Sunday, March 16, 2014

Hong Kong Part 2


Our night in Hong Kong began with all 9 of us going out together!  First we got a spot along the waterfront to take in the nightly light show that happens over the harbor.  There were tons of people out watching as the dozens of skyscrapers lit up in sync with music playing.  Then we were off to the Temple Street night market, led by Sergii and Anastasia.  It was pretty much the same as the lady's market, but it did have a different energy since it was nighttime.  I and a lot of fun finding souvenirs and bargaining and just feeding on the energy of the night.  It reminded me of a street fair in NYC.  One thing that's also great about Hong Kong is that there is free WiFi all over the place.  In fact during the night market I was able to call my dad and talk for a while.  

Our dinner that night turned out to be pretty interesting as well.  I had heard and Sergii also encouraged that we should take advantage of the street food near the night market.  At the cross streets there are open restaurants with casual seating out on the street and kitchens offering traditional Chinese fare.  I am a pretty adventurous eater, but even I was finding the whole situation pretty crazy.  The people trying to get us seated were all pretty messy looking and once we were seated they sort of threw sticky menus at us and handed us some cloudy glasses to pour water into.  We also saw a VERY dirty fingernail scrape off some dirt on a bowl sitting on the table.  Immediately we had lost 2 girls.  They refused to eat, but were kind enough to let our eating adventure continue.  

Eventually we all got food ordered and just sort of laughed at the situation, but also loved how bizarre it all was.  When the food came my jaw dropped; I had ordered "spicy chicken" and sitting before me was a plate of red hot peppers and some small pieces of chicken mixed in with them.  I mean- it was a plate piled so high with peppers that I had to dig to find chicken and I couldn't breather without coughing.  I took one bite and pushed it aside because there was just no way I could eat anymore.  The noodles and things were fine, though, and the night ended with a laugh as I argued to not pay the full price of the meal since it was practically inedible.  I couldn't argue much when the cashier said, "You order spicy chicken.  You say chicken is spicy."  Yeah- no problem there, I suppose.  The night went on as we found a couple fun bars and a lot more crew from the ship, out and about enjoying Hong Kong!

Cable car to Big Buddha
The next day me and the singer girls had a mission: Lantau Island and Big Buddha.  We had heard about this site, so we took the train out to Lantau and made it to a cable car.  The cable car ride over these mountains was really cool.  It's about a 25 minute ride, but our cable car was surrounded by quite a bit of fog.  It made for a pretty eerie and interesting ride, but we were bummed to miss some of the scenery.  Once we reached the end of the cable car we were in a sort of make-believe fishing village.  This village was built specifically for the site, but it was still pretty charming and had some nice little restaurants and cafes.  

Big Buddha!
We walked up toward the Buddha and through the mist and fog we got our first glimpses.  This is the largest seated, bronze Buddha statue in the world.  I don't really know how impressive a title that is, but it was a cool thing to see.  We walked up a bunch of steps to reach the Buddha, walked around and enjoyed being a bit further away from the hubbub of the city.  The fog came and went throughout our morning at Big Buddha, but we did get some good views.  The morning finished up with a walk around another temple up there and quick lunch at one of the restaurants.  
Happy the fog cleared

We were anxious to get back, though, and upon our return I had one more errand to make, and just enough time to get it done: I had to pick up my suit!  My fitting the night before had gone pretty well, with me trying on a basic shell of a suit- one sleeve, halfway completed pants, etc.  When I arrived, though, I got to try on my completed suit.  I honestly don't know how they do it!  They had gotten every detail done, from pocket linings to changing the line of a pant leg, to even stitching my name on the inside of the jacket.  It was pretty cool and I have already enjoyed wearing it on board the ship!  Hong Kong was such a success.  I was overwhelmed with how much there was to do and see, but I feel like I got a really full experience and this was one of my favorite ports yet!  

On to the next, 
Tripp



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