Seasick on Lamma, then i Rocked Out

My coworker Jayne invited me to her house in Lamma Island, the third largest island in Hong Kong. I was excited because cars aren't allowed on the island.

  

When I arrived at the ferry pier, my ears faintly detected the sound of electric guitar piercing the air followed by heavy drumming. I walked around in search of the source of the sound, which seemed to come from above the pier behind a locked door. Not having heard such sounds in a long time in the land of made-for-karaoke sappy pop, my blood was boiling. Around me, everyone else was putting their palms over their ears and cursing. It was a blessing from the God of Rock whom I met in Lantau Island last weekend.

The ferry ride was bumpy and rocky. My stomach wasn't feeling well since the morning, and this ride certainly did not aid the cause. Once i finally got off though, it was a whole different planet. Lamma is a beautiful island, with rolling hills adjacent to pleasant beaches with the standard HK outdoor seafood restaurants and fishermen. Jayne greeted me at the ferry with her two friendly dogs, and we walked up the hill. I felt transported back to the 1800s, walking past farmers on cement village roads surrounded by overgrown plants and rural houses.

  

Jayne's house perfectly matched the atmosphere of its surroundings - old-fashioned, comfortable and laid back. The living room had calming, cool white walls and floor, and a 2-story high ceiling, with a splash of color provided by a Tai Ping rug. The dogs immediately passed out on the floor, while I drank beer, ate homemade cookies and folded complicated paper airplanes with her adorable 5-year old eldest son, Tai.

  

We took a walk to Jayne's communal garden, where she grew tomatoes and other various plants. I suddenly saw myself being 5 years old, walking with my dad with visitors to see his plot of zucchinis in our communal garden in Colorado. Everybody seemed to know each other on the island, and it was a very pleasant vibe. Most of the residents were foreigners, and most of the kids spoke to each other in English.

When we got back, Spike, the younger son had woken up from his nap, so we headed to Jayne's friend's barbeque party. We walked through a stretch of typical Hong Kong beach-tourist stores, and swung around the corner back into tranquility until we arrived at the host's apartment. By then I was already in love with the island, frozen in time a mere 30 minute ferry ride away from all the madness.

  

Everyone at the barbeque was from somewhere else. They came to Hong Kong either for a business trip or vacation, and stayed. I thought, "maybe I would stay too." With its ultra-modern futuristic metropolis jam-packed with everything high end and luxury, older parts with food stalls and seedy bars, rural villages, mountains, beaches, and Lamma - all within 30 minutes of each other - Hong Kong has something to offer to everyone.

The conversations didn't last too long. After 1 glass of wine, I suddenly became nauseous and sweaty. Having managed to suppress the seasickness after I got of the ferry, it all gushed back after the alcohol weakened my defenses. My vision started to blur, and finally I had to lay down on the couch. It was so embarassing! They probably thought I was a lightweight, and I had no means to explain myself.

Finally, I managed back to Jayne's apartment and slept there for a bit. They asked me to stay over, but I had to wake up early for Dragon Boat racing. I was going to go home and sleep, but as the ferry approached Hong Kong Island, I heard the sound - THE sound - it was heavy metal for sure. The sparse guitar and drum sounds from earlier had ballooned into a full-on death metal moshfest!!

Here's proof that rock n' roll can save humanity. Upon hearing the noise, I quickly forgot about all my fatigue and sickness, and rushed towards the source of the sound. There were 3 more bands to go, and for a mere $160 HK dollars, it was open bar all night!

The bands were allright, but the crowd was insane. Unlike stuck-up New Yorkers who remain completely stiff at a rock show, Hong Kong people probably have so few chances to see rock bands that they were moshing like there was no tomorrow. I was suprised at the amount of people - especially the amount of females - that were partaking in the craziness. It was, simply put, awesome.



A couple of whiskeys later, and after the main act played its final encore, i was truly exhausted. I thanked the God of Rock, and I took a cab home.

Giant Buddhas & Flying Lanterns

I originally planned to visit Kai Ping in China with its impressive Diaolou Fortresses, but as you may have guessed - I was unable to wake up. However, it might be a good sign - being able to sleep until 11:00 am might signify that my jet-lag is gone for good.

So, after calming myself down with some awesome baked seafood rice, and seeing that it was an absolutely beautiful day, I decided to get yet another tourist trap out of the way - the 360 tram to Ngong Ping on Lantau Island. From what I heard, people are generally afraid of this tram because it fell down once during testing, and stopped in mid-air for a couple of hours once. So I figured it shouldn't be that crowded.

However, I shuddered once i got off the MRT at Tung Chung station. The line was HUGE. It winded around and around and around up some stairs and past the ticket booth. Finally, i got on. The view was okay, there wasn't anything particularly spectacular, actually...


Once i got to the top, i was greeted by a gift store and a whole fake village selling tourist amenities. There was a bizarre "Walking with Buddha" interactive exhibit complete with a neon boddhi tree. And of course, you have to pay to learn about Enlightenment. There was also a equally bizarre"monkey king" performance for a younger audience. All that just to sell a giant buddha! Guess he'll be needing the cash.


I rushed out of the fake village into Po Lin Monastery. This place was quite unimpressive, but i've probably seen too many temples to give it a fair judgement. At some point they stop looking special to me. Same as cathedrals, they are all built so similarly that they dont really wow me anymore. And I saw monks chatting away on quite new-model cell phones. Yes, the price to Enlightenment is high.


However, i discovered ... the god of rock!!!


Despite the giant crowd slowly trudging its way up the stairs, the big buddha was worth seeing. Amidst all the chaos and extravaganza, he remains peacefully seated upright and looking straight forward. Whereever one may hide on this mountain — into the woods, on the cable car, in the fake village, his towering presence looms, keeping a sense of dignity and reminding people what this place originally meant.


I trotted into the woods, and came upon another monument of religious kitsch - the Wisdom Path. Numerous havled tree-trunks were erected on a loop around a hill, with the "heart sutra" carved into each one. The heart sutra preaches emptiness. And this is as empty as a tourist attraction could ever be. However, I genuinely enjoyed it, again proving that not all touristy sites are evil. I had a nice stroll along the path, with the silhouettes of the tree trunks moving amongs each other - it was quite refreshing and a great view of the dam at the top.


It was getting dark, and I did not feel like lining up for the cable car again. So, i took a bus to Mui Wo - where I could transfer to the ferry back to Central. Once I arrived at this charming, sleepy fishing town, I had 40 minutes to spend. I took a stroll along the shore - and encountered what was to be one of the most magical moments of my trip - Sky Lanterns.

Though not nearly as large in scale as the massive Sky Lantern festival in Taiwan, it was a treat to watch. People would write their wishes on a massive lantern, and they would light it and send it up to the sky, and about 5 minutes later, (presumably after the wishes are heard) crashes back to the ground in a fiery fury. I decided to stay and skip to the next ferry. They started by lighting off the lanterns one-by-one, and gradually increased to three at a time. When I finally found the perfect spot to balance my camera to snap as shot of the three lanterns - my camera went out of battery.



So I sat down and enjoyed the rest of the show, packed up and went home.

Kyna's in town and I'm a Tourist

Kyna was in town for a day, so we met up for lunch. We went for Islamic food - and i really have to say, the food here is truly mind-blowing. The picture can't do the food justice, nor can words, so I will not even try.


After that we walked around in Mong Kok, which is a extremely packed roadside shopping district with various stalls, small shops, and roadside eateries. Each street has a different theme. There is one street devoted to fishes, lizards and other pets such chinchillas. I remember this area well. One of my customary trips when I came to HK every year as a child was to go to Mong Kok and get a Dragonball Z sweatshirt.


After Kyna left, I decided to get the tourist traps out of the way - so I headed to Avenue of the Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui. Well, touristy or not, the view of the Hong Kong Island skyline was quite amazing, and the promenade itself was quite pleasant and large enough that one could easily find a spot to tune out the massive hordes of people and just gaze across the river into the bright neon.


Some weird display celebrating the Olympics

A long walk through Kowloon

Today I met up with my friend Grace and we traversed a huge chunk of Kowloon, from Wong Tai Sin to To Kwa Wan. Saw many interesting cultural and historical sights along the way.

First stop was the Wong Tai Sin Temple, where people come to pray and have their fortune told.


Then we walked to Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen, which is the last walled village in the Hong Kong/Kowloon area. It's surrounded by a thick wall, used to keep out enemies and wild animals. It is scheduled to be demolished soon, which is a pity.

This is the entrance:


This is a typical street in the village:


The address signs are simply written:



We met an old lady wandering around looking for her turtle. She finally found it and started showing and telling us how hard it is to raise these brazilian turtles. I managed to take a picture of the inside of her house, where 4 little kids were playing mahjong. It's not really so different from a regular cramped HK apartment. This is just the living area, where the bathroom and kitchen are in a separate compound down the street.


There were these beautiful red flowers all over the street outside the village.


Then we went to the Kowloon Walled City Park. This was formerly the ultimate Sin City, being the only place in Hong Kong not under British Rule. Neglected by China, it turned into a haven for criminals and drug-users, and the Hong Kong Police were unable to enter it. Finally, the British and the Chinese agreed to evacuate and demolish it, and it transformed into this park.


Next we went to Song Wong Toi Park, where the last Song Dynasty King, pursued by Mongol troops who had taken over the country, fled to Hong Kong and rested on this rock. He commited suicide shortly afterwards.

Our final stop was the Cattle Depot artist commune, which used to be a slaughterhouse. Now it functions as studios for many artists and performance groups, and holds many exhibitions in its space.

Pomelo Skin Shrimp Egg

It's impossible to be an efficient pedestrian in Hong Kong. After 3 days, I still have not been able to find a direct walking route from my apartment to the subway station, which is literally across the street. First of all, the buses are twice the size of New York buses, and they move twice as fast. Don't even think about jay-walking, they will mow you down without mercy. Also, most of the sidewalks are fenced off so you cannot cross at whatever point you like. Even on most street corners, there are not any places to cross. There are sky-bridges that one can utilize, but for some reason this particular one on my intersection has entrances on all corners besides my corner of the street.

So, it takes me about 15 minutes of looping around just to get to the other side.

Met up with Jeremy, my pal from Architecture school after work today. We walked around Central for a bit, and took the tram to this Wonton Noodle shop which, despite its humble interior and storefront, was one of the best meals i've had in Asia, hands down. I rarely run across food that i had never tried nor imagined before. And it was undescribably good.

Pomelo skin with Shrimp Egg + Bamboo + Dried Wonton Noodle + Coca-Cola

Working

First day at work. Jayne, the correspondent in my department here, came to pick me up. We went to eat some congee for breakfast and she showed me how to get to the office. It's about a 45 minute commute from my apartment.

Kwai Chung, where my office is located, is not nearly "the middle of nowhere" as my boss repeatedly describes it... there are plenty of small shops, roadsiade eateries, and tons of people. The office itself, while a far cry from the New York office, did not seem so bad either. It's huge. I was introduced to the 70+ employees there, and I dont remember a single name.

Work was pretty uneventful, still seriously jet-lagged. Went and got a cell-phone after work, Josephine's friend helped me find some sweet $299 HKD phone deal. Ate dinner at some tea-restaurant, I passed out at the table while waiting for food.

Here's a pic of my work space.


This is Causeway Bay, the area which I live in.


And this is the service apartment i'm staying in.

Crazy Beginnings

So I'm here. New York ended on a high note with five straight days of fare-well partying and a bang with my show at Staten Island. Thanks to everyone who showed up in one of the five days. Despite being in a warmer place now, despite having been completely sick of the Big Apple, I'm actually going to miss it because of y'all.

The flight here was crazy from the start. Immediately after they annouced the first boarding call (for Business Class), the entire mob rushed the airline employees and tried to squeeze in at the same time. I heard this woman say to her kids in Cantonese, "Hey, we should try to get in even though we're not in business class, lets GOOO!!!" Then her whole family rushed into the mob, while the airline employee, forced into a corner now, was desperately screaming "GIVE ME SOME SPACE, GIVE ME SOME SPACE...!!!" I felt really ashamed. Is this how Chinese people behave in public all around the world???

Then, on the plane, everything seemed to calm down, chaos erupted again. Some guy accidently opened another guy's bag, and it turned into a 4-row shouting match. It got more and more intense and more people started to join in. The last bit of dialogue was like this: (For some reason, they were yelling in English, while they all talked to the flight attendants in Cantonese.)

"YOU WANT TO FIGHT? I CAN FIGHT ALL FOUR OF YOU, ONE TWO THREE FOUR!!"
"Oh wow, that's very good. You actually know how to count to four!!"
"(cantonese expletive)!!!"

then punches started flying... there was even a poor woman trapped between two guys that were punching each other out. Finally the flight attendant managed to break off the whole ordeal and made everyone change seats.

As I was waiting at the baggage claim, I did not see any of those who participated in the chaos. I felt a bit relieved. I do not know their final destinations, but at least they were not from Hong Kong. (Though later i was told that this kind of scene does happen a lot in Hong Kong.)