We're in Honkers!

Leaving Melbourne Airport in our matching OCDF t-shirts

We had a smooth albeit long journey yesterday which took us 21 hours of travel from home to our hotel in Hong Kong. We flew Singapore Airlines from Melbourne to Singapore, then had an hour and a half transit before boarding our flight for Hong Kong. The meals were pretty good and the food was plentiful. We arrived in Hong Kong just before 9:30pm local time, which was 12:30am in Melbourne. After waking up at 5:30am we all had had a long day. The kids were pretty tired and it took some coaxing to get them through arrival procedures. We then bought airport express train tickets and took the train in to Kowloon station where a free bus ferried us and our bags to our hotel--the YMCA Salisbury.

The Salisbury is located in an absolute superb position at the very tip of the Kowloon penninsula just across the street from the Hong Kong Art Gallery and the Star Ferry terminal. We have an incredible room which is a very spacious (especially for Hong Kong) suite on the 10th floor overlooking the magnificent Victoria Harbour. The lounge room comes with a foldout double sofa bed which the kids are sharing and the bedroom has a king size bed and ensuite. I booked this room on the internet and was thrilled to be able to get anything large enough for the four of us. Most of the hotels in this part of the world are designed for the business traveller rather than families so the rooms cater for a maximum of three people. In the other hotels we'll be staying in we have had to book two rooms, considerably raising the cost of this trip.

Today we got up at 7:30. With the three hour time difference from Melbourne it seemed as if we had actually slept in! We had breakfast in our room which consisted of cereal and powdered milk that we'd brought with us as well as airline leftovers. Then we wandered outside to the edge of the harbour and took the Star Ferry across to Central on Hong Kong Island. Our plan was to do either the Peak Tram (a funicular tram which climbs Victoria Peak) and/or head to Stanley Market on the south side of the island to shop for winter gear for later in the trip. We ended up doing the Peak Tram, something I've wanted to do on previous trips here but never got around to, but then didn't have the time or energy to go to Stanley.

Kids at the peak tram

The view of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

After visiting the Peak we returned to our hotel, had about an hour's rest, then headed out again to try our luck at a closer street market--the Ladies' Market. Unfortunately we didn't find what we were looking for. Jade did score a pretty crystal bracelet which she'd admired. We had actually decided not to buy it but in the process of walking away from the stand the woman dropped her price, grabbed Jade's sleeve and wouldn't let her go! I figured the easiest way out was to buy the bracelet.

Tonight we've been treated to a spectacular sound and light show over the harbour from the windows of our room. I tried to catch the laser lights as they flashed off and on but I don't think I succeeded very well. The light show is on every night at 8pm so I've got a few more chances to get a better photo.

Jade has had a number of people today speak to her in Chinese (and expect her to understand). The first one she told me about was a kid in the playground on the Peak. Later there were other people in the crowds as we travelled around. I think they may have been trying to sell her stuff. Oh, both kids (and I think Paul too) have been quite surprised by the size of the crowds. It's almost impossible to walk anywhere without having to push and shove your way along. It has been a Sunday so maybe that's got something to do with it. Hong Kong schools are also out for a couple of weeks. We'll see what things are like at Disneyland tomorrow!

My impression of Hong Kong so far: In just one day we've witnessed Hong Kongers exercising their freedoms. At the Star Ferry terminal on the Kowloon side a group from Falun Gong/Falun Dafa have set up a huge display of photos of atrocities committed against them by the Chinese authorities. There was one Falun Gong practicioner meditating in a very busy, bustling area and another part of the display had about a 26" flat screen TV set up with a video running. From the look of it I'd say that this display/demonstration is fairly permanent.

Of course, since it is Christmas time there are lots of large Christmas trees set up. There is one in the plaza near the Art Gallery across the street from us. Yesterday there was a speaker there with a sizable crowd and evidently there was going to be some carol singing. Across the harbour at Central there was a Christian evangelical group all set up with electronic instruments and amplifiers singing Christian songs to a crowd, many of whom had matching red baseball caps and so seemed to be members of whatever group the singers were from. I noticed 2 or 3 black people in the group which led me to think that this religious group may be US-based.

At any rate, it appears that the people of Hong Kong are jealously guarding their freedom of speech and religion and I admire them for it.

Another impression is the absence of the usual courtesies we in the West take for granted. Courtesies such as letting an obvious family group on and off of transportation together without cutting in and separating children from parents. It is the typical (and I say this without judgement) Asian way of 'every man for himself'--totally understandable in a crowded society such as this. Yesterday as Jade and I were getting off of the Peak Tram she got off first and another Western tourist (I think European), seeing that she was talking to me and we were together, waited on the platform so that I could get off and be immediately next to her. I thanked them for the courtesy and they acknowledged me with a 'You're Welcome'. In that brief transaction between us I think we both realised that in offering and accepting this small courtesy we were expressing our cultural background against the local trend. Since then I've been thinking about how road rage and other rages are beginning to become all too prevalent in Western society and that we need to re-think our priorities and appreciate how precious courtesy between us is.