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!