We’re just recapping our trip to Hong Kong, from which we returned
late on Friday night. We wrote about the first half of the trip in our lastpost.
Grace had found a
nice two-bedroom apartment right in the heart of Causeway Bay so we got to
explore that area a bit, including wandering into the gigantic Happy Valley Racecourse that is home to horse races, joggers, and other athletic
activities.
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| Happy Valley Racecourse |
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| setting up bamboo scaffolding |
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| an example of bamboo scaffolding |
Kathy and Michael
had really enjoyed their time in the Hong Kong Park aviary so on Wednesday we
set out to explore neighboring HK Botanical Gardens, which also had an aviary
as well as other animal exhibits. Grace and I left them there to go off to the
neighborhood of Sheung Wan, where had some restaurants we wanted to try and
stores to explore.
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| Scarlet Ibises at the park |
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| restaurant recommended to us from Foodie Tour last trip |
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| looking into a side street market from second floor of tram |
On Wednesday
night we were planning our next day, which we had hoped to feature a trip out
to Lantau Island and a beautiful cable car ride up to a giant Buddha and monastery
with grand views of the whole area. Unfortunately, the cable car was closed for
repairs so we had to come up with an alternate plan. One of the tourist
brochures we had included a detailed description of a heritage walk amongst
centuries-old Chinese buildings out in the New Territories of Hong Kong, not
too far from mainland China. We decided to take the hour-long train ride out to
do the Ping Shan Heritage Trail (here's a link that describes every building we saw). It ended up being a really fun day, despite
the grey weather. The walk took us through a normal, working neighborhood with
historic buildings sticking out alongside contemporary buildings.
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| Tsui Sing Lau pagoda, oldest in Hong Kong |
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| Shrine of the Earth God, back view |
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| Shrine of the Earth God, front view |
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| wall portion from old walled village (with modern updates) |
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| entrance into old walled village |
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| walking to next sight |
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| Yeung Hau Temple |
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| inside Yeung Hau Temple |
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| Yeung Hau Temple |
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| part of walk showing juxtaposition of old and new |
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| one of the giant courtyards inside Tang Ancestral Hall, about 700 years old |
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| guard painted on door |
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| Yu Kui Ancestral Hall is built right next door to Tang Ancestral Hall |
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| people's homes are right next door |
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| awesome tables, half-circle area is cutting board for meat with giant rounded cleavers |
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| front view of two ancestral halls |
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| another door guard |
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| inside Kun Ting Study Hall |
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| guards on doors of last temple, closed due to termite damage |
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| the neighborhood |
After the walk,
we stopped off in Kowloon to show Grace’s parents the promenade, with great
views of Hong Kong Island, before heading back to our apartment.
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| looking towards Hong Kong Island |
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| a surprise in the grocery store |
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| on promenade looking towards HK Island |
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| walking past outdoor claypot rice stand later that night |
On Friday, we had
to check out of our apartment but had a night flight. We were able to store our
bags in lockers in a nearby mall, though, so we were able to enjoy a full day
of activities. We started things off with a quick tour of the Hong Kong flowershow in Victoria Park, home to many flowers and lots of incredible cameras.
After the flower show, we went over to Kowloon to show Michael and Kathy one of
our favorite meals there (a delicious Indian stand in the bottom of Chungking Mansions) do some shopping, and check out Kowloon Park.
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| Mak's near our apartment (very similar to Grace's grandmother's nickname) |
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| this has to be the unofficial motto of Hong Kong (inside Times Square mall) |
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| Filipinos performing tinikling inside flower show |
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| lots of cameras...and flowers |
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| incredible display of bonsai trees |
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| stopped by students practicing English in Kowloon |
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| even in Kowloon Park real estate was at a premium |
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| flamingos in Kowloon Park |
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| Kowloon park |
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| a street scene back in Causeway Bay |
Our flight left
at 10:00pm so we landed in Manila around midnight. We’ve just been recovering
and getting things ready for our last month here. On Monday evening I gave a
talk at the Institute of Philippine Culture here at Ateneo, where I’ve been a
visiting researcher. We also had a nice dinner on Sunday with some friends.
Grace has some more activities planned for her parents’ last week in Manila.
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