Becka and I took the metro to the island of Lantau, which is twice the size of Hong Kong island but only contains 30,000 people as much of it is national park. The rest is Disneyland and the airport. Becka and I snubbed the theme park and took a spectacular cable car over the hills to go and see the largest seated buddha in the world.
We went, we saw, we left.
These things never leave much impression on me. It didn't seem that big.
Then we caught the bus down to Mui Wo, which was a small town by the ferry terminal. We had a paddle in the sea and then lazed on the beach. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, with kids playing volleyball nearby. The odd expat heaving his belly somewhere. The opposite of China! I had missed greenery... And I'm not used to the sight of kids playing together not under parental supervision.
Mui Wo is a nest of expats so Becka and I wolfed down some fish and chips (real thing too! My first in nearly 8 months!) and apple crumble (not as good as mine) before a ferry home.
Lantau gets my approval.
The terrible twosome then became the terrfic trio as Becka and I were joined by a school friend of mine called Cat. Cat is what a Chinese person would call a 华侨, huaqiao, or "oversees Chinese". However the last relative to have a Chinese passport was a grandmother and neither her nor her parents can speak anything other than English/French.
This does cause a slight problem as everyone thinks she's Chinese so blather on in Cantonese/Mandarin at her until they slowly trickle to a halt as she stares blankly back. Then the white girl chips in with "她不会说汉语"
The first day together we took the world's longest escalator up to the midlevels. Hong Kong is basically a collection of skyscrapers huddled along a coastline, with steep hills rising behind. Hence the escalator, which runs up in the day and evening and down in the morning rush hour. However when we reached the top we had to resort to walking and spent half an hour slogging up the steep slope to the top. We had to stop for a rest every two bins (there were bins at very regular intervals) as Cat was tired from flying and Becka and I are just wusses. Eventually we made the summit and were rewarded with a shopping complex of starbucks and haagen-dasz. We elbowed our way past mainland tour groups, grabbed some ice cream and took in the view. It was a fairly clear day so we could see quite far, once the Americans had moved. Then we pootled down the other side through some leafy woods before catching a bus to a district called Aberdeen- which had been a secret ambition of mine to visit. It's called Aberdeen!
We went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and while the woman didn't seem to speak Mandarin, we got our meaning across. I asked for "xuebi", sprite, and she went "Ah! Sibbi!" which was close enough...
On our last day in Hong Kong Becka and I went to church for Easter Sunday. It was an Anglican one, St John's Cathedral, and as we arrived late, had to stand at the side. The service went on for ever so Becka bailed halfway and sat outside in the sun. I stayed to the bitter end and was rewarded with bits of blessed water flicked at me. It did go on a long time.
It provided a fascinating opportunity for people watching. There were the very devout Philipino looking women heads bowed praying as well as upper-middle class white people, with blond children in tow. The archbishop himself was running the show and had a beautifully colonial accent. He rhymed "whom" with "home". He kept taking his hat off, then putting it back on which require a vigorous flick to get the tassels to go the right way. Some of the service was read by an indian woman in a pink sari, other bits by a white man who had picked up somewhere that pauses=good reading so insisted on pausing for 5 seconds every sentence.
Afterwards we got posh chocolate and posh bread from a deli (a deli! Don't have those in Qingdao!) and went to a "park" near the church. I say park, it was a few metres squared. Becka and I found a rock to perch on by a pool and happily munched away and read the newspaper. We were surrounded by bunches of Hong Kongese women who were lolling around chatting, eating, playing cards and generally having a good time. There were groups of them everywhere, in every public space.
Not a single man.
It was lovely sitting in the cool shade, reading a non censored newspaper, surrounded by greenery, listening to the Hong Kongese women chatting away and shouting when one lost at cards.
Becka and I caught the metro back to Shenzhen. As we crossed the English signs gradually detoriated. People walked into us. People tried to con us. Children were going to the bathroom in public. Officials were no longer polite and helpful.
"Louise, what are we doing here? Why didn't we go to Hong Kong?" asked Becka.
Oh yeah we also went to Macao. The weather was awful and this, combined with a miserable restaurant meal, has turned me somewhat against it. It was quaint to see Portuguese on every sign-it is a joint official language- but the buildings were a bit bleak, including the tacky casinos everywhere. I was expecting more Portuguese style streets but it ressembled more what a 1980s industrial Portuguese town must have looked like.
When we got off the ferry the Chinese all headed straight to the slot machines while us three laowai pootled off to look at ruined churches. More money is spent on gambling in Macao than in Las Vegas. My mobile phone was bombarded with texts from casinos trying to lure me in.
At the border control was a portuguese looking official who spoke fluent Cantonese. He was very tall and handsome. And spoke fluent Cantonese. I am a little in love.
There were happy Christians giving out free hugs. I got one. However the poor guy couldn't let go of his Chinese aversion to body contact and it wasn't a very good hug.
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