Recession - What Recession?
We're just leaving Hong Kong for Delhi. A day later than expected.....
We finally had our first travel- related mishap of the trip. We were supposed to be leaving yesterday, a fact that only became apparent when the check-in agent pointed out we were 24 hours late. Fortunately, Cathay were accommodating and it looks like we got the last 4 seats on the flight.
Anahita, ever practical, pointed out dryly that at least we had return tickets on the HK Airport Express and could have a coffee at Starbucks. She seemed unsure about whether her pocket money could stretch to cover another night at the hotel, but she willingly donated it!
Apart from the excitement of departure, we had lots of fun in this tiny, densely populated city - once we got in. The whole health screening for H1N1 seemed both extensive and ineffective. Ie everyone fills in the form, largely denies they have any symptoms and then stands in line for a cursory glance from a masked official, who randomly selects people for a temperature check (this performed by a wave of a digital thermometer) - in Kats' case this recorded 32 degrees! We wondered about the people wearing masks - who attracted no attention at all!
The first thing that struck us was the sheer human press. 7m people seem to be crammed into literally hundreds of slim tower blocks. And personal space is not a big priority. Compared to Japan, where everyone has a well developed sense of distance, Hong Kong folks simply don't mind being in physical contact. Nina and Anahita found this very unnerving at first.
The other thing that struck us is how well developed all the infrastructure is. The airport, trains, highways, trams, buses, ferries - it's pretty new and very well-functioning (and clean - it's regarded a faux pas to eat in metro stations - as Kats found out to her cost). Notable exceptions were the arcane and amusing payment options for the ferry to Lamma (get change from the ticket office, then put random selection into machine and hope for the best), and the double decker trams - quaint shades of hospital green and blue against the flashy mirrored HK buildings.
We knew we were hitting the hot, wet seasons in Asia, and Hong Kong was a pretty representative start. The first day it was raining so hard we couldn't actually see out of the window of our hotel! We decided to donate the day to the girls and we actually went to a theme park called Ocean Park. In spite of our misgivings, this place had 2 gems: first, the cable car to the headlands - which was magical and silent - we were suspended in little candy-coloured bubbles over the hills for a long and beautiful trip to the cliffs. The second was a fabulous jellyfish exhibition. Quite captivating and well worth the trip.
Hong Kong is a shoppers' paradise. Actually, it is almost unreal how many brand names can be crammed into a small space. The city seems to be a series of connected shopping malls, each complete with its own identical mix of luxury brands in enormous stores. When we asked 'in a city of 7m people who can afford this?' we were told a interesting fact: 150 investment visas are granted to mainland Chinese every day (these have a minimum investment level of $1m in real estate or cash). Do the maths! The economic growth is reflected in the surge of building - everywhere new skyscrapers....The recession didn't seem very evident to us.
Commerce is inextricably linked to culture. At the top of Hollywood road, full of antique shops we went into the Man Mo Temple - dark, red, filled with smoky incense spirals - incredibly atmospheric. We all came out unable to shed the aroma of incense - the girls by now are expert at lighting armfuls of incense everywhere we go. We were able to find some lovely pieces on the walk back - an old reclaimed chest, a wooden lion from the top of a house and a very cute small chest. Hopefully they will arrive in a few months. We also found some beautiful old stamps of the chinese zodiac.
This is the place to buy Chinese figurines - if we knew anything about them! Along with ceramics in Japan, we'll return for these some day.
We did all the things you'd expect: visiting the Peak for a jaw-dropping view, crossing the (now narrowing) harbour by nostalgic Star Ferry, walking the pulsating commercial districts of Kowloon. Riding the quaint double decker trams and the subway, eating on the red floating restaurants at Aberdeen. We even took the train out to the New Territories to visit the cultural centre in Sha Tin. At first this looked deserted, dull and worthy.
But there were some unexpected gems: a breathtaking photography exhibition by very well known HK photographers, some beautiful Chinese pieces and a retrospective of the life of Lydia Sum, a popular TV personality. It turned out to be a rather fascinating trip after all, and we saw lots of chinese families on holiday. We managed a trip to the bird, fish and flower markets in Mong Kok. The fish market was especially fun - thousands of tiny fish, frogs, salamanders, turtles etc for sale in plastic bags and boxes - we spent ages gazing at them being examined by aquarium lovers.
We were really lucky to meet more family and friends on this leg too.
Nina's cousin Hanif took us all out to Lamma Island for a typical HK seafood meal - and the ferry ride at sunset and late at night was spectacular. We were also able to meet his sons Zubin and Imran the next day - so the girls found a few more cousins. Alessandro's INSEAD lassmates were very hospitable - Natalie Chan invited all of us and Chris Doran and family for dinner - one of the best meals we ever had and so nice to be invited to someone's home.
The food in Hong Kong was fabulous - we ate really well in some rather different venues. Noodles in a tiny bar in Central, melt in the mouth egg yolk battered prawns at Natalie's house, seafood we chose from the tanks in one of the seafront places in Lamma island (thanks Hanif), fabulous food from the NW regions and one of the best views in the world across the Harbour from Kowloon at Hutong (you must go) and heavenly dimsum at the Four Seasons......it was hard to fit all the food in, but somehow, we managed. Anahita's love of fish continues......
All in all, Hong Kong was an intense and humid stopping point between Japan and India: more dense than we remembered it, in-your-face and a place where anything is possible. Anahita has begun to emerge from the fear of toilets, elevators and trains - the Tokyo quakes spooked her to the point where she seriously considered walking up 42 storeys to our room! Both the girls loved meeting their new cousins and have really become seasoned little travellers. We were especially amused when they were actually offended that they had not been given chopsticks to eat with.
We survived the extreme weather conditions (ie, arctic air-con at 17 degrees and then 95 degrees and humid) - though the kids have now taken to packing cardigans indoors!
So - from a food filled Hong Kong on to Delhi. The (missed) flight on Cathay made more exciting by Alessandro losing his passport on the plane. It was found after 6 crew got on their hands and knees....