The Hong Kong skyline is something to behold – especially at night. The very first time I saw it during the day I was blown away; night time is even more spellbinding. Many building have lasers on top of them and perform nightly light displays. Got to get back here the next time they shoot fireworks!

I took a series of 4 pics on a slow timer and assembled the panorama by hand. I tried out various stitching programs and they were all lousy. And the pollution cloud on the right side isn’t really pollution; it’s my bad and impatient Photoshop technique.

By the way, comments still don’t work.   But, someone trying to sell me Cialis figured out how to leave a comment on one of my old posts.

I had to check out of the hotel at noon on Tuesday. So, after finishing up some work, I went downstairs, asked the concierge about the tram going to the top of Victoria Peak (overlooking Hong Kong), and checked out. I needed to return at 5pm to pick up my visa. I hoped there would be no trouble. As soon as I stepped outside though, my spirits sank – a lousy foggy day. There would be no views at all of the ciy from the top of the peak. Well, I decided I would take the ferry over to the main island and set off for the IFC, the International Financial Center. The IFC is the area around the IFC building, the tallest in Hong Kong, and the 5th highest in the world, just behind the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Jin Mao building in Shanghai.

The impressive IFC Tower:

Just beyond the IFC is a great area for shopping and dining speckled with parks and such. I figured I’d just go wandering here. Hong Kong is a pretty small city in terms of land mass and you can cover a lot of ground just by walking. I was hoping to get into the IFC and ride the elevator, but a card key was needed. Instead, I went up the escalator and out of the doors into a large and luxurious mall, one of many that I would pass through today (it’s hard to avoid).

Scenes near the IFC (the first picture is especially for the Meshew. Ain’t no ‘swap meet’ here, homes.):

Beyond that, I followed tunnels and raised and enclosed sidewalks that connected buildings like a mouse in a maze. I won’t recount all of the individual places I went to (bo-ring), but I saw plenty of stores and restaurants. The parks were a nice respite from the elegant concrete jungle and were cared for with fastidious attention. I snapped lots of pictures of buildings from parks.

On the map, I spotted “World’s Longest Escalator” near where I was. I had to check that out. Well, it’s nothing exciting. It’s basically a series of escalators that take you up part of the mountain into the residential areas. It was fun following them though. In between I’d stop and check something out. I stopped and had a fabulous lunch at a Lebanese place. At the top of the escalator, I didn’t have the view that I was hoping for (too many huge apartments in the way), so I just meandered along more twisting sidewalks back down into the main part of the city. Along the way, I passed through a small zoo which featured tons of monkeys and birds. I didn’t hang around too long; I was more intent on exploring. Taking time at a zoo is more fun when you’re with someone else. I ended up in Hong Kong Park, passing the spot where I would have taken the tram, the US embassy, among others. More pictures, more malls, and I eventually ended up at the Admiralty subway station where I made my way back to Kowloon and my hotel.

Lebanese restaurant (on the right):

Some more sites around the Soho area (near the escalator):

Some shots of apartment high rises:

This is kinda boring. But I shot a short video of this monkey swingin’ on a rope in the zoo.

The visa was ready for me shortly after I arrived. Instead of taking the sissy ferry ride back, I decided to go “local” and take the train through Luo Hu back. I’ve heard stories, but, being early evening on Tuesday, it wasn’t bad at all. I even got to sit down! At immigration and customs, I had no trouble, except when I took a picture of the immigration line and a stone-faced guard approached me and gestured angrily to show him the picture. He made me erase it. I’ll try to be a little more sneaky next time.

The most obnoxious thing on the streets of Hong Kong, especially Kowloon, are the persistent Indians either 1) telling you about your lucky face or 2) peddling tailored suits. Every damn street corner there’s an Indian guy who will target you for an up-close and personal marketing campaign – especially if you’re a westerner. I got good in a mere afternoon at spotting these guys and I could see them notice me out of the corner of my eye, see them saunter up to me, and then politely inquire: “Sir, would you like a nice suite?” The best defense is to simply keep walking as if you didn’t hear a peep. It’s not rude; they are used to this. I was probably being overly polite by raising my hand in my air with dismissing motion. Paying any mind to these guys will get you this:

“Sir! Sir! Please, my friend! Come to my shop! You will be so happy, sir! Wonderful new suits and shirts for you sir! Oh, when you see my prices you will smile and be so happy, sir. Sir! Sir! Please, my friend! Please!!”

When I first came to Hong Kong two months ago, there was one Indian guy right outside the hotel who barely let me escape because I paid just a little attention to him. The same guy was still haunting the same area when I came back to Hong Kong. Incredible.

I do think it would be cool to pick up some tailored goods, but a Hong Kong friend of mine said to skip it. Apparently, you can get tailored goods in Luo Hu too. Of course, it’s cheaper. I’ll try that out; look for a post soon.

The other Indians like to walk up and down the waterfront near the Avenue of the Stars (similar to the Hollywood Star sidewalk or whatever it’s called) and find unsuspecting westerners to “tell their fortune”. If you read my first post on Hong Kong, I told this story. Yeah, I got ripped off, but he did forsee a good February. And it came true! I did enjoy my February. Anyway, there was another Indian guy prowling around waterfront who, of course, said to me, “Good morning sir!” So, I politely waved, but kept walking. “Sir, what a lucky face you have!” I kept walking. “Sir! Do you know why your face is so lucky?” Walk. “Sir, next month will be lucky for you!”

Another guy tried the same thing. When he told me about my lucky face, I couldn’t help but reply, “I know! I’ve been told many times!” He looked a bit perplexed but followed up immediately with, “Oh sir, you have such a happy face, sir! Sir, you are fortunate to be so lucky. Do you know why, sir? Sir?!?”

See the guy leaning against the railing in the turban? He’ll be happy to tell your fortune:

And then there was another young, tall, roguish in appearance Indian who approached with the same technique on my last day. This time I was getting annoyed. I think I made the mistake of acknowledging him and he followed me for a long way. It wasn’t until I angrily shooed him away that he left me alone.

And, along the famous Avenue of the Stars is this popular statue of Bruce Lee:

There’s a book called “The Paradox of Choice”. I think Hong Kong exemplifies that. If you’re a shopper, you will go nuts in a place like Hong Kong. There is an insane amount of shopping available to the cheap junk (see Temple Street) to incredibly lavish and expensive items. There were so many high end stores that I saw that I’d never heard of. I can’t see how all these stores can service so many people, but when you simply look around at the *average* car in Hong Kong (oh, a BMW or so), perhaps it begins to make sense. Well, I spent all day Sunday with my colleague and friend Jonathan who is a Hong Kong native just exploring around the city. I wanted to buy a new cell phone. One that worked in Hong Kong and mainland China and one that could do advanced (for me) features like email and Bluetooth. Well, Hong Kong is the place to buy cell phones in China.

We went to a market area called Mong Kok which is one of the most crowded areas I’ve been to yet (only the bus station in Guilin over Chinese New Year) beats it. There were hoardes of people everywhere, overruning the streets like ants swarming over spilled honey at a picnic. The stores are nearly as voluminous. I’m not joking when I say we probably visited 30 or 40 stores just dedicated to cell phones. Granted, most of them were small, but still. How many cell phones can you pack into one place? (That reminds me, I still need to add a post on cell phones in Asia…quite fascinating)

The crowded streets of the Mong Kok area:

Here’s a pretty cool video of the crowded streets of Mong Kok. Listen for the ubiquitous rattling sound. This is the walk/don’t walk signs; it’ll drive you crazy after a while.   Jonathan is in the dark gray jacket walking in front of me.

I quickly settled on a model I liked, but we ended up looking at so many stores trying to find the best price and maybe even a better model. For me, believe it or not, I would have been happy to just buy after the 5th store, but Jonathan wanted the best deal and I was happy to tag along just for the ride. But, towards the end, I had to put a stop to it. How much looking around and choice is worthwhile? Not much, in my opinion. Americans pride ourselves on freedom of choice, but there comes a point where too many choices can make rattle your psyche. So, I just decided, “the thinnest cell phone possible, it has to work in China and Hong Kong. Email is nice, Bluetooth is nice. That’s it.”

OK, back to the streets of Hong Kong, we also stopped in a typical Cantonese restaurant for lunch. Excellent food (much better than the pricey Thai food for dinner) consisting of a curried pork and delicious noodles with barbecued beef. We also had delightful tea drinks with coconut milk.

Food for sale on the streets of Hong Kong:

We also zipped around on the subway and the bus. I also ended up buying an “Octopus Card” which is the mass transit card for Hong Kong. It’s a debit card that gives you access to the subway, the busses, and the ferry. Hong Kong has an excellent mass transit system. The traffic, at least what I’ve seen of it, isn’t that bad at all. Over on Hong Kong island, we visited famous areas like “Times Square”, which is very similar to the Times Square in New York – tons of people with tremendous billboards and lights everywhere.

On the crowded Hong Kong subway:

Here are a cupla more funny signs. Maybe not as good as “span”, but not bad. I especially like “Michael’s” sign. He’s too busy working to attend his tailor shop (note the fabric in the background).

The Temple Street Night Market is a famous market in Hong Kong where you can get fake merchandise and other junk and bargain with the shopkeepers for even better deals. When I was there, I couldn’t help thinking of the quote from the Simpsons episode “Kamp Krusty” in which Jimbo is the slave driver for the campers and demands, “Come on, wimps! These fake Gucci wallets have to be on the streets of Hong Kong by Friday!” Well, here I was on the streets of Hong Kong looking at fake Gucci wallets. Top notch. The market runs down the middle of the street (the traffic is blocked off between 4 and 11pm) and shopkeepers setup along each side with a narrow pathway in the middle. Of course, it was jam packed. In truth, the market wasn’t that exciting because this famous market simply can’t compete with Luo Hu and Dong Men in Shenzhen, the knock-off capital of the world. And don’t even think of paying $5 US for a DVD in Hong Kong, are you crazy? The Temple Street vendors were friendly and low-pressure. Luo Hu, as you know by now if you’ve followed this blog, is anything but. Lou Hu is about 10 times the size of Temple Street. Dong Men is about 100 times the size.

This isn’t the Temple Street Night Market, but it’s virtually identical to this one (elsewhere in Hong Kong during the day):

As soon as I checked in to the hotel in Hong Kong, I inquired about getting a new visa. I was stunned to learn that there was no way for me to get a visa until Tuesday – 5 nights from now! “Why?”, I asked. “Oh, because the offices are closed for Easter.” Easter? Since when is China a Christian country? There wasn’t much for me to do but to put myself up for five days in Hong Kong at this nice hotel. Oh well; things could be worse.

There were many tributes to Easter. They all looked something like this: