2496 Bank of China building in Hong Kong. Opened on 8-8-88 because the Chinese believe that 8 is a lucky number. Actually it’s in Kowloon but they refer to the island (actual Hong Kong), Kowloon (on the mainland) and the New Territories as Hong Kong.
2510 This is an admittedly poor shot of the tai chi trio I spent some time watching in Kowloon Park. The men are just about to execute the forearm block that she has just finished. Their backsides were at least 18 inches off the ground when they did. It’s not so amazing that she can get that low, but to spring up from there as her raised right arm delivered an upper cut punch was amazing.
2526 Old Girl and her cat Ting Ting from the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars. Her author/artist describes here as, “not a girl and not yet a woman who always keeps a young mind.” Here comic Old Girl’s Diary describes how spicing ‘up her dull life is Old Girl’s everyday task.”
2537 Miss 13 Dots is the only daughter of a of a Hong Kong millionaire. Her author/artist describes her as being ‘independent, lively, avant-garde and fashionable”. She also ‘cares about people with her charitable mind and a strong sense of justice’. She ‘likes to conjure up unusual ideas and act chivalry with her friends.’ In the background you can see a whole series of statues that have a martial arts theme. To be honest, they all look alike to me.
2568 The Star Ferry Terminal, and icon of Hong Kong.
Oct 21 - Hong Kong, China. Today Diana’s going on a city shopping tour that is of almost no interest to me. Actually that’s not exactly the truth; it’s of no interest to me whatsoever. So today’s a rare and wonderful opportunity to spend the day entirely immersed in the local scene. Last time we were in Hong Kong it was raining and cold. I had another day to myself then and I went gopher touring. Gopher touring is where you buy a subway pass and just ride it until you get to a station that looks like it might be an interesting part of town. You get off and go up to the surface. If it’s still raining, there’s no cover and the area doesn’t look interesting you go back down, ride some more and repeat the process until you find somewhere you want to spend some time. Last time I found a neighborhood where there were predominantly martial arts shops, including Tai Chi and Kung Fu schools and the supply shops for their gear. There were also a lot of little restaurants where they cook in the front window. Very photogenic and interesting.
Today however Diana has given me a list of necessities she needs for the trip, mainly medical supplies and getting her sunglasses adjusted. You might wonder how I’m going to get her sunglasses adjusted without taking her head with me. It’s simple actually. I just put on her glasses and feel how uncomfortable they are on me and then get the tech to adjust them to the same level of discomfort. I don’t mind doing this at all because if I didn’t have the list I’d be walking around town anyway.
Diana’s tour left the ship at 8AM and so did I. When you disembark on tours here they let you off on A deck where the busses can get right out on the pier. When you go off on your own you get off on deck 2 and the gangway leads you directly into the second floor of the Harbor Center shopping mall. It’s a pretty upscale place with cafes, restaurants and shops. Right down the stairs from the end of the gangway was a Toys R Us. In fact the entire first floor of this particular hall is completely populated by children’s stores, clothing, toys and the like. Lots of interesting shopping for all the Grandmas on the ship. The benches in the mall are pretty nice as well. In the kids shop hall the benches are all huge chocolate éclairs.
It’s Sunday so there’s not much open at this hour. My first destination is Kowloon (Dragon) Park. It’s right downtown and only about half a mile from the ship. You just walk along the waterfront until you get to the Peninsula Hotel, sister to the place we stayed in Beijing, turn left on Nathan Road, the busiest shopping street in the city, and walk about 8 blocks and you’re there. It’s a fairly large park but the reason I’m heading there is that it’s one place in the city you can see martial arts and tai chi all day long. I’m sure that I’m a bit late for the big crowd but there will be something going on somewhere in the park.
I hit it big. There were people doing all sorts of exercises, Qi Gong and the like, but there were three people doing a very strenuous style of tai chi that lets you see its martial arts roots. I a woman and two men and the woman was clearly superior in her form and flexibility. On some moves she was so low to the ground she appeared to be doing the splits but the next second she’d rise up to finish the form just as fluidly as if she had gotten up from a chair. I sat and watched for a while and almost missed the shot of the day. It’s not a good picture but I caught her just before she sprang up to finish the move. The two men are just getting ready to execute the forearm block that she’s already made along her left leg. If I hadn’t see it I might not have believed it. This was no young woman. She had to be at least 60. Amazing.
I walked over to the lake where they have quite a few waterfowl types, geese, ducks and flamingoes. Diet must not be right they were not very pink. When they’re eating the brine shrimp they love so much they can really get dark.
At the northeast corner of the park I ran into a temporary art exhibit ‘Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars.’ It was larger than life figures done by comic artists, most of them probably popular in the ‘graphic novels’ here in China. Many were in martial arts poses but some were obviously humorous characters. With names like Old Master Q, Old Girl, Little Horse (a young girl) and Miss 13 Dots (definitely not a young girl) the characters were original and, aside from the martial arts characters, kind of charming.
After spending about 1 and a half hours in the park I walked downtown again to see if the drug stores were open yet. Not quite. Actually the stores were open but the pharmacist does not come in until 11AM on Sunday. There’s a McDonalds right across the street so I dropped in for a sausage McMuffin with egg and coffee. It’s actually amazing how, no matter where you are they always taste the same.
At 11AM I hit the pharmacy again and managed to get a couple of bottles of Robitussin DM and a few packages of Sudafed. Both are kept behind the pharmacy desk and that’s why I had to wait for the pharmacist. It was a very nice lady and unlike the USA, pseudoephedrine is not yet a semi-controlled chemical. I was able to get enough to last for the rest of the trip. Diana’s chronic respiratory issues force her to take a lot of this type of medicine and she couldn’t stock up enough to last for the trip.
I think her sunglasses will be ok; they hurt just the right amount when I tried them on.
A leisurely stroll back to the ship got me there just after 2PM. I had a cup of tea and part of a green tea/red bean paste bun that was so unusual I bought it at a café in the Ocean Center to use up the last of my HK$.
The sail away was very nice. We were docked in Hong Kong across the channel from Kowloon and the New Territories. As we sailed out we passed the Star Ferry Terminal that I remember seeing in an early James Bond movie, I just can’t remember which one. Those green and white ferries look just like they did in the ‘60s and probably long before that. They’re steam driven and have a bow and propeller at each end so they don’t have to turn when leaving the pier; they just go back and forth.
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