Hong Kong!

Today was our cabin steward, Armando's, last day. Tomorrow he flies home to the Philipines for 3 months, after working on the Explorer for his latest 9 month tour. Like many of the crew, Armando has worked for Semester at Sea for years. He has kept our rooms in tip-top shape and we will miss him!

We began our first day in Hong Kong at the Bird Market.

Next up was the Flower Market....

Followed by another market containing many things--including cheap Lego's!

The Goldfish Market had lots of fish and turtles.

We stopped by the Penninsula Hotel before heading to the ferry to see another part of Hong Kong, namely Hong Kong Island. We are staying across from Hong Kong Island in Kowloon, a district of Hong Kong which is adjacent to another district to the north called the New Territories. Hong Kong shares a border with China via the New Territories. The waterfront area in Hong Kong is under construction right now as are many areas in Hong Kong--there is a lot of building going on for a place without much land space left to build on. Hong Kong Island contains most of financial and corporate offices of Hong Kong. When people say "Hong Kong" they are usually referring to the whole "city", which is actually made up of 260 islands, many of which are small and uninhabited. Sometimes when in Hong Kong, people say "Hong Kong" to refer to Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong was ruled by the British for over a century. In 1997, Hong Kong was returned by the British to China. Hong Kong now operates under the "one country, two systems" principle, meaning many of the capitalist ventures of Hong Kong continue even though the city is under the communist rule of China. Everyone seems to have a different take on this system, but mostly it seems that Hong Kong people are relieved that they are able to maintain the way of life they have built over the past century.

We headed to the escalator which is a fascinating series of escalators connecting Hong Kong Island's Midland area, which contains high rise apartment buildings up the side of a mountain, with the more commercial area. The escalators, which snake through commercial and residencial buildings follow a commuter schedule and run down in the mornings and up in the evenings.

We passed lots of buildings and the more rundown buildings and the laundry caught my eye.

We stopped at a lovely mosque and looked over the wall into an adjacent courtyard area.

We walked through the large and beautiful Zoological and Botanical Gardens and ended at a playground where the boys enjoyed running around with the local kids.

We passed St Joseph Catholic Church and then went to St John's Cathedral, the second oldest building in Hong Kong.


On Sundays in Hong Kong, all of the city's domestic helpers--mostly young Filipino women--gather throughout the city for their day off to meet with one another, share a meal, play cards, ship boxes home, etc. Some 300,000 workers gather in the city center, many of them setting up cardboard structures similar to homeless dwellings in order to create a small private space for themselves.


We made our way to Soho, an area known for its restaurants. We passed several markets on the way, including fish and meat.


The restaurant where we ate dinner had its own shrine. Steve ordered a tofu and (reconstituted) salted fish dish; we let him eat most of that himself!


Back in the Kowloon district, we looked across the water to Hong Kong for a light and sound show that plays each evening. We walked through the Hong Kong Cultural Center which was magnificent. Loads of great theatre, dance and music events upcoming--but none while we are here.

We ended our evening at the Temple Street Night Market, where many trinkets were for sale, and we tried our hand at bargaining for some gifts. Charis got her palm and cards read by a fortune teller--not surprisingly, she received all good, if generic, news. This small shrine was one of many we passed on the street.

Here are short video clips of the Bird Market, some fortune tellers, and one of the crazy kareoke singers at the Night Market.