(actually from Puerto Rico)
Ni hau ma!
Hello everyone! As always, today's lesson in Mandarin:
Shir. Yes.
Bu shir. No.
Wo ai nee. I love you.
Ni hen piao liang. You are beautiful.
Shen Ri Kuai La! Happy Birthday!
Here is yet another excerpt of my travels around the Far East. Since my last e-mail, not much has happened.
But before I forget, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The highlights in the last 4 weeks has been pretty much staying around Singapore and relaxing. There has been plenty of festivities regarding the upcoming holidays. Between office holiday parties and community parties as well as birthday parties among others, I have kept myself quite busy.
However, the high point of it all came on the weekend of the 15th of December when I went to Hong Kong. Quite amazing!
I got there on Friday evening. And upon arrival, it already impressed me. As you are ready to depart the airport, you have the choice of either taking a taxi (which would probably cost you an arm and a leg and take you forever through traffic) or taking the Airport Express train at a cost of about US$16-20 dollars. This train, I must say is pretty sweet. Very clean and comfortable. It runs every 10 minutes from the airport all the way to Hong Kong island. There are two stops on the way, one which I can't remember and one in Kowloon which is just across the bay from Hong Kong island. Almost every seat in the train has a small monitor which you can tune in to see special news or just a video (without sound though). The train ride from the airport to Hong Kong island is about 20 minutes. Parts of the railway are above street level and parts are underground or underwater. Well, I got to Hong Kong island, to a taxi to from the train stations to the hotel, checked-in to my hotel and then went out to Wan Chai ( sounds like Wan Zai ) to catch up with everyone else.
There are three districts in Hong Kong that are famous for their entertainment spots. The first is Central where most expatriates and trendy locals go to after work, especially in the areas of Lan Kwai Fong. The second is Wan Chai, which includes nearby Causeway Bay with its many bars and discos that open till dawn. The third is Tsim Tsa Tsui in Kowloon where there is a distinct difference between bars exclusively for locals and those that appeal more to tourists.
As I mentioned before, I ended up catching up with everyone at Wan Chai. This place is pretty much just a bar hopping bar/club/pub area. People progressively migrate from one place to another, in search of...well...i think we all know...but anyway, as the night progresses everyone ends up at Strawberries...also known as..."The Patch". This place is pretty much the last stop before going home. Well the next day ( Saturday ), we went hiking. Hiking? yes...you read correctly....hiking. We are not talking about Mt. Everest here, but the trail is quite difficult and the view is just spectacular. We did the trail also known as Twin Peaks. We started at Parkview area and followed the trail all the way to the Stanley market area. Most of the pictures I took in Hong Kong are during the hike. Check my photo album for the pics. We ended our hike, 3 hours later, at Stanley market. Stanley market is the most touristy market in Hong Kong. There you can find Versace, Ralph Lauren Polo, Hilfiger shirts at very cheap prices - on average we are talking about US$20 dollars. Whether they are legit or not, that I do not know. But they looked pretty legit to me. On our way back, we took the bus to Central and proceeded to my friends place by foot. However, his flat is located in Midland which is a few hundred feet above see level. Surprisingly, from nearby Exchange Square all the way past Midland, there is this thing known as "The Escalator". It is a set of electrical escalators that help you on the way up to higher grounds. Amazingly all were clean and in working condition. However, the only direction it operates is upwards. On the way down, people use the walkway and stairs.
We ended returning to the hotel and meeting up with some friends for dinner. And oh my god what a dinner - the first home cooked dinner I have had since getting to Southeast Asia. Lots of thanks to the hosts!!! After this we went to Soho, again, bar hopping. Went through alleys and small streets to actually find the most off the wall places with a pub or a bar. We continued to Lan Kwai Fong, still bar hopping, and eventually ended up at Wan Chai.
The next day, we all met up for brunch and had some Dim Sum! Quite good. We then proceeded to spend the afternoon just walking around. One thing that amazed me was this one particular thing in Central Hong Kong. On Sunday, after giving our farewell to the first of our departing friends, we proceeded to walk around Exchange Square, we noticed the large number of Philippine people. Well, as I learnt, Sunday is their day off. So they take this day to get together with other friends and have a picnic - they do this pretty much everywhere near Central and Exchange Square. For a second, I thought I had been beamed out of Hong Kong and taken to Manila. They were everywhere! After walking around, we then decided to take the ferry to Kowloon and see Hong Kong island from the other side of the bay. After spending a few hours there, my trip to Hong Kong was coming to an end.
Well, I hope you all enjoy this Part 4 of my adventures in the Far East. This will be the last diary for the year. As of today,I am currently in Puerto Rico on vacation and will be here for the next 10 days. Please feel free to drop me a line or call me up - we can definitely meet up and have a few drinks.
Until then, may you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Take care,
-Nicolas