Well day two (or three - I've lost track) is nearly over and again I have managed to navigate myself around the usual tourist traps and tick off more of what I am lothe to say, the lonely planet must-sees.
Yesterday afternoon I visited the Stanley Markets...I thought I would be ubber clever and walk to Stanley Road from the bottom of the peak tram station. To my utter surprise I made it and then realised that the Stanley markets aren't on Stanley Rd, they are in the Stanley district on the other side of the Island. Dah. So I made myself better by shopping at the sales that seemed to be everywhere and having a look around Soho. Then I jumped on a bus (which broke down halfway) to Stanley. I didn't realise we were at the markets so I stayed on the bus and ended up at the prison. I am not sure if this is a tourist attraction or not but an entire family got off and went in. Given that there were men with guns, I decided to walk back to the markets. Once I'd had my fill of looking at over-priced crap, I headed back to Central for another trip on the Star Ferry - my new favourite mode of transport.
At 8pm they have the Guiness book record breaking symphony of lights on the harbour. I joined the hundreds of others to watch this and oooh and aaah as the buildings put on a sickening display of neon lighting and laser beams. Obviously global awareness and all that jazz hasn't got as far as hong kong. My view of the whole experience may have been tainted by the child that kept screaming and sitting on my foot or the four drunk american males who spilt beer on me.
Finding dinner was the next hilarious experience. I can't tell what is good and safe and what isn't and half the time I can't read the menu. So I took Christine's advice and looked for the place that was full of locals. Talk about being made to feel useless. They made me move twice as I was alone and they needed the table, so I had to eat my noodles with a young couple who were clearly on a date. I may not have helped things by constantly splashing the girl with the juice from my noodle soup - hey I'm still getting the hang of eating noodles with chopsticks on a regular basis. Word to the wise, don't order anything that has the word 'combo' in it. That means it cold be anything. I ended up with the most random selection of marinated items ever - including boiled egg. It was so much fun though. I am loving that making a mess on the table is a good sign - I make one hell of a mess and one the person beside me's table as well.
The day today started a little too abruptly when my phone started ringing for the second morning in a row at 7am. I am beginning to think that someone is either casing my room or somehow the owner of my slum has decided I need a daily wake-up call. Nice of him. Then my hot water - which I have to turn on 10mins before I want to shower - decided that it didn't want to stay hot for more than 2mins. Of course it was the day I decided to wash my hair. Cold showers and air-con don't mix that well. The other funny thing about my room is that the small window I have doesn't have a curtain and I discovered the other day, when I got out of the shower and stepped into my room, looks straight into 4 rooms of the Holiday Inn. So whoever is in those rooms has been getting a free Torie show for the past few days. Whoops!
So anyway, I decided that I needed to get away from the chaos of Hong Kong central and Kowloon for a day and headed over to Lantau Island to converse with Big Buddha. The ferry ride across was slow and the skyrail/cable car is closed indefinately so I had a 45min bus trip once I got to the island. It was well worth it though. The big seated Buddha at the Po Lin monestary was magnificent. I saw standing Buddha (along with every other Buddha in Bangkok) when I was in Thailand but this one was way cooler. Solid brass and when you stood at the top you could hear them inside working on him. It was stinking hot and humid so the climb up the steps was a little challenging. Thankfully an older Australian tourist offered to take my picture halfway up the steps. He later confessed that it was more so that he could take a rest and prepare for the rest of the climb.
As an aside,one thing I have noticed about being a female travelling around Hong Kong by myself is that people smile at me for no reason, everyone wants to sell me a fake rolex and the old male tourists all stare at me. One yucky old guy who I think was German, followed my every move as I walked around the Buddha and through the exhibition hall. I was worried they were going to make me sit with him at lunch.(ok there is a kid watching me type and now his mother is talking to me in some language I definitely don't understand and pointing at the screen - I'm choosing to ignore her).
Anywho, as part of the package I bought at the Buddha, I got to have a vegetarian lunch at the Po Lin monestary. Nothing too exciting except it gave me an opportunity to taste the best tofu ever! And I got to practice my shop-stick skills in a hall of hundreds of people eating and talking. So much for my seeking tranquillity.
Back to Kowloon for a little nap and to my surprise, I walked in on the cleaner in my room. I didn't even know they cleaned my room! She had even folded my pjs and the sarong I have been sleeping under. Who knew. When you see the photos of my room you'll understand my surprise.
I ventured to the Ladies market in search of shoes and handbags. Sam if you are reading this I hope you appreciate the lengths I went to to find you a fake L.V wallet. I ended up being taken by the arm into some random apartment to look at the hundreds of fake bags and wallets that they are apparently not allowed to sell on the streets. I was terrified. I waited until my tout turned her back and then made a run for it...literally. One of the guys in there saw me leaving and yelled for the girl, I assume they wanted to stop me. Needless to say I came away without a bag and definitely no wallet. I was a little disappointed with the markets actually. I think that I was expecting prices to be dirt cheap like in Thailand. Sadly they weren't and the shoes all had bloody glitter or funny baubles on them. Not my thing. I will try again tomorrow though just in case there is something different. I also jumped on the MTR (thus completing my attempt to take every form of transport in Hong Kong) and went to the temple street night market. Yeah, 6pm is too early for a night market. That will have to be another thing I attempt tomorrow night.
SO now I find myself at the Pacific Coffee company on the waterfront typing furiously on the free computer while the staff watch me like a hawk. The internet is everywhere here in hotels and homes but it is near impossible to get an internet cafe. There is one in the Chungking Mansions but given that I am quite terrified walking around there except to go straight up to my slum room, I am not game to venture there again. This will sound awful but where I am staying seems to be the only place in Hong Kong which is nearly all Indian run and they are all tailors who yell "Missy Missy, you want suit? Nicely tailored. Cheap" everytime I walk past. They also sell rooms in hostels if you have a pack on. Then all the people that are staying in the Mansions seem to be African and huge. Not normally a concern but when I am lining up trying to get the lift to my room at night, it is a little intimidating. I am surviving though and kinda like the adventure. I've now discovered the back entrance down an alleyway to my hostel so scoot down there instead of waiting 15mins for the single working lift.
Right if you have made it this far, congratulations. I'll probably have a patch of silence while I'm in China on Monday and then on to the Phils, so you have a repreave from my ramblings.
If anyone has any goss whatsoever, please email me. I am having gossip withdrawal.
Torie
xxx
