Hong Kong Day 7

DAY 7 – LAST DAY
Picture this:
The elevator doors open to a dimly lit and luxurious marble hallway. As you step out of the elevator, your eyes get accustomed to the warm glow of the candles strategically placed in the room. You hear the gentle sound of falling water and soft new age music. An impeccably dressed staff member greets you with a soft voice. ‘Welcome to your Penninsula Spa Journey’, she says. ‘We are happy you have arrived’.
You are alone in the majestic entrance of the Spa. Once the formalities are completed, you are asked to sit in a plush sofa and wait until a beauty consultant kneels in front of you with a series of questions to complete your profile. You are here for half a day; you will get a high quality treatment and an exquisite lunch by the pool. Your hostess hands you a menu: Shrimp or Terrine as an appetizer? And for your main course, the exquisitely prepared fish, the fresh pasta, or the chef’s surprise? Desert also needs to be chosen; and all choices meet strict nutritional requirements whilst making no compromise on flavor. You let the beauty consultant recommend the desert.
Next you must choose: facial or massage? Once your choice is made, she analyzes your skin type, and recommends a procedure. But first, you must visit this sanctuary of seclusion and peace, and spend some time relaxing in this environment of sheer aesthetic bliss.
The experience promises to revitalize mind, body and spirit. You are escorted to the ninth floor, as two spa therapists give you the grand tour. The first thing you notice is the spectacular harbor view from inside the dry sauna. Hong Kong is literally at your feet.
You tour the facilities. Centered in the large hammam is a 3 foot pink crystal designed to get rid of any body and spirit impurities. The peppermint smell promises to revitalize all of your senses. The most impressive feature of the spa however is the lifestyle shower. Built in a blue ceramic tower, the lifestyle shower has three colored buttons from which to press. Press the blue button and a rain shower falls complete with a flowered sent and blue lighting. The green button changes the hues to green, a cold mist chills your warm body and the sent goes from floral to herbal. Finally the pink button veils you in a pink glow, twenty water jets firing warm sprays from all around, and a fruity sent accompanying the bliss.
Next to the shower is a small mountain of crushed ice should you need to pat some coldness on your skin as you exit the warm sauna. You try the facilities for 40 minutes, the maximum time recommended by your beauty consultant, before you transition to the next portion of your spa journey.
You are then shown to the relaxation room which also has an impressive harbor view. There are 12 reclining day beds with push quilts to choose from. You opt for one closest to the window. You are offered a mango yogurt while you relax. You can pick your own music, position your bed to the optimal comfort level from which you read a few pages of your book. Bliss.
Ten minutes before your facial you are escorted to the spa’s central area where a curtain of water surrounds a comfortable seating area. You are offered lychee tea and are asked to relax as you wait for your to escort you to the room where your facial will be performed.
Facials are designed to give your skin a revitalizing treatment like no other. Deep cleanse, creams, restorative beauty treatments…. ‘Are you comfortable madam? Are you warm enough? Are you enjoying your experience? Is there anything we can do to better serve you?’
The fifty minutes are over much too quickly.
You are escorted to the pool area. Picture a 50 feed deep blue sanctuary of deep pools and waterfalls encased in a glass veranda overlooking the harbor view. Lunch is served. Impeccably. Course after course of delicious yet healthy foods. You eat in silence. You bask in the silence.
Once lunch is cleared away, you are escorted back down to the spa’s main area. ‘Would it be alright to use the spa facilities a bit longer?’ you enquire. Of course.
You take it all in once again. You settle into the relaxation room, noticing that you have been alone in this palace the entire day… never have you crossed paths with another guest. You spend 3 hours in the relaxation room reading and sleeping.
You are queen for a day.

Hong Kong Day 6

Sometimes when I pick up Matis at daycare and I ask him how his day was he replies: I had a perfect day. He qualifies many of his days as perfect and it always makes me smile.

I too had a perfect day today. An unusually perfect day.

I decide that it’s time to get off Hong Kong Island and explore a neighboring Island by sea. Lamma Island promises a few great hiking trails away from the hustle and bustle of the city… so I get dressed for the occasion and head out to the pier to catch the ferry. The tailors see me coming a mile away as I exit the hotel: ‘Going to gym ma’am? Going to play Tennis ma’am?’ Come to think of it, the white skirt, t-shirt and running room cap do make me look like a tennis aficionado… I smile and continue walking fast, because, as usual, it is pouring rain. I duck into a mall on the way to the pier to escape the deluge. As I navigate my way across the air conditioned stores, I come across the perfect gift for my girlfriend MC who is celebrating a birthday in a few days. Rarely does it happen that I find a treasure unexpectedly and think: this is the perfect gift, for this person, at this time. I am absolutely thrilled with the discovery and buy on the spot. I can’t wait to go home and give it to her… imagining her face when she opens the gift makes me jump with giddy happiness… reminding me once again that giving is more fun than receiving…

The ferry ride is 30 minutes long, and I outside on the back of the ferry, eyes closed, legs crossed, in an attempt to meditate. My mind goes to dark places, then to forbidden places, and I whisk those thoughts away… I think of Morgen’s hair, Matis’ eyes, Laurent’s smile, our cats jumping on the piano to scare themselves silly… thoughts that bring a smile to my lips. Magically the rain stops for the first time in days and the sun comes out in full force.

I explore Lamma island on foot. There are no cars allowed here, and the family trail promises a good 1h20minute hike in the mountains from one side of the island to the other. There are few things I enjoy more than this type of long walk … I call it mindful meditation.

My hike takes me on a journey of discovery… The trail between Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan, surrounded by grassland, offers a picturesque walk. From there, one can see the coastline of the island. It takes roughly an hour to walk through the trail. I run into very few people. I notice a few 'caves' on the trail near Sok Kwu Wan, labeled on tourist signs as 'kamikaze grottos'. These are caves reputed to have been dug out by the Japanese during the war, according to legend, to hide their kamikaze boats.

On the ride back I take a few wrong turns and get lost in picturesque alcoves of the island. I manage to find a beach and go for a swim in the ocean… I walk for three hours all the while counting my blessings in life… health and the legs which allow me this day, family and friends who care to read this story, being surrounded by beauty, a steady job which permits this escapade, Laurent’s generosity – the points for the airline ticket, the hotel, the experiences… I count and count and count. I also throw a wish out into the universe… I wish for an idea to come for a story; a story I can write and share with the world. A story to uplift, bring readers comfort or joy, and live a worthwhile reading experience. I know that if I am on the right path, the story will come. Until it does, I vow to continue to write.

The ferry comes hourly on Lamma Island. I make my way back to the mainland and arrive during rush hour. In subway maze, I find my way back to the correct line, and manage to get back to the hotel without getting lost. I run into Laurent and Felicia a few feet from the hotel… Fancy meeting you here!

-‘Concierge, can you recommend a great restaurant? Near Temple Street?’ (Temple street is home to the fortune tellers… Tonight I have resurrected the desire to find out what the future holds)

-‘Of course madam, please wait a moment and we will make a suggestion by calling your room. And thank you madam.’ (I feel like a queen he says madam twice in one sentence).

An hour later we are sipping lychee and apple martini’s at Dap, which stands for .

And then the moment of truth. A meeting with destiny. The fortune teller beckons. It’s mostly good news folks. I will live to be 95. Although my past was rocky, my future is very bright. I am happy person. Good job. Good money. No troubles. Good husband. The whole consultation lasts 2 minutes. Face and palm reading only. For 200 dollars more I get the tarot. Put money in envelope please! Bossy lady, I say put money in envelope! One table over a tarot reading reassures me on my financial future, but tells me, alas, that I will not be so lucky in love…

There is an ad for a children’s TV station called PBS – which features giggling blindfolded children elbow deep in a bowl full of spaghetti who are asked to guess what they are touching – most of the kids think they are touching gooey worms or brain mush. The ad is there to remind that perception is reality – that it’s all how you look at it!

I had a perfect day. And that’s how I choose to look at it.


PS. As I write these few lines it is the end of Day 7 for me… which turns out even better than day 6. Stay tuned!

Hong Kong Day 5

I am on a quest today… I call it Val’s do nothing vacation day. I am inspired by my friend Yogi who caught on a while back that running around at the speed of light was probably not the best route to search for meaning and relaxation… Laurent actually figured out the same thing years ago.. They both inspire me and I aim to find comfort in being still. So I am going to stay in the hotel, and enjoy having no plans, and doing absolutely nothing today, even though I am in Hong Kong and feel a tad guilty about the whole thing.
It is raining outside anyway… We are back to Typhoon level 1 (no danger, just rain), and the rain looks like it’s here to stay. I get back in bed after breakfast. I resist the urge to turn on the TV (haven’t even found the remote yet after 5 days).
But my computer is looking at me and kind of asking me to pick it …. I nagivate online for a few hours… research any subject that comes to mind. I create a blog… I call it SametimenextweekValou. I clean out my hotmail inbox (which means I file over 2000 emails), my work inbox (I get caught up on anything outstanding since I left for vacation). I comment on a hundred facebook profiles. I research more stuff on line
I have made it to 1pm and I have done nothing (J!!! ) I head out into the rain and find an Australian (yes, you read right, I am eating Australian in China) bistro for lunch. I dine by myself. I don’t bring a book. I try to sit still and enjoy my own company. The pumpkin risotto is delicious. I try not to rush through lunch, but I am back in the room 30 minutes later.
By 3pm I can stand it no more. Laurent has emailed me a number of ideas of what to do in Hong Kong… So I book us a cruise on the ferry for tonight to watch the lights show… And how about High Tea at the Penninsula Hotel this afternoon?
So working it backwards if the cruise is at 7h30, and we meet at High Tea at 5h30, I need to leave the hotel at 5pm, and its 3h30pm now and I have not run my 10k yet so I better get moving… Yikes!
I manage to clock 56h45minutes on the 10k… I make a mental list of what I did differently from yesterday which might have helped me go faster (listened to my music instead of Laurent’s, programmed the machine from the outset on goal time, focused on my running instead of how horrible my legs look in the gym mirror…could running be my form of meditation?).
I make it to the Peninsula Hotel on time, despite a barrage of tailors who want to make me beautiful dresses in less than 24 hours. Come visit my shop, see fabric, just look, touch fabric, high quality, best fit, good price just for you… I have actually gotten dressed up for tea time (white dress, heels, make up, the whole nine yards) so I turn a deaf ear to the tailors beckoning.
High Tea is a very classy experience. It reminds me of Tea time on the ships, except that nothing is moving and the hotel hallway is huge compared to the Crystal court at sea.
Laurent joins me to munch on cucumber sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam and whipped butter, little cakes and cookies… We get caught up in a philosophical conversation and barely make it to the harbor on time to catch the Ferry for our cruise at 7h40. We run to find the right pier, and as we board the boat, it starts raining awfully hard…
Drinks and snacks (a bag of peanuts) are provided on board, and we try very hard to watch the light show…however it is raining so hard that we can barely see five feet in front of the boat! We huddle with other passengers in the middle of the ferry in order not to get soaked by the rain. So much for the light show! We end up chatting with a lovely retired couple from Adelaide Australia (Maureen and Pete) who tell us their travels and life story…. When I ask them what the secret is to their long and happy union, they tell me that they complete each other (opposites attract) and that tolerance is key….
Back at the hotel I assess my Do Nothing vacation day…. I might have to try again tomorrow…

Hong Kong Day 4

I am not meant to live twelve hours ahead of my normal life. Already many complain that I am too far ahead of the curve on any given day… Now I am twelve hours even further ahead. I type as you sleep…It’s already the end of Day 5 for me. Your Day 5 hasn’t started. You haven’t even read my Day 4…
When I wake up on Day 4 I need to eat. NOW. Skipping dinner is not a good idea when you are training for a (half) ironman. I anxiously wait for the hotel restaurant to open its doors. There is a sign at Breakfast which reads that we are at a Typhoon Level 3. I have no idea if I should be concerned!
When Laurent leaves for work I make an effort to structure our day. First things first: research the internet about must do activities while visiting Hong Kong. I read up on places to hike, Disneyworld (no way), and all of the other activities we have managed to squeeze in already. There is a famous restaurant called Revolving 66… apparently the view is awesome. I head out to the concierge and ask him to make a reservation for this evening. The reviews say there are months and months of waiting time to get a reservation, but you know my motto: just DO it!
Concierge tells me it will be a pleasure to assist, that he will confirm the reservation in writing and that he will send me any updates during the day in case the Typhoon level increases to the point where the restaurant must close. Uh oh… And what level is that? Five. What’s the highest it can go? Eight. What level are we expecting with this tropical storm? Shrug of shoulders.
I clock in my 10k at 58h50 using my sister’s technique. One minute faster than yesterday…but I need to be at 55 minutes before I leave Hong Kong. I am starting to think the goal may be unrealistic. The problem with training for a (half) ironman for me is the food part. You literally have to eat every few hours. Good stuff. I either eat on schedule but eat the wrong foods, or eat too much at regular meals. And I do realize that my whining is pointless and my problems aren’t really problems… but I digress…
A huge meal later, I am off on a very long walk. My purpose today is to get all of my shopping out of the way….and considering I just ate for ten and am going out for dinner again tonight, I might as well go shopping by foot. I find my way back to Mongkok and peruse the street shopping stalls. I can’t find my sisters purse… I buy something close enough. I get gifts for the girls, a few trinkets for Matis… I bargain my way through 1km of street merchants and come out with an armful of bags. I figure I should go back to the hotel before it starts to pour… and true to myself, I head in the wrong direction. About an hour later, I reach the end of Kowloon… The wrong end!
The funny thing about this city is that you can be on a very fancy street one minute, and then walk one street over and wind up in a typical Chinese neighborhood; a cacophony of sights, smells and sounds that is wonderfully exotic but dizzying at the same time… Whenever I pass a lacquered duck I gag and look away… I hope Laurent never makes me watch him eat one!
The street crossings are specially designed for the hearing impaired. There is a loud slow beep when you can’t cross. The beep gets faster – goes on speed- when you can cross. People actually follow the rule and cross at the proper time. I love this city!!!! I am in a neighborhood where Tourists don’t go, yet no one looks at me. It’s tough to feel like a visible minority in a country where the people are too polite and discrete to even glance your way!
After all of these hours of walking I need a foot massage. And of course, there are dozens of places that offer such a thing a few minutes from the hotel. I need money so I find a bank with an ATM to withdraw some Hong Kong dollars. Note to all of you future Hong Kong travelers: Memorize your pin in numbers, not letters. The keyboard is not only upside down, but it doesn’t have any letters on it. I have been using the same pin (letters) for the last 18 years. Houston, we have a problem!!! However, there is a solution: I visualize the key board with the letters, draw it on a piece of paper, and figure it out after a few tries…
The foot massage is exquisite. It worries me some that to get to the massage I am guided up 10 floors in an apartment building by an elderly Chinese lady who leaves me alone in a small space with a man at the cash and a girl who serves me a cup of hot water, but I figure: what is life without risk? No one knows where I am…
I learn interesting things about my feet and reflexology points by examining a mock plastic foot while the masseuse does her work. The heels are a touch point for the Gonads. Interesting! The spot I most like massaged is connected to my lower abdomen. Wow, who knew?
I am back at the Hotel minutes before Laurent gets home from work. We get dressed to the nines to go to R66 restaurant and head out by metro using our Octopus cards to get there. We are still at level 3 Tropical storm warning, so the restaurant should be open.
We ride up the 66 floors with a young French couple, and pretend we only speak English. We get a window seat in the restaurant (the reservation was made under the name Dr. Garrigues – does that actually help?). The view is absolutely breath taking. Picture the Delta revolving hotel in Montreal or the Concorde in Quebec, only 66 stories high. The experience comes complete with the karaoke sounding Chinese singing duet. The food is similar to what you would find at the Delta however… I think the online reviewers exaggerated a bit. Coming from me, that’s funny! J
We spend a lovely evening revolving in the sky looking at the grandiose city below…

Hong Kong Day 3

Day 3 – Meeting Big Buddha
Today’s update is dedicated to Marie-Claude and Yolande… my aspiring Buddhist buddies.

Laurent urged me to go online and check the weather forecast this morning….and it’s a good thing I did! Turns out yesterday qualified as Hong Kong’s hottest day of the year (!), that today will be partly cloudy, and that it will rain the rest of the week. So if I am to visit the Big Buddha somewhere where the earth meets the sky, I might as well go before it rains! First things first however…with the half ironman coming up in three weeks, I have to run… I hit the gym for a 10k run, and clock 59h45… much slower than I should be running at this stage in the game, however running outside in the humidity is not even an option!

I say goodbye to Laurent who is heading off for work with his Singapore counterpart Felicia. I think he wonders if he will ever see me again; I have no sense of direction… the chances of me finding my way to Lantau Island and back without getting lost are slim.

There are 2 ways to get to the Buddha after you get off at the correct subway stop; cable car or bus. I find my way to the NGong Ping 360 cable cars… I figure it will be faster and a more picturesque experience. Seeing the little cable cars take off high over the mountain tops, swinging in the wind is an experience not to be forsaken. Off I go into a cable car with a family of four Chinese tourists. As we ascend, we get a great view of the planes taking off at the airport situated a few kilometers away. The family speak non-stop in a harsh and rushed staccato whine… all the while snapping hundreds of photos.

As we ride into the wild, I can’t help but wonder how the workers actually got the pieces of the Big Buddha to this remote location. The Buddha apparently weighs more than 250 tons of bronze. How did they carry the head? Did they build it on site? Was there a better road hundreds of years ago than the tiny path I see between the trees below?
Once we get to station 5, I see a glimpse of the Big
Buddha in the distance. It is huge, majestic, solemnly.
A few years ago, Yolande, MC and I embarked on a spiritual journey together. We experimented with Buddhism; we went to a meditation practice and then to a weekend retreat. We learned a few hymns and chants… although we never formally converted; I think that if I were spiritual, Buddhism would be my religion of choice. So I have big expectations when I meet Buddha today… I am hoping for a ‘coming to’ moment, a sign that I am on the right path… a meaning to it all! O Maitre beni, shakyamouni Buddha… the words of the song come back easily.
There is a charming little Chinese village with a walkway leading directly to the Big Guy. And he really is huge; all I can think about is HOW.. How did the workers get him built hundreds of years ago, how did they carry the pieces to this remote site, and how come he still glistens in the sun after all of these years of rain and wind?
Right before I reach the Po Lin Monastery, I see a Starbucks on my right. Even sacredness is prone to commercialism these days! There are exactly 268 steps to climb to reach the Big Buddha and if I buy the Vegetarian lunch in the Monastery, I get to visit the museum for free! Can’t pass up this incredible deal, but first I must climb to the Buddha sitting large and peaceful on his Lotus leaf. The Buddha appears serene and dignified. His right hand is raised, representing the removal of affliction. His left hand rests on his lap in a gesture of giving dhana.
I get to the top and glance up. I expect to feel peace. Contentment. Something. Yet I feel nothing. Not even awe. I wait; I figure maybe if I am lucky some feeling of knowing will come when I sit with the Buddhist monks at lunch?
I visit the museum located inside Buddha’s bronze stomach and understand why I don’t feel the connection with thousand year old spirits… Big Buddha was built in 1993!!!!
Inside the Monastery temple where a modest vegetarian meal is served, the following quote is printed on the napkin holder: “Don’t try to go and find Buddha from the spiritual hill, the spiritual hill is inside our heart. Everyone has a tower of spiritual hill, so we can train and practice by ourselves’.
The monks are busy chanting next door… the clattering of dishes and hundreds of families vibrate in the dining hall. As I make my way back to the cable cars, I remember how I felt when Yogi, MC and I spent the weekend with Dreng Pa a few years back…I remember feeling connectedness and contentment. Peaceful. And I remember that all of this is not about the destination, but about the journey and what we learn along the way…
I ride back down with six Asian students who are more than happy to have a conversation with me. One is from Hong Kong, two from Taiwan, 2 from mainland China. They explain that they have just met through a program to discover their respective areas and debate the future of China. One of them is studying in London, and will return to Hong Kong once his finance and accounting diploma is obtained. Rarely do people from Hong Kong visit the Big Buddha he tells me… too touristy. I ask all of the questions which have been tormenting me during the last few days… What does it mean when a high rise is colored vs. when it is not? When does a typhoon warning reach dangerous level (since an hour ago we are at one and the cable car is dangling…)? Who pays for the air conditioning bills inside the malls?
When I get back to the hotel around 6pm, I am right on time to greet Laurent. We decide to take a nap before going out to dinner… and we both fall asleep soundly! We miss dinner and get up at 5am, anxious for the breakfast place to open….

Hong Kong Day 2

Day 2 – Warp Speed visiting

The Luxe Manor has a luxurious breakfast spread by all standards… smoked salmon (minus the cream cheese) muesli, apples…. Enough to fuel on before we begin our visit of the city on Laurent’s only day off. The hotel is a few hundred feet from the Tsim Sha Shui metro station… which in turn is a stop away from Central station what can be considered the heart of downtown Hong Kong. This city wins my gold medal award for most efficient subway system ever… and I have seen my share of them around the world. It’s efficient, it’s clean, it speaks English. You buy what is called an Octopus card, and scan the card every time you go into the station. You scan it again where you get off… and they charge you for the distance you rode, no more, no less.

About 70 cents, later, we get off at Central station. My plan this morning (and Laurent is a willing follower), is to go up to Soho, an 800 meter escalator ride comprising of stairs, ramps, and pedestrian walkways. My tourist guidebook tells me that this climb will allow me to ‘snake through a fascinating cross section of the neighborhood’. From trendy bars and restaurants interspersed with small and chic boutiques to cheap Chinese street food, French bistros, elderly ladies selling fruit and art galleries. I can’t wait to take it all in… however what I don’t expect is the intensely humid and stifling heat; and the fact that the escalator runs downhill during rush hour (which is considered NOW when we show up, even though today is Sunday).

So up we go for the climb on foot… Four stairs into it and I have got sweat dripping out of my every pore. We persevere all the way to the top, a steep 1k climb of about 800stairs, stopping in at one of the numerous 7 Elevens to purchase a Big Gulp… although they don’t call it that here, since the Chinese drink in moderate amounts compared to the Americans. The minute we get up to the top, the escalator reverses… rush hour is now officially over and people can now climb to the top using the motorized method!!!!
So down we go on foot, navigating our way through small streets filled with eclectic merchants. We visit a typical temple where I start my quest to find a fortune teller… I have convinced myself that a small elderly Chinese lady will find me during my stay and tell me what my future holds… if only I get in her way at the right time and place. The temple reeks of incense. Believers light sticks by the dozens to offer them to Buddha… along with the typical gifts of oranges and cookies. I resist the urge to grab an orange; even so, the fortune teller is a no show.

We walk back all the way down to the edge of the water of downtown Hong Kong. The Harbor Front is home to some of the most luxurious malls I have ever seen… Building after building of air conditioned malls for kilometers on end. Versace, Gucci, Burberry, Guess, Lancel, Boss, every designer has a few stores in this shopping Mecca. Once we have cooled down in the mall, we head back out into the heat in order to find the tram which will take us up the Peak, affording us the most impressive view (so says the tourist guide) of the city of Hong Kong.

On our way to board the tram I see something curious going on… everywhere there is a nook of shade in or around the mall, dozens of women are huddled on small mats. They are everywhere… the sound of their yapping is reminiscent of an overly populated hen house. They gather in bunches, play cards, or eat, or do nothing other than type on their cell phones (and they all have one). What strikes me as unusual is that there are no men, or children around… and it’s Sunday. What kind of a tradition is this? Where are the kids?
At the top of the peak the view of Hong Kong is muggy at best. There are thousands of high rises all around, each higher than fifty stories. We decide to have lunch at the touristy Bubba Gump restaurant at the top of the peak. Picture the Eiffel tower’s Victor Hugo restaurant, and then think of the most commercial opposite you can find. You guessed it, it’s a themed Forest Gump restaurant. What the heck… the shrimp is decent, and I liked the movie.
I make my first purchase of our trip; Bubba Gump hot sauce to take home and spice up my world.

It’s barely 2pm and we must have walked over 15k since we started our journey at 8am. My feet are blistering badly. Thank Goodness you can literally find as many Croc stores as Starbucks. A new pair of shoes later and we are off to Mongkok, the busiest street shopping district in Hong Kong. Mongkok is pronounced without the G. Mon kok… say it out loud and you will understand why it’s the only Chinese place whose name I have been able to easily commit to memory. Mongkok means “busy corner” and apparently it’s the most densely populated place on the planet, squeezing in over 130 000 people per square kilometer. I think that the Chinese must be on vacation outside of Hong Kong however, because it feels less crowded to me than Ste-Catherine’s street on Sunday afternoon! Why do people keep talking about the crowds here? The subway was almost empty, and no one has stepped on my toes anywhere yet…it feels rather spacious!

I am on a mission in Mongkok… I am still looking for my fortune teller, AND I am looking for a knock off purse my sister has summoned me to purchase… she cut the picture out of a magazine; she knows exactly what she wants. I don’t find the purse, or the teller. I do find thousands of interesting shops, in and out of luxurious air conditioned malls, and almost as many Starbucks (and yes we caved stopped for a cold drink….I think Starbucks will win business of the decade; they manage to get our money no matter where we are!)

After another 10k we decide to head back to the hotel and rest…. Before we head back out again this evening to find the fortune teller. We walk the streets lined with merchants for a few hours as night falls… and never come across a fortune teller. When dinnertime rolls around, I try my hardest to find a place whose advertisement doesn’t conjure a gag reflex. Laurent will go anywhere; he admits to having tried the lacquered duck on the street corner during a past visit… I can’t even look at the duck whenever we pass a meat merchant… the stench is repulsive and the look nauseating…to me. We decide on sushi, it feels safe! We find a sushi place, the kind where you sit at the sushi bar and watch the plates turn until you grab something that delights your taste buds. Six turns later and I haven’t yet seen anything that does not make me want to heave. Laurent humors me and leaves the restaurant before we have consumed anything. I see an add for Sawadee Thai… the name rings a bell! We have a restaurant called that in Mont Saint-Hilaire and I often go with Alex and Francis for lunch. We hop on an elevator, stop at a wrong floor (the elevator door opens on to a Chinese wedding in full swing… very bizarre sight), and find the restaurant. The food is not like in St-Hilaire… but I manage to find a few veggies to eat and hold them down as Laurent devours his spicy shrimp, complete with fried antennas.
After 12 straight hours of sightseeing, it’s time for a good night sleep…and tomorrow I think I will try something a bit more traditional than shopping… my plan is to connect with the Big Buddha on Lantau island… stay tuned!

Hong Kong Day 1

When I peak out of my airplane window as we are about to land, the first image I get is a larger than life San Juan… tall buildings, blue water, as far as the eye can see. The airport is like any other huge North American airport… Starbucks and McDonald’s everywhere. The H1N1 flu is top of mind here… fill out Health Security cards; what seat were you sitting in on the plane? Where can we contact you in the next seven days?

It is not until I clear customs that I begin to smell it… the pungent and thick smell of fried food. This is what Hong Kong smells like to me.

A nice subway/train ride later and I am in Kowloon. Kowloon is a little island right next to the island of Hong Kong. A verbose family of four from Marseille sits next to me on the train. Hard to feel like a foreigner! A free shuttle goes from the station to the Hotel. The shuttle takes me alone… which surprises me considering that there are supposed to be over 13 000 people per square feet here, making it one of the world’s most heavily populated surfaces.

The buildings reach the sky; Globalism is apparent everywhere… Lacoste, Chanel, Hugo Boss, Starbucks, Starbucks and more Starbucks. As I watch the Chinese women walk down the street, I think of Harajuku girls and am reminded of the unusual fashion sense of a population trying to blend cheap with American… lacy cotton leggings covered with Jean skirts, hoods and costume jewelry, heavy colorful make up….

90 minutes after landing I reach the hotel. The décor is magnificent… picture mystic and eclectic; Alice in Wonderland meets Buddha meets luxury.

Hard to understand what the receptionist is saying… she speaks English but eats her words, so my mind draws a blank. Her sentences end with questions… I just say yes to everything; how can I make a bad decision? Turns out what she is saying is that the Hotel is overbooked, and we have been upgraded to the Safari Suite for one night since Laurent is a repeat guest and is staying for more than 12 days…The receptionist escorts us to our Suite…
I catch my breath as the door to the suite opens… in all of my worldly travels, never have I seen something so beautifully decorated! It feels like a luxurious safari tent under a starlight sky; literally! There is an orange veil covering the ceiling and under it are hundreds of blinking stars….and hues of light moving around slowly…

A giant living room, a luxurious king size bed, orange walls, safari cushions…a lovely Cube Nespresso machine with 6 little capsules to experience different flavors of coffee… so much for my plan to get off the Java!

I watched four movies on the plane and slept the rest of the time. I can’t however not enjoy this sleep. So at 3pm I take a shower, and I jump under the luxurious sheets… and I sleep for 15 hours straight (except for when the lady brings 2 panda cookies as a pre bedtime treat).
I wake up at 6am local time, have a good breakfast, and now its time to explore the city….