Asia 2014 Day 9: Hong Kong - Zoo & Botanical Garden, Ladies' & Temple St Market

Today was my last day in Hong Kong.  My feet were still in need of some recovery time, so I had a laid back, non rushed morning.  Spent an hour hanging around the water near my cousin's apartment.  Saw more dogs here, and most do not have leashes.  We definitely have more pets in the states.

 

Lunch

After relaxing around the promenade, my cousin and his girlfriend took me to a nearby restaurant for lunch.  Cha sui and soy sauce chicken, veggies, corn soup, another soup, toast, milk tea..never a shortage of food.  It was pretty reasonably priced too, the total being around $30.

 

Next we went to a wet market to pick up some fruits.  The wet markets have been revamped.  They were previously non-ACed, and really wet floors.  Now it was more of a mall.

 

Afterwards, I went off on my own way.  I took the MTR to Central Station so that I could walk east to Admiralty and see the Umbrella Movement's gathering.  Before I reached the center, I saw thousands of Filipinos.  At first I thought they were all prostitutes because they were women, and some were dancing...But turns out it's all the Filipino maids that come out on Sunday, their day off.  They just congregate around the Central area.

 

The crowds around Admiralty had dispersed.  Apparently the night time is when the crowds are at its peak.  I think most ppl who were there were actually just tourists and curious bystanders.

It was incredible to see such a civilized, organized, clean gathering.  All the thousands of flyers depicted positive messages and illustrations.  I particularly liked one part of the freeway, where there were big posters of words of support from different countries' visitors.  All w phrases like "We support Hong Kong" and "democracy for Hong Kong" in different languages.

Such supportive signs on the freeway

Umbrella Movement gathering..Crowds have dispersed

It was incredible how there was a study zone for the students. They made tables and chairs, and students would have their headphones on and just study.  There was also a recycling area.  And a free phone charging station.  A makeshift shower as well.  Really inspirational how the message remains clear and no violence clouds the situation.

 

Study center!

I walked back to the MTR and took the subway back to Central.  I wanted to check out the HK zoological and botanical center, which is right near the terminus of the peak tram.

What an oasis in the middle of the city.  So peaceful and quiet.  And clean.  So impressive that it's close to the city but you feel miles away.  There were a lot of monkeys.  Reptiles and birds too, although I did not go to those sections.  I sat down for a while here to rest my feet.
 

 

Oasis at the zoo & botanical garden 

The last stop of the evening was the ladies market.  I got off at Mong Kok, and right when I exited the subway station...wow.  Busyness and colors galore.  So much activity here.  I don't even know if it was the ladies market I went to, or other markets that were connected and nearby.  Picked up a shirt here, that I think was actually overpriced (100 HKD) and some other small items.

 

Street food!

Ate some street food for dinner.  You pick out four pieces of food you want to be fried in oil.  I chose tofu, a sausage with fish cake, fish ball, and a vegetable of some sort.

 

I was exhausted and really wanted a foot massage...but refrained.  Instead, took the taxi back to my cousin's place.

 



DESSERT

I packed up for my trip to Guangzhou the next morning, and thought I would be sleeping early..but ended up going out to dessert with my cousin.  Soooo good.  It was called Noble.  Had chocolate shaved sorbet w red bean, mochi, banana. I really wish we had a dessert place like this in Seattle...

 

Tomorrow I take the train to GZ at 9:23am.  Hong Kong has been such an eye opener, really a good reminder of the realities of such a large, populated, metropolitan city.

Asia 2014 Day 8: Hong Kong - Big Buddha, Tai O, Tsuean

Kaya at Toast Box!

A very busy day today!  My cousin showed me around the whole day.  We started w breakfast at the nearby mall, since there are malls everywhere. It was a Singaporean place that served kaya on bread!  It's been a while since I last had it.  Love the combo of kaya w butter.

After breakfast, we took the MTR east, to take the cable car.  Had to wait maybe 30 minutes, and we chose the cable car with the clear glass bottom for 165 HKD one way.  Four of his coworkers and friends came too, so that was nice to be in a group. 

 

On the tram

The views on the ride up were incredible.  Looking back on Lantau, the mountains, water and airport was so beautiful.  It was a little hazy but it was still quite a sight.  There was also a trail up the mountain for those who wanted to trek up.  Even though I'm active, I don't think I would ever hike up.  There wasn't much shade from the intense heat.

Amazing view of Lantau from the tram

Big Buddha

There was a small, fake village before Big Buddha.  Expensive, touristy, unauthentic items here.  And a Subway.  Walking through the village, you can see the Big Buddha in the backdrop.  It's giant.

 

Walked up the stars to the Buddha.  It seems to be a theme to have a temple/Buddha on the top of many steps.  Experienced hikes up stairs like this here, Doi Suthep, Batu Cave.

 

We had lunch at a vegetarian place afterwards.  I was so surprised at the offerings. They had quite a lot of options.  Vermicelli noodles, dimsum, desserts, curry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next was the wisdom trail for a walk.  It was beautiful, a nice escape from the crowds near the village and Buddha.  Saw a wild cow just munching on leaves on the side.  My feet were really starting to hurt now...but still had lots to see.

 

A couple of his friends left at this point to take the cable car down, but we continued via cab to Tai O.  It is an old fishermen village with stilt houses and pink dolphins.  A lot of salty dried foods, like salty fish. We had some snacks like fish stomach and a jerky of some sort.

 

Poor pufferfish :(

The remaining friends left, and my cousin and I took a boat tour around the area to try spotting some pink dolphins.  Was not lucky this time.  Saw so much trash in the ocean...really horrible.  On the upside it was really interesting seeing the old homes on stilts.  There were also some newer ones being built that were previously destroyed in a fire. Apparently the homeowners of the wooden stilt homes do not need to pay taxes.

 

 

There were quite a few hawks that circle the skies here.  Makes sense, given all the fish that is brought in and all the smells.

Was exhausted by now...but had to eat.  We took the local bus to Tsuean.  First, stopped by a cramped - low ceiling mall where the 1st floor was all cheap electronics.  Incredible how much was here.  You could get USB sticks, cell phones, covers, batteries, cords, etc.  All negotiable. I bought a selfie stick.  Really wish I bought this earlier.  Would've had great shots of myself and the skyline and attractions.

Cheap electronics!

We went to a nearby sushi restaurant.  Had to wait maybe 20 minutes, and it was a late dinner.  Wow I have never had such gigantic pieces of fish.  It was twice the size of anything I've had before.  Was real good.

Huge.

Both my cousin's and my feet were dying, so we found a massage place.  It was busy, there were at least 10 masseuses there, all from China.  50 min for 125 HKD.

 

Took the taxi back around 10:30pm.  An eventful tiring long day!

Asia 2014 Day 7: Hong Kong - Causeway Bay, Victoria Peak

Started off the day by taking the MTR to Causeway Bay.  It's so convenient that at every station is a bunch of stores, and bakeries. And in most cases, a giant mall.  Makes it so convenient to pick up a snack on the way to wherever.  Like the many bakery items I'd get...

 

Causeway Bay is supposed to be shoppers heaven.  Yes, there were a lot of stores, but still full price.  The Times Sq of HK is here, and lots of activity and ppl around. This was also a gathering site for the Umbrella Movement, but the crowd had dispersed and just the road blocks and tents were left.  There were maybe 30 ppl, laying around on mattresses.

 

Also stumbled across a small street market on Jardine's Bazaar.  After this, I wanted to eat and was thinking of trying to find Mak's Noodle, which was supposedly nearby and had good reviews. Couldn't find it though! Ate at a random noodle shop that was busy w locals instead.  Fish balls and noodles in soup.  Accidentally flung a ball at the lady sitting across from me.  Oops.

 



Booths at Jardine's Bazaar






What a long line for the tram

After Causeway Bay, I took the MTR to Central Station and headed to Victoria Peak.  Huge line...I must've waited an hour.  The tram was pretty steep, and reminded me of the one in Malaysia.  I planned to get to the top before sunset, so that I could see the transition from day until night.  Made it up just in time.  Had difficulty figuring out how to get to the outdoor section of the Galleria though.

 

The skyline is incredible.  HK buildings are so densely packed between the mountains, everything built tall since it's not possible to build it very wide.  I took so many photos, and wish that I had better photos of myself w the skyline. A selfie stick would've been so useful.

 

 

 

Such a beautiful view from Victoria's Peak

After this, I took the local bus down to the Star Ferry.  Wanted to make it back to the Kowloon side so that I could view the light show on the Victoria Harbor at 8pm. The Star Ferry ride was only 8 minutes or so.  Made it across just in time for the 10 min long show.  Pretty great with the green beams of light.  Really glad I got to see this.

 

 

I was so hungry by now.  So made it back to Ton Yam Fai and got congee for takeout to eat back at my cousin's place.  An exhausting day.  Tomorrow we head to Lantau and check out Big Buddha and Tai O.

Asia 2014 Day 6: Hong Kong - Tsim Tsa Promenade, HK Museum of History, Markets

A not so great flight because a woman was acting out and being completely irresponsible w her children.  Why did she let her son just stand around when we were about to take off?  And she screamed at the stewardess at one point in Mandarin.  Rude people.

 

Took the airport express to Kowloon station so that I could drop off my backpack while I did some exploring.  And somehow got stuck at the station.  I could not figure out how to get out of there.  Who knows why it was so difficult for me to figure out where the exit was...So in the end I walked to Austin station and took the MTR to TST.

 

The subways are so busy here.  Wow. I'd forgotten what it was like to be in such a populated city.  The subways might be busier than London's.

 

First place I went to was Tsim Sam Promenade and Victoria Harbor, to walk along the Avenue of the Stars and view the HK skyline.  Was hazy out but could see how dense and expansive HK is.  Tall skyscrapers completely packed into a small space.  Apartment buildings w thousands of units.  It was a big culture shock.

SO many units

After the promenade, walked a long way it seemed to the HK Museum of History.  My feet were killing me by the time I got there. I thought there'd be a larger collection in their natural history portion but there was very little.  I skimmed past some parts of the museum, but liked the sections on the different groups of Chinese, and the wedding traditions.

View from the Promenade

Spent around two hrs here, and then walked to Jordan station.  My feet were in desperate need of a massage.  My legs felt like they could barely function.  But, made it to the goldfish street.  It was such a sight, seeing all those vibrant colors and so many fish, so densely packed together.  Felt bad about the conditions..they shouldn't be packed in there like that.  There were some other pet stores, saw a white Peke puppy!

 

Goldfish Street.  SO many fish.

Weeee tiny turtles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I headed to the flower market, I stumbled across a night street market on the street parallel to the fish market.  Fan Yuan street.  Different things compared to Chiang Mai's.  Here were a lot of clothes,  particularly kids clothes, and accessories like towels, socks, hosiery.  And most were not local crafts.

 

Fan Yuan street market

The flower market wasn't as stunning as Chiang Mai's near Warorot.  Maybe because it was later in the day and there were fewer vendors?  The bird street was also nearby, so stopped by there as well.  Only saw a little because I felt like I was intruding. I think it was too late in the day and some of the people and birds had packed up. 

 

Made the long trek back to the Prince Edward station and got back to Kowloon station for my backpack.  Was so exhausted by now.  But had to get to Olympic station to meet my cousin.

We had dinner at Ton Yan Fai.  Michilen rated dim sum restaurant.  So good.  The bbq pork buns were the best I've had.  Slightly crunchy exterior.  Soft inside.

 

After dinner went to the grocery store to pick up some breakfast food items for the few days I'd be here.  There were Halloween items in the store -- forgot that other countries celebrate Halloween!  Apparently they don't do trick or treating though.

 

Got back to my cousin's place.  Massive apartment high rise. Probably a thousand units.  Long day having been awake since 3:30am..

View from my cousin's balcony

Asia 2014 Day 5: Chiang Mai - Elephant Nature Park

What a tiring day! Started off early by getting picked up at 8:15am, and was the first on the shuttle.  Others in the tour group were five Americans from Massachusetts and New York, and three people from England.  Was pretty coincidental because one of the Americans used to live in West Seattle for six years when she worked for Starbucks.  Small world!

 

On the 1.5 hr bus ride to the park, we watched a video in the van of the park's mission and the safety rules.  Got a little motion sick watching so had to just listen, unfortunately.

Ox.

The park is 300 acres, with around 35 elephants, too many oxen, 400 dogs, a lot of cats.  The founder started the park as a means to rescue abused and mistreated elephants from the entertainment circuit.  It was horrible hearing some of their backgrounds.  One, named Lucky, was blinded by too excessive of camera flashes.  There was another who stepped on a landmine when it was working, and you could see its poor deformed foot.  Another that was so heartbreaking was one who had a permanently misaligned hip.  Her hip was broken because her handlers forced her to breed.  Her four feet were shackled and she was locked in a room for the male elephants to come in and mate with her.  Her hip got broken and it healed in that position so it was too late to do anything by the time the park rescued her.

 

Knowing all their sad backgrounds made caring for them feel so rewarding.  We started by feeding Lucky.  Gave her fruit from a giant bucket to grab with her trunk.  Apparently all elephants do is eat, as they only sleep four hours a day.

 

After feeding Lucky, we walked around the park a little and saw a group of elephants, and a baby!  The park had three babies at the time.  Spent a lot of time taking pictures of course.

Elephants and baby!

  After the lunch buffet, we watched a sad video on how elephants are trained to be tame.  I couldn't believe what I was watching.  Sometimes lasting up to a week, the elephant is caged up and restrained.  The handlers use sticks w nails attached to the end to prod the elephant into submission. If the elephant acts out, they injure the elephant more.  To prevent this mistreatment, a school was formed to teach the mahout (handler) how to properly train the elephant, using positive reinforcement.




Ms Lucky and I

After the movie, we bathed Lucky.  She was enticed to go to the river w food, and everyone used their bucket to splash water on her.  Wish it were more natural, like that she would be wanting to take the bath herself, and would use her trunk to splash water.  But instead had to be her eating while we splashed her.  After the bath, we walked around more, and fed Lucky again.  More eating! 

It was such an exhausting day, most of it on our feet.  I was stressing out about how much I'd have to do once I got back to the hotel  - eat dinner, pack, do research on Hong Kong since my flight was the next day.  All things I'd have to do before I slept early, like at 8pm.

 

To save time, I had the tour guide drop me off at one of her favorite local restaurants,  Aroon Rai.  So good!  Finally tried Khao Sao noodles, and the curry was so delicious. Had to buy a pack to bring home.  Topped it off w some mango ice cream, all for 190 baht. 

 

Walked back home and was so exhausted.  I wanted to immediately sleep.  Got to bed around 8:30pm though for my 6 am flight.  Can't believe I had to pay 300 baht to reserve the taxi because of it being so early.  Probably the most expensive purchase in Chiang Mai.  Next stop: Hong Kong. 

 



Asia 2014 Day 4: Chiang Mai - Art in Paradise, Warorot Market, Chiang Mai Cultural Center

Had a later than usual start to the morning.  I went to the Art in Paradise museum, which opened at 9am.  It's an art museum that features 3d paintings. All meant to be an optical illusion and perfect for picture taking.  I was pretty bummed that I was alone though -- the point is to take fun pics of you posing in the 3d paintings...which is not at all possible going solo.  And since I got there right when they opened, I had the place to myself for about 40 min.  I did run into a group eventually, and had a guy take a photo of me...that ended up blurry of course. I don't understand how people don't know how to take a clear photo.  Still, was impressive seeing how the paintings gave the impression of depth.  Loved a lot of the murals.



Impressive 3d murals!

After the museum, walked over to the Chinatown area in Warorot. Wow.  Warorot Market is a four story complex w booths and vendors packed inside.  SO densely packed.  It took me a while to absorb everything.  The first floor was food and groceries, and the rest clothing, textiles, etc.  Almost no tourists here.

Outside of Warorot

Warorot Market is essentially connected to the Ton Lam Yai Market.  Another densely packed maze of shops.  I couldn't even keep track of where I was, and what market.  All the streets outside are full of booths too.  It was incredible. I wandered into a flower section towards Ping River.  So beautiful. I loved their arrangements.






Foods sold at the market

So many booths inside Warorot Market

Beautiful flower arrangements

I saw some live turtles, eels, fish in a bucket without any water.  Thought I'd see more live animals.  There were also little birds in a woven basket cage. I think they are meant to be purchased and then released elsewhere.  They're probably trained to fly back home.

Had lunch from a side street's food cart.  Egg and fried turnip cake, 30 baht.  Stumbled across another cart and got some iced coffee that's served in a little baggy, just like in Malaysia.


Delicious and cheap turnip cake

Iced coffee!

Strolled around the area some more, and gave my feet a break as I sat in front of Starbucks and people watched.

 

I got back to the hotel around 3pm and wanted to take it easy until the khantoke dinner and show in the evening.  Lounging around the pool it is!  Was pretty relaxing until some loud kids came.

The cultural center's shuttle picked me up around 6:45pm.  Loved the dinner set up.  There was a raised stage, and majority of the seats were on the floor.  Some tables were more toward the side, and there was also a raised podium in the back with cushions for seats.  I was on the podium, and had a pretty good seat toward the center.  Sat cross legged on the cushions, shoes off,  and received a huge assortment of dishes for the khantoke dinner.  Pulled pork curry, a cabbage mix, a spicy minced meat, free chips, chicken, fried pumpkin (so good!), fruits, chicken soup, sticky and white rice.  All refilled when you started running low.

Food and performance at the Khantoke dinner

Musicians played traditional Thai music while everyone ate, and the dancing started at 8pm.  I would have preferred the dancing to start while we were still eating dinner..the show was long. 

It was interesting to see the Thai outfits and hairstyles.  The dancing was generally slow. I enjoyed the faster paced acts, like the ones incorporating swords, fire, and bamboo sticks.  During the outdoor portion, one act reminded me of Chinese culture.  There was a goat, consisting of two ppl underneath the costume, dancing around.  Very much like lion dancing.

Got taken back by the shuttle around 9:30pm.  Super exhausted... but really looking forward to the Elephant Nature Park tomorrow!