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After ten days on Mainland China and the culture shock most of us had experienced, Hong Kong was a nice diversion. Yes, we had been treated very nicely, had our full buffet breakfasts in the morning, and had some really great and interesting meals along the way, but now we could read some English, order a 'Western' style dinner, have some OK wine, ask for directions without using hand language, and feel a bit more like what we were used to in the States. There was even a '7 Eleven' store near our hotel.


 

It was called the YMCA (Salisbury Hotel, to be sure), and had some interesting features. There was a swimming center on the second floor where 'members' could go for their morning exercises. Picture taking was not allowed. But when I went there, I was surrounded by older Chinese folks many of whom did not know how to swim, or (at least in the hot tub) were not amiable enough to say hello. I guess bathing is a private affair, even when we are in the same pot.
The hotel next door looked more elegant.
By the way, all Chinese beds are a bit hard. They feel close to sleeping on a hardwood floor.
The great thing about the hotel was its location!!!

  


 

Although Tom could not join us here, we had a local guide for the first part of our stay. Hong Kong, although formally part of China, has a much higher standard of living and is very expensive. Mainland Chinese need a special permit to come here because it is so attractive to work here and make more money. Tom did not have such a permit. The next morning our local guide took us by bus through the tunnel connecting Kowloon to Hong Kong Island (or Central). There we took a cable-train ride to the top of Lincoln Hill for a view of Hong Kong.

 

The tour-bus picked us up and drove around Hong Kong Island to show us some other interesting spots. One was at the north side of the island called Aberdeen, a floating village of fishermen. We had an excursion on one of their boats to see what may not remain very long of this old style of living. Skyscrapers are crowding in; meanwhile, the boat-people are making some money from dried fish and the tourist trade.

 


   

We continued around the island and stopped at a mall where the ladies had a hay-day doing some more shopping. Three of us guys decided to have a beer along the water front. That is where we talked to these young folks (local students with a very diverse background) who told us to be sure and have dinner at the island of Lamma. It was a short ferry ride from our hotel and would be fun.

 

 

The ferries in the Hong Kong Bay are very efficient and convenient. They run every few minutes depending on where you want to go. Our destination that evening was Lamma, the island our young friends had talked about. As it turned out, it was a very pleasant evening with some great 'western' food.

 

Deli Lamma not Dalai Lama


 

The following day we were on our own. The six of us decided to take the ferry across to Hong Kong Island and browse around the city center. However, on the ferry a lady pointed to a red boat and mentioned that it was a fast way to go to Macau, but we would need our passports to go there! We quickly made up our minds, went back for our papers and returned to take the catamaran to the Macau islands.
 

When we arrived at the main island, and had cleared customs, we found a fellow who, for a fee of course, would have someone show us around the three islands. After some hesitation and consulting a map that showed Macau to be much larger than what we had anticipated, we settled on a price. A woman driver/guide, named Jane, then took us in a nice van to visit the tourist spots.

Macau consists really of three islands: Macau, Taipa and Coloane. The latter two are now connected by landfill. There is a strong Portuguese influence here and some of the buildings, churches and homes date back to the late sixteenth century when the islands were a Portuguese settlement. Now it is a gambling mecca. Dozens of hotels and casinos have been operating for some time and many more were being built when we were there.

And no, it was not raining, the red umbrella was just Jane's way of keeping the sun off her face??

  

 

By this time it was well beyond our usual lunch break. So we asked Jane to take us to Fernandez, a restaurant recommended by a young lady on the ferry. It was at Hac Sa Bay, the southern end of Coloane facing the Chinese Sea and, obviously serving Portuguese food. While Jane waited, we had a casual feed. Afterwards she took us to one of the casinos where I played a slot machine and turned $20 (Macau money) into $25, a net gain of 80 US cents.
 

 

Jane drove us back to Macau where she insisted that we should see one more Buddhist temple and then go to the 'Old-Down-Town', the city center. This is where we strolled to see some Catholic churches including the facade of the St. Paul's Cathedral that was destroyed by a fire during a typhoon in 1835. From there it was back to the van along some interesting side streets.
 

 

Back in Hong Kong, with a big applause and cheering by the movie fans who had found out about my appearances in China, we had to take a little time to pack our suit cases for our next stop, Canton, back in Mainland China.

The following morning we checked out of the YMCA and were taken to the train station for our rendezvous with Tom, who was waiting for us in Canton. From there we flew to Guilin

 

 

  

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