A whole new world

I had a day off last week and mainly did a lot of wandering around. It was rainy and cold, but when I got to see the view of the ocean I decided that Hong Kong wore the rain well :) It kind of made it worth it to see how beautiful the ocean and sky were.

Since I am not sure I'll ever get the chance to see Hong Kong again I want to see what is truly "Hong Kong". The problem with this is that there seems to be so little that is truly original Hong Kong anymore. There are stores and people from all over the world. I sit on the tram and can hear 4 or 5 different languages. I walk down the street and can go to some of the stores I see at home or read about in magazines. Most of them are even written in English. When I ask what people do in Hong Kong or what I should be sure to do while I'm here the almost universal answer is shopping. That being the case I figured museums might be more likely to show at least some of what the culture used to be. 

I found my way down to the star ferry using the many bridges that connect the buildings in Hong Kong (guess who didn't get lost!). Right outside of the ferry is the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Since the entire city seemed to be based around the port and to have grown through out history because of it I figured that was a good start (besides, I could find it :P ). 

I found the museums in China and Hong Kong  to be different than those I have encountered in the states. I love the stories and hearing of the people, which is why I can spend hours just reading the placks telling of the history in Americsn museums. This is not as much so the case here. The first floor had many models of the different ships and different artifacts, but unfortunately (for me) the focus was different. It seemed to me to be more of a listing of events, artifacts, and types of ships rather than going into details of the people and stories. There were certainly some interesting parts but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. At least I felt more informed about the history of the place I am currently staying. Here are a couple of pics from it.

I thought this was an interesting sort of ship. The Chinese ships have changed so much throughout history with so many variations 

I truly thought these were awesome. The different navigation devices.

After I went upstairs I found they had an exhibition dedicated to John Thomson's photographic capturings of Hong Kong from1868-72. That was truly exactly what I was hoping to find. There weren't many descriptions or stories here either, but the pictures told their own stories of the people and the times. I thought it was beautiful. 

The rest of the museum was devoted to the more modern aspects of Hong Kong's maritime experience, which I quickly scanned through since I was getting hungry by that point. I took way too much time reading everything at the beginning. I blame my dad for teaching me to take every opportunity to learn what I can, and my mother for making politeness and care for others and their efforts a top priority. I can't help but think of the effort people put into the exhibits and feel obligated to give them my full attention :P

Afterwards I decided to do the tourist thing and take the star ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui. That is where most all of the tourists go for shopping all of the name brands. There were also supposed to be some museums and the star walk there as well. I figured I needed to at least try the ferry and check it out. Getting on the ferry was probably a bigger deal to me than it should have been. I'm used to Ohio and West Virginia. The whole public transportation thing is a big, scary, crazy adventure to me every time! I am learning though. Now I have conquered tram, metro, fast train, taxi, bus, and ferry all while being on this China/Hong Kong adventure. I am very proud, don't judge. Here is the view from the ferry. It was cute and quaint with an all dark wood interior. 

I got off the ferry and into the rain. Since I only had an hour or two before I was supposed to meet Amy (a friend who works with MedArt) for dinner I decided to just wander. I walked in the first store to the side and was immediately overwhelmed! I wandered in and up and down stairs through interconnected hallways feeling more and more out of place. I have never seen so many so expensive things all in one place! Most of the stores were famous name brands and designer clothing like Prada and Louis Vuitton and so so so so so many more I have never even heard of. Honestly I was content to wander around completely lost, look at windows, and attempt to come to terms with the completely overwhelmed and out of place feeling I was feeling. I was too nervous to go into more than one or two of the less prestigious stores that were already full of people so I could blend in. Everyone I saw wandering around looked as if to they had simply woken up and walked off the page of a magazine with perfect hair and obviously expensive clothing. My assortment of Walmart clothing, blues dance sweatshirt, and JC Penny's on sale coat felt awfully out of place. When two gentlemen on the street offered to sell me "genuine" purses I almost laughed. I was probably the least likely person to buy a purse there,  "genuine" or genuine. 

One of the things about Hong Kong is that appearance is everything. I was talking to one of my friends here and apparently much is based on the appearance of a person. With fashion so prevalent a thing in Hong Kong it is only natural that people's adherence to it would play a part in their social outlook. She was explaining to me that plastic surgery is becoming very common practice in the young women to try and achieve the perfect anime-esque feature with the large eyes, small round face, and perfectly V'd chin. It all just seems so different to me. I know America has a large draw for the perfect figure, slender athletic body with a large chest and nice tan, but the whole perfecting your face thing seems a little outrageous. Maybe it's because in America we have so many varieties of facial structures claiming one specific type is the epitome of beauty is outrageous, even for societies unrealistic expectations. Then again I know I am oblivious to a lot of the societal pressures. Maybe it's there and I haven't seen it. My personal experience with clothing is a perfect example. I know some people in America wear name brand clothing and are perfectly giddy over the idea of Gucci or Coach (I am running out of brands I have heard of at this point). Perhaps if I was one of them rather than someone whose wardrobe is mainly compliments of Walmart, various sale-racks, and the occasional thrift shop find I wouldn't have been quite so out of my league. 

Anyways! I finished my rather dazzling experience and encountered the clock tower on my way back to the ferry making the endeavor worthwhile (unfortunately seeing the lines standing in the rain to be one of the three people at a time allowed in the Prada store didn't quite do it for me). It was complete with historical plack and looked beautiful framed in the story sky.

I ended the evening with a delightful meal with Amy. She took me out for Dim Sum, which is a variety of dishes served in small portions. We got a little bit of a lot of different ones and I absolutely loved pretty much everything. 

BBQ staffed sweet tool, a sweet cake like egg bread, shrimp stfuffed balls, qspring rolls, beef meat balls, and sticky rice in a lots leaf. We also got vegetables which turned out to be boiled lettuce. I had never thought of boiling lettuce until I got here....

That was my interesting and stormy day before returning to my baby girl.

Picture tour!

So I haven't written because there really wasn't anything new to write about other than the trials and joys of living in a hospital and being stand in mommy to a delightfully incorrigible two year old. She has won over everyone on our floor, makes new friends daily, and has me steadily avoiding the thought of ever letting her go. She has a delightful way of going up to strangers and assuming they have a secret longing to be her best friend and share all of their snacks with her. As it turns out, she is pretty much always correct in this assumption. She smiles, and everyone is instantly at her beck and call. She puts the powers of cuteness to a whole new level, but I can't complain, she always makes ME smile. Well that pretty much sums up all of that part of my life.

The other thing that has happened, is that I have finally had a day off and some adventures! I went sight seeing around Hong Kong (and didn't get lost almost all day! That might be the most exciting part. I'm very very good at getting lost). I won't go into too much detail. I wondered around with a sketch of a plan and spent all day outside, and a lot of it surrounded by green things and a perfect sort of day. It was sunny with a light breeze in the 60s and I was I heaven after living in the hospital with. O sunshine for so long. Besides, I missed my trees. I saw St. John's cathedral, the hong kong zoological and botanical gardens, took the tram up to "the peak" and walked down again, and finally wondered around tiredly down town before returning to put my baby girl to bed. Over all a fulfilling day. I will give you all a picture tour now to sum up all of it!

Picture from the public tram so you can see what an average hing kong street looks like

And of course a Mc Donald's in Hong Kong. There are 7 elevens, Mc Donald's, and Starbucks every few streets with an occasional subway and KFC mixed in. 

I wandered down the street and followed the signs pointing to areas of public interest including St. John's Cathedral. I believe it is Anglican. Apparently it has been there a very long time and has a very rich history with some interesting places acknowledging noteable persons. This is the inside.

The out side

Next was the zoological and botanical gardens

I know it's a bad picture, but by the pond there are a variety of fluffy headed birds

This one made me laugh. Coming from ohio to see a big fat pampered raccoon in a zoo was borderline hysterical to me.

I believe this is the Pygmy marmoset, teeny teeny tiny, and it moved so slowly. This might have been one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.

There seem to be a ton of turtles and tortoises in Hong Kong. I have seen a lot of shops mainly devoted to selling turtles, both as pets and as dinner.

Then was the peak tram up to the peak where there was a splendid 360 degree view of Hong Kong complete with audio tour. 

My attempts at selfies were a little ridiculous with the sun and the bad focusing and such, but I have proof I was there!

This was actually my favorite view. The opposite side of the building where there was no crowd, but the view showed more of the original and natural beauty of Hong Kong. There was something about that little inlet that just seemed so secret and magical to me.

Trying new Hong Kong style food. The spicey noodles with onion pork and cold "milk tea" (something I'm finding to be a big thing in Hong Kong). It was all very good. The tea is a stronger, more bitter black tea, but it has grown on me. The vegetables are they typical veggies served with food here. It's kind of like a spinach thing.

Then I walked all the very long way down the peak. It was lovely though. Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice. My iPad can only do so much.

Since I have been asked what a "squatty potty" looks like. 

Finally wandering the city at night. Hong Kong is a lovely city at night with all of its lights. Besides, it really is rather spectacular since it is near Christmas and they decorate on a rather large scale. Seeing sky scrapers adorned in Christmas light shows and greetings is a delightful thing indeed, especially by the water. 

I wish I could have captured some of the beauty better, unfortunately the blurry pictures I have will have to do.

Another wonder of Hong Kong is the famous horse races that happen to go on every Wednesday night outside my window. Here is a picture of that, though of course not the best quality.

There you are! That was my adventure. I'll share when ever I have another, maybe next week :)