Sunday 13 March 2016

So Long Hong Kong -> 29/2 - 7/3 2015

In the time between the date I arrived in Hong Kong and the date that I left, the temperature had risen from the mid-teens to the mid twenties. What had started off as a welcoming,  cool and fresh environment to be had become a little less so with each passing day, so I guess, as far as I'm concerned, I really had hit the city at the perfect time.

I had tried to explore Hong Kong island over the first few days hampered by the ever-present pain in the foot that would increase from an "acceptable" level early on in the day through to "FFFFFFFFFS" as the day progressed. Things that I would usually have got around to seeing in one day, were now likely take me 2 or 3 times that, so after losing so much productive time over the first days there, I extended the stay in my Inn for 2 more nights to enable me to still be able to see the things that I had travelled to see.

Hong Kong is divided into 2 parts divided by the gigantic harbour and loosely stitched together by a couple of road bridges and the MRT subway station. Hong Kong island gave off the impression of a more laid back, traditional environment,  as opposed to what lay across the water. There is no hassle here from anyone really, people keep themselves to themselves mostly and as a tourist, you are able to meander unhindered. This is not to say people are unfriendly though, as on several occasions as I sat in one of the many parks getting some rest, people would stop and make conversation with me, be that to enquire about the camera I was using (most people still seem to be carrying Canon cameras) or just say "hello" and "Bye Bye" with a waddling child that's just starting  to learn the basics of social interaction. It's just that people aren't in your face about anything, but will mostly respond in a friendly manner if the occasion arises to do so.

The otherside of the harbour however, things immediately changed as soon as I emerged from the iCentre shopping centre into Hong Kongs main shopping district for premium brands. "Watch Sir?", "Handbag", "Good Copies" would be bellowed every few steps, and as you clear the vocal trap of one, someone else approaches ready to fill the void, spouting the same lines, in the same tone, in the same manner. Evenly spaced along the roadside of the pavements, casting gaze back towards the shops to target the people passing in between, suit sellers wait to pounce on anyone who shoes weakness or catches a glance. Subtle hints such as wearing bright orange earphones with the volume up high to make those in your close vicinity diving for cover, just don't seem to work at all in this part of town

I soon dived out of the way into the smaller streets and alleys, away from big money shops and big money chasers & into the realms of comedy gold. Chiu Fat restaurant and Chun Kee Stationary being 2 of the less obscene translations to come into view, but in truth, every couple of shops there would be another name to make the inner schoolboy chortle away inside. It's the sort of distraction that makes wandering about on your own so enjoyable sometimes, free to just take in your surroundings not be in a hurry to get anywhere.


Kowloon park, which although nothing spectacular in itself contains a few nice areas to sit and relax, with water features and aviary gardens attracting the kind of wildlife that is rarely seen back home all the time being over looked, but not imposed by the towering offices nearby. At the top of the park what looked to be a few outdoor swimming pools were currently under construction amongst other landscaped gardens and just below here to the right was the "Avenue of comic book stars". Here were  sculptures of some of the better known creations from Hong Kong animators and artists, as well as a  host of information boards written in Chinese and English giving an overview of the Hong Kong comic book scene and details on how the exhibition came to be, what it aims to achieve and who has helped to fund it. I spent a good couple of hours here looking at the sculptures and reading the information on offer which might seem to be a little excessive, but in all the places I have visited I try to understand and get a feel for what makes a place tick, it's history and it's culture past and present. Who's to say that the art on display here is less valid than the art I had seen in Ubud or museums in Taiwan. All have cost me time, but all have also given perspective and insight into the places that I have been lucky enough to visit.



So a few other places I think are worth noting.
"The 10000 Buddha Monastery" and "The 10000 Buddha Pagoda are both easily reached, located in the "Sha Tin" district which is covered by interlinking MRT and train lines. The pagoda is maybe the less exciting prospect of the 2 as far as tourists go, containing a few eye catching statues and far too many steps, but there are escalators at hand to help you ascend if you don't fancy the walk, or are unable to do so and the views are nice enough from the higher levels. Next to the Pagoda entrance there is a smaller, less obvious path that leads up to a monastery above. The (occasionally steep) climb is lined on both sides by differently poised gold colour statues, with a level 2/3rds the way up housing larger and more impressive statues aswell as a pagoda and the top level further up providing comprehensive views of the town laying below, as well as yet more statues. It's worth the walk up without a doubt, and Sha Tan itself is easy to allow yourself to get a little lost in, with a good selection of smaller food outlets polluting the air with glorious aromas, and a shopping centre so vast I spent 15 minutes just trying to get one end to the other. What was becoming perfectly clear by this point, is that my previously almost perfectly honed sense of direction that had served me well for the  past 40 years, had suddenly decided to become a little less, reliable.



The National Heritage Museum is located a short walk from the nearest exit of this shopping centre, or the furthest if you completely lose your bearings. Either way the museum itself houses a collection of Bruce Lee memorabilia which I doubt can be surpassed anywhere else in the world, most of which seemed to be privately owned and on loan. The attention to detail is amazing and the booming baseline of Lilo Schiffrin's "Enter the Dragon" that propagates the air at regular intervals only adds to the sense of enjoyment to be gained. Here are such things as hand written notes by Bruce Lee on how the body will move and react to different points of impact, letters to his wife whilst on set in Thailand filming "The Big Boss", Choreographed Drawings for the fight scenes in "Enter the Dragon", film stills,  posters, movie clips, directors chairs and even payslips from Golden Harvest. Then there are the clothes which really put into perspective just how small he actually was in person. His sun glasses , his favourite shirt with "BL" embroiled on the pocket alongside a picture of him wearing them whilst holding Brandon Lee as a child make the association between item and icon stronger than maybe either item would be on their own. Other information such as Bruce Lee's myopathy and eyesight rating of -5 and seeing his thick classes in person, rather than striking you as someones weakness add credence to he was able to achieve in quite a short period of time. Amongst all this, there are the weapons, the training aides and then, centre stage and brightly lit, the almost infamous yellow jumpsuit designed by the man himself to enable and show the flow of movements for Game of Death. Just Awesome.


The whole exhibition here is simply amazing and is credit to not only the life and work of Bruce lee, but whoever has managed to get all the items and display them so intriguingly. If only all exhibitions were this interesting.

Admission to the the museum itself costs 100 $HK, (free on Wednesdays) and contains several floors with other guest exhibits contained in rooms alongside resident itemsfrom Hong Kongs long history, as well as cafe and small clothing shop (for small people) downstairs.

Back on the Harbourside is the famous view of Hong Kong island which, by the way that I noticed my mouth was still open shortly after I first saw it, can now accurately be described as "Jawdropping" even in the day. Every evening at 8pm, the buildings over the water give a light display, taking it in  turns to shoot lasers into the sky and pulse and glow in time to music. The display only lasts about 10 minutes or so, with the first 3 of those being introductions to the buildings that are taking part in the event. It's impressive to see for sure, but doesn't really add much more to what is already an impressive sight. It's a decent advertising board for Hong Kong's businesses though, and with what seems to be case in Hong Kong at least, is that it has found a way to give business and people both what they like, to the benefit of both.



Hong Kong island side again is Victoria Peak from which to take in another iconic view but unfortunately my visit wasn't on the best of days for photography, being a little more dull, grey and overcast than I would have liked and the moisture in the air seemed to make everything through the lens want to bloom. The tram ride to the top was a mini adventure though, going from the base station to the top via a couple of stops en-route. I joined at the first stop by pressing the button on the stop itself to notify the oncoming tram of my desire to board. This illuminated a flashing light to show my instruction had been sent to the tram operator, before seconds later the light became permanent to  confirm my notification had been received and the tram would stop on the way to pick me up. Easy.

The incline is exceptionally steep in places, as is the angle of the tram inside and out and as I clumsily clambered down through the tram to find a seat after boarding, it was apparent why I had been the only one who chose to not to join at the start of the journey where the carriage would have been at a more sensible angle. Still the view on the way up was quite amazing not just because of the natural scenery outside, but also because of the angle of the train to the angle of the edge of the vertical structures that were passing by outside, almost matching the view from the top of the hill.

Almost but not quite. It is a great view.


The last place of note was my final place to go. Kowloon Walled City park was somewhere that had caught my eye. The Park, built on the site of the city / slum that was often described as being "Lawless", a place that the Chinese or the British were seemingly unable or unwilling to control and which had a reputation for drugs, prostitution and gambling as well unlicensed dentistry and Triad gangs. In the end the best solution put forward by the British and endorsed by the Chinese was to pull the whole thing down and be done with it, so in 1993, and with the 40000 occupants all evicted, the place was razed to the ground to make way for a park to go in it's place, but before they did a Japanese team surveyed the area and took measurements of all the buildings and living quarters that it contained. At the entrance to the park there now stands a brass model, set to scale that tries to convey the look, feel and lack of space that existed in Kowloon Walled City at the time. The rest of the Garden, whilst now mostly just landscaped gardens representing different dynasty periods, still allows you to put into perspective exactly how big 6.4 acres is and how so many people actually managed to live in that space.



There's more than the big stuff to Hong Kong and I'm sure to explore the place in full would be a lifetimes work, especially given the pace of construction and change that is underway everywhere swell as all the side streets and shops hid inside the multitude of buildings that a person not local to the area would even know were there. Smaller, less well known areas and shopping centres often house little gems hidden away that you often just stumble across by mistake, and it's things like that make Hong Kong such a joy to get lost in. There's seemingly always something new to find.

Over the course of the week the pain in my foot continued to be problematic, but with slight improvements over several of the latter days I decided that I would push on whilst i still have the chance. Vietnam was a place that I was unfortunately forced to leave earlier than planned last time due to the approach of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Although there are things there that I probably won't be able to do because of my current impairment, It would be good to be able to finish at least that part of the journey from 2 years ago.












  

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