that good. I think Caitlin agreed because she didn't eat much of anything. After that it was back to the hotel, a round of baths and showers for all and an early night into bed. We were all hot and tired from running around.

Monday, September 22nd
We woke up very early and quickly set out to find a decent breakfast for the 3 of us. We found a "pop up" cafe called "The Met" in the center of the mall completely filled with folks dressed for work grabbing coffee and breakfast to go. We enter, the only non-Asian looking people around, with hungry bellies and a container of Cheerios just ready to make a mess of the place...we didn't do so bad. We were definitely something to keep your eye on though (as many did). We propped Miss C up on her daddy's laptop backpack and filled a bowl with Cheerios and milk. She gobbled that up before our breakfasts were served so her 2nd breakfast was a combination of fruit and whatever she grabbed off of our plates. You know, I am a firm believer in straps. Without straps to keep this child in place neither of us can sit and eat. Life without straps leaves us dealing with a mess, but we managed. There was a little spillage, some chasing and a lot of food stuck in between those little fingers, but we got through the meal feeling happily nourished and rather clever for having both spotted a place close by and devising a way to get her at table height and keep her there. Whew! Check. Breakfast done.

From breakfast we moved onto the Taiwan Bureau of Consulate Affairs (BOCA). This is where we handed in all of our paperwork to get the proper visas issued so that we can get our Alien Residence Cards. Here is where I offer many, many thanks to Matt's administrative assistant, Kirsten. This whole process was extremely difficult to get through due to many language barriers and lack of information. There are so many different steps involved and papers need to be copied, filled out and authenticated, but none of these things are actually written out so you can be prepared ahead of time. Kirsten did a lot of homework on our behalf so we were ahead of the game. We lacked a few copies of things and the proper amount of money to pay for this service so Matt took a run to the bank and a Kinko's type place for copies while I entertained Caitlin at the BOCA. The paperwork would be completed by 4pm. Check.

From here we went to the American Express office to pick up Matt's new credit card. Check.

Now we're off to IBM Hong Kong where Matt spent the better part of 6 weeks this past spring. Here we met Tiffancy, the administrative assistant to the VP that Matt was the technical assistant to. Tiffancy is a warm,. adorable woman who just loves Matt. She may be in her mid 40's, but it was so hard to tell. I think what makes Matt so unique to most other foreigners is that when he is in another land he wants to immerse himself in their culture. He wants to be a part of their daily lives and they just love him for that! There are few limits to what he'll go visit, eat or do. I admire this sooo much about him. I am not quite that adventurous and really wish I could be, but it is truly not in my wiring. Anyway, Matt had been in touch with Tiffancy and she had reservations for us to go out for dim sum.

"Dim sum" is a Cantonese phrase that literally means "to touch the heart" or "to order to your heart's content." I think I forgot to mention that in Hong Kong they speak Cantonese not Mandarin so the 2 words I use here in Taipei were completely useless. Luckily there was all this British influence so English came in handy! Anyway, dim sum is Chinese cuisine which involves a wide variety of light dishes served alongside tea. The portions are small and shared. They may include meat, seafood, veggies, deserts and fruit. The food is usually served in bamboo steamer baskets or small plates. So what was is like? Oh, how I wish I took some pictures of all this! I don't know why I didn't, I think it was because I was a little unsure of what I was going to try to put in my mouth and that took away from my picture taking. Plus, I could already tell that people were looking at us - mostly due to Caitlin - and I didn't want to make more of a scene. We sat in a huge banquet room that could have easily been set up for a wedding. There were round tables of all different sizes. The larger tables had big, giant lazy susans in the middle. They set up a baby chair for Miss C and we all parked ourselves while Tiffancy poured tea and picked out our cuisine. Seriously, I was slightly terrified by all this. Remember that not so adventurous spirit I mentioned earlier? Okay, so perhaps terrified is an exaggeration. But seriously, what on earth were we going to feed Caitlin? Chicken nuggets anyone? How about a cheeseburger for the other non-Asian looking person? The big one with crazy hair. Don't forget fries. Oh, and pass the ketchup. Did I mention that there were only chopsticks to work with here? How about a fork? Knife? Actually, on a good day I can hold my own with the chopsticks. Usually the wooden ones work best for me. The wood seems to offer a little more sticking power. And I always have a set of utensils for Caitlin - not that she actually uses them. Anyway. The food started to arrive. We had super yummy fried won tons with an awesome sweet and sour dipping sauce, steamed BBQ pork buns (also very good), marinated, chopped, steamed chicken with a garlicy/oniony/cilantroy salsa sort of stuff (quite tasty, but cold and I wasn't expecting that), cuddle fish in some sort of hot sauce (did not touch the stuff), fried rice with meat(very, very yummy!) and a Chinese cake (ordered especially for Caitlin by Tiffancy which was soo good). So, the Chinese cake answered a burning question I've had for a while. Why are Asian kitchens often missing ovens? Answer: because they steam their cakes. STEAM. Imagine that!!! The cake came out in one of those little bamboo steamer baskets. Tiffancy popped up and single handedly "sliced" a piece with cop sticks - a maneuver I would still be standing there trying to figure out and then plated it. The cake was awesome and Caitlin devoured every bit of it! She also liked the chicken. With hesitation that I didn't want our host to see, I tried everything except the cuddle fish. To my most sincere surprise, I did not die in total disgust. I actually liked it. I even learned a new trick. You can eat your rice in a bowl with this crazy glass spoon instead of fussing with chopsticks and a plate...of course I only learned this after I fussed with the chopsticks and rice on a plate. As with most experiences in a new land, the food was only a small part of what I walked away with that day. The conversation, learning new ways of life, getting questions answered, making friends and extending invitations for future visits here and there lent so much more to my memory of it all.

Full bellied, we rushed back to the hotel to check out by 2pm and then made our way to the airport check in station at the train station to check our bags. Check. Once the bags were out of our hands we taxied back to the Peak Tram in hopes to finally make our way up the mountain see the sights. The line was short of course...who in their right mind would want to go up an unairconditioned trolley to see a smog covered sky on a really hot day? Only us. At the top we ate some gelato and quickly got back down again. Check. Note to reader: I blogged, in great detail, about the Peak Tram in Hong Kong, Part 1.

The view from the top of Victoria's Peak

Caitlin & Mommy at the top of the mountain

By 4:30pm we were on our way back to the BOCA office to pick up our passport and visa paperwork. Everything was finished, as promised. Check. We then hopped back into a cab in rolled back to the airport train station. Caitlin had been going strong without a nap and finally gave in on the cab ride to the train station. We were so happy that she was able to settle herself to sleep. It was a long day for her and we still had a some travel left to do. We checked into the airport and refuled/rehydrated /cleaned up at the Cathay Pacific Airlines lounge. It was a short wait before boarding time and Caitlin woke up right before we had to take her out of her seat. Luckily it was a short flight and we were home safely before we knew it!! Whew, what a weekend!