Reader beware: this is going to be a long post, and it's not about our travels, since we haven't been away much this season. I've been meaning to write about our daily lives, highlighting what we enjoy doing here, and what we still find interesting and exciting after three years in this amazing city.
We live in the tall brown building (on Kennedy Road) that looks like a smokestack. It rises 131 steps from the Hopewell Centre on Queens Road East in Wan Chai. There are several cool things about our apartment. First of all, it's a stand-alone building, not part of a mega-complex of thousands of flats. There are no other structures blocking our eclectic views of the city (actually, this is not a good thing during storms, since there are no buffers to the winds and the rain), and there are only 27 apartments in the building, each one on a separate floor. When we arrive at the 14th floor, beautiful doors face us, and welcome us into our spacious 1800 square foot flat (huge by HK standards!). The neighbours are a mix of expats and locals, and most are very friendly. Our concierge staff take good care of us, rushing to help us with parcels, and eager to
call the elevator for us. The family downstairs (Malaysian Chinese) have two teenage kids who play the piano like professionals, entertaining us from 4-6 p.m. daily as they practise their sonatas. Queens Road East is a major thoroughfare, halfway between Central and Causeway Bay (where Jeff works). When the weather is cool (less than 23C), Jeff walks to work. Otherwise, he take the 28 minibus, a five-minute journey to Lee Gardens. I find the location incredibly convenient to most of my hangouts, and if I choose not to walk, there is always a bus, minibus, tram, or MTR (metro) nearby.
Wan Chai is a mix of old markets and new highrises, lots of restaurants, and lots of shops, and even an orange Lamborghini! Oh, and lots of people!! The photo on the right represents why, after three years, I still prefer to buy my fish at an indoor grocery store. The fish in the market are very frisky, and they often jump out of their buckets. Fishmongers scoop them up, put them back in the water, and carry on, business as usual.
Hiking season for the (advanced!) AWA (American Women's Association) ladies got underway in September. Although the calendar proclaimed it was autumn, the thermostat still read mid-30s Celsius. Under blazing sun, we hiked the Dragon's Back on HK Island. Normally, this is an easy-to-moderate hike, but the heat and our new-season-hiking-legs wilted our strength. Two of the women (newbies) had to leave mid-way through the hike (they haven't been on a hike since!), and the rest of us kvetched under the relentless blue sky. Not only did we see this foot-long spider on the wall of the bus shelter at the end of our journey, but also a bright green snake, curled up on the road nearby. I think the snake was dead, but I didn't stop to take a closer look.
Many more hikes have followed (a recurring theme of today's blog), including one in mid-September near Sha Tin. The hike was led by
Michael Hansen, a Dane who used to work at the UJC (our synagogue) before becoming a translator and hiking/biking guide. Michael loves taking us through abandoned villages, which sometimes include decaying churches. On this particular hike, we kept hearing a rescue helicopter hovering over the jungle we were traipsing through. A little further on, we came across a bloody mess - signs of a bad injury. We combed the newspapers (including the Chinese papers) the next few days, but didn't find any mention of dead hikers, so hopefully the victim survived his fall.
My grandson, Kyle, thinks I live in Starbucks (in the Hopewell Centre next door). It feels like "Cheers" where everyone knows my name! My grande cappuccino is ready in a flash, and I meet and greet my neighbours there most mornings. I do manage to sleep at home, unlike the fellow in the photo who arrives each morning around 8 a.m., sips his juice, sets his alarm, and snoozes until 9:15 when the alarm jolts him awake. He grabs his bag and hustles out. Not sure how he can sleep so soundly with squawking babies and gossiping women making noise all around him.
The High Holidays descended upon us in September. I remember Rosh Hashanah in Canada when I was young. The weather was always warm (Indian Summer), but we always wore our new fall clothes: wool and more wool! And I don't recall air-conditioning in the synagogue! In Hong Kong, it's always hot in September and October, but the venue for our UJC services are held in Olympic House, a comfortable venue that is always freezing cold. After three years, we know to bring jackets and shawls to keep us from catching a chill.
Jeff and I started a tradition during our first High Holidays in HK. We have a pre-Yom Kippur meal that closely resembles a festive meal back in Canada. This year, we ate at Pang's Kitchen, which just received a Michelin star).
Roasted chicken, noodles (lockshen?), and vegetables (with some tofu, too). Not quite brisket and meatballs, but delicious and filling enough to get us through the Fast.
Joan and I love our little "adventures". One Thursday morning, we took the ferry from Aberdeen on the southwest side of HK Island to Po Toi, the southernmost island of Hong Kong. The ferry only operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the week, as well as Saturdays and Sundays. There is one ferry out at 10 a.m., and one ferry back at 2 p.m. The ferry was crowded with a group of retirees - avid birders and photographers. We struck up a conversation with one gentleman who had lived in Vancouver for a few years. He wanted to make sure we were aware of the time of the return ferry - he didn't want us to be stuck on Po Toi until Saturday!
The ferry ride was delightful. We passed junk boats, Ocean Park, Hong Kong's premiere amusement park, and Stanley Village. It's interesting how few Hong Kongers have ever been to Po Toi, even though it's a lovely spot to hike for an hour or two, and to enjoy a seafood lunch.
Most of the original residents on Po Toi were fishermen. In recent decades, many of the younger generations have moved to the city, and the population has shrunk to 200. The local school is shuttered, and large houses have been abandoned.
I hiked up the steep path, seeking Mo's Old House, the haunted house of the Mo family, but I couldn't find it, and the bramble was too thick for me to wander, but the view from the top of the hill was spectacular. When I descended, I wandered past the seafood restaurants to see the colourful houses on the hill. They reminded me of Newfoundland! Joan and I had a good lunch at the only weekday restaurant, and had fun watching the rich and famous alight from their private junk boats to enjoy a meal on Po Toi.
And now I must digress to one of my favourite topics: Fashionistas! I love my iPhone - I can take pictures of the fashion plates of Hong Kong surreptitiously (yes, this habit annoys Jeff). Here are some examples of Hong Kong fashion - frills and more frills (the 'babydoll' pajama look), and 'pretty in pink'! These are all women on the wrong side of forty!
On a sad note, Hong Kong was devastated by the
Lamma Island ferry collision on October 1, Chinese National Day. As many of us were watching the beautiful fireworks in the harbour, rescue boats were trying to save the victims of this accident. Flags remained at half-mast all week long in the city, including the Canada flag at Exchange Square (where the Consulate is located). The inquiry is still continuing as I write this blog.
October seems to be the month for quiz competitions. Jeff and I were invited to be part of Garth's (the tall fellow with the flash in his face) team at the breast cancer fundraiser at the LRC (Ladies Recreation Club). Rounding out our team of six were Tiffany and her husband (30-year-olds who work in Garth's firm) and Paul, our AWA hike leader who has lived in HK for many years and is a trivia buff. We won!! The balance of young and old, sports and movie experts, and a resident Hong Kong history expert worked to our advantage. Jeff and I weren't quite as lucky the following week when our team of four Americans and two Canadians fared badly at the Helena May quiz night. The questions that evening were British-centric, and the m-c was a woman with a heavy brogue! Can't win them all!
More hikes:
High Junk Peak with the AWA ladies. A challenging climb!
The rewards at the end: the Tin Hau temple at Joss Bay, and a seafood lunch in the fishing village of Po Toi O (not to be confused with the island of Po Toi, which I described a few paragraphs back).
Tai Long Wan country trail near Sai Kung. More abandoned villages and surprisingly beautiful beaches! The group stopped for lunch at one of the beachside restaurants. Typical HK photo - Jeff eating French fries with chopsticks!
After lunch we had to cross a rickety plank bridge to get to the next hill. This is a photo of Michael fording the stream.
It was a beautiful Sunday, so many locals were on the trail with us, including one tai-tai with her visor, walking stick and pet poodle in a bag.
And on to the next adventure with Joan (and Jeff and Ron). On a public holiday in October, with our "Leisurely hikers guide to Hong Kong" in our hands, we headed out to explore
Sham Shui Po on the Kowloon side. The "Po" is an old, crowded part of Hong Kong, but on this particular day, it was relatively quiet, with many shops closed for the day, and fewer people jostling on the streets. I had been to this neighbourhood a couple of times before, but this was the first time I had time to look at its streets, shops, architecture, and parks.
Sham Shui Po is one of the poorest parts of HK. Tong lau (tenements) from the '50s overhang small shops. Some streets sell buttons and other trimmings, some sell electronics, some sell food. Before the clothing industry moved north to China, most of the garment factories were located in this area. Here are some of the highlights of our day:
A man unloading pig carcasses at the SSP food market. The temperature outside was over 30C, and I'm not 100% sure the truck was air conditioned. After living here for three years, nothing surprises me any more.
The fabric bazaar - jam-packed with every textile you can imagine. Wonder how this emporium survives our tropic storms. Reminds me of my father's business on Casgrain St.
The beautiful SSP park, which was the site of a prisoner of war camp during during the Japanese occupation in WWII. British and Canadian soldiers were interned here and many died. The Canadian government laid a plaque in the park commemorating our fallen soldiers, and they also planted some maple trees. Alas, maple trees cannot survive Hong Kong's tropical climate.
A second-hand English bookstore where I bought a copy of Ken Follett's Fall of Giants for 40HKD ($5CDN). Jeff also found something interesting, but was too cheap to buy it!
Our last stop before lunch was the
Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum. When construction crews were digging the foundations for the original public housing estates in the mid 1950s, they came across a well-preserved Han dynasty tomb (ca. 25-200AD)! No bodies were found, though, so there is an air of mystery and speculation about who the tomb was built for, and why his body was not inside. Most of the artifacts found inside the tomb are displayed at the HK Museum of History.
Did anyone say lunch? Walk along Castle Peak Road (HK's longest road) - there are numerous dim sum joints. We chose one that was crowded with locals - a sure indication of good food, family-friendly service, and low prices. YUM! And the price (for four) can't be beat-165HKD=$21CDN!
More AWA events including the hardest hike I've ever been on - Tuen Mun. We began by gradually warming up on section 10 (the end) of the MacLehose Trail at the far northwestern part of the New Territories. And then we came to the biggest challenge! A VERY steep climb up 450 metres. An almost unmarked 'path' - sheer bushwhacking. Paul, our guide, was wearing a bright orange t-shirt - good thing, because I sometimes lost him in the bramble. When we got to the top there was a surprise - someone had left cases of bottled water on a helipad. We had lunch (peanut butter sandwich for me) and replenished our fluids. I felt an exhilarating sense of accomplishment - more so when Paul asked me to join his Hong Kong hikers group. He gave me a rating of 3.2, which entitles me to be invited to participate in all of the tough hikes - pretty good for a 60+ grandmother, eh?
I'm on the Local Tours committee of the AWA - we plan and organize all kinds of stuff - cultural, entertaining, fun. I'm either the leader or the sweeper. In October, I swept two events. The first was a visit to the 8th Estate Winery, located in an industrial building in Ap Lei Chau, a suburb of HK. I could not believe my eyes! A 'real' winery in HK? Well ... the wine was dreadful - what can you expect from grapes that are freeze-dried and transported halfway around the world to be fermented in a cement-block building? A far cry from Bordeaux!
The second event was much more fun. We visited the 10,000 buddhas in Sha Tin. No, we did not stop to count them as we climbed up to the monastery.
In addition to photographing fashionistas, I also like to take pictures of Hong Kong's dogs, who are fashion mavens in their own right. They often look rather embarrassed to be dressed up!
Like Montreal, Hong Kong loves festivals. A bunch of us decided to go to the Wine Festival in November. We split up and took two taxis. Jeff, David, and I bought our tickets, and then David suggested that Jeff and I start sampling the wines and the food while he waited for the rest of the group. Unfortunately, our cellphones, emails, and text messages didn't work in the outdoor venue, so we never found them again in the crowd of 100,000. Yes, there was a Hello Kitty wine booth, as well as one Canadian wine seller (he gave us free samples, which we thanked him for, and then promptly spilled into the bin when the seller wasn't looking).
The HK International Literary Festival also took place this fall. The only big-name author was Colm Toibin, who entertained us at lunch. The Lit Fest is also sponsoring some other events during the year, including a very entertaining Chinese banquet dinner with Tan Twan Eng, who has just published his second novel, The Garden of Evening Mists. I attended the dinner with Sue and Isabel, two book club friends. We had all enjoyed Eng's first book, The Gift of Rain, and are now looking forward to reading his new book (personally autographed).
We had back-to-back visitors during the entire month of November. Our motel was in overdrive! The first (repeat) visitors were Diane and Shelly, who had first visited us in the spring of 2011. Diane and Shelly toured China for three weeks before arriving in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, Shelly was not feeling well at all by the time he got here, so off to my wonderful GP he went. Dr. Gloria wasn't able to help him very much, so he stayed inside while Diane and I wandered about the city.
Diane and I visited "election central" - the Hong Kong centre for the U.S. election results. Many of my American friends were there, watching the numbers roll in. At one point, I tried to introduce a Republican friend to a Democrat friend (Joan, of course!), but the Republican recoiled in horror, whereupon Joan said "It's ok, I'm friendly!"
Shelly's cough was awful, so they decided to move to the Sheraton Hotel for their last three nights, where he would not disturb us during the night. We did manage to have a good time together on their last night, when we had dinner, al fresco, on Temple Street, and shmoozed around the night market.
My cousin, Janis, arrived a few days later. We had the best visit!! Janis is a terrific visitor, probably because we enjoy doing the same things. Although she was jet lagged, I dragged her along to my Cantonese lesson (more about that in another blog. I'm hopeless!) and to Chatterbox (English conversation with local high school students). We walked through Central and up the mid-level escalators (a favourite with all of our visitors). We had a quiet dinner at home so Janis could rest up for our hike to Sai Kung the next day.
Here are some photos of that wonderful hike, including the macaque eating a banana at the rubbish bin (start of the hike), the water, the feral cows, and the cousins enjoying their company!
The reward at the end of the day was drinks at Aqua Bar overlooking the harbour, followed by dinner at our favourite Indian restaurant, Guru, in SoHo.
The next day, Jeff, Janis, and I joined Michael Hansen's hike on Lantau Island. This was a more strenuous jaunt than the day before, but it included a visit to the Ng Yuen Garden, a retreat that was built in the 1960s by Mr. Woo, a rich spice merchant. Unfortunately, the property has fallen into disrepair, but Mr. Woo's grandson, David, is trying to fix it up and prepare it as an event space or camp for various groups. At the end of the hike we reached Tai O, the old fishing village where the houses are built on stilts. The boat that takes visitors around the village also forays into the deeper water so that passengers can spot the white dolphins. These mottled mammals don't always come to the surface, but that day we saw lots of them. Janis squealed with delight!!
We let Janis have a fairly leisurely day after two days of hiking. Jeff took her to Kowloon - History Museum, Lane Crawford, Star Ferry - while I stayed home to finish my presentation for study group (cramming at the last minute like all good students). Later that afternoon we all cried through a wonderful documentary "AKA Doc Pomus" at the HK Jewish Film Festival.
I can't believe how much Janis and I crammed in during her one-week stay! On Monday, we visited the Museum of Teaware, and then had vegetarian dim sum at the cafe next door in HK Park. Joan caught us giggling as we got soaked under the fountain. Later that afternoon we visited the Chi Lin Nunnery.
That evening, we went to a McGill Alumni reception honouring Heather Munroe-Blum, the principal of McGill, before heading off to a piano recital at City Hall. Our son, Andrew, works at the university, and Heather spoke fondly of him. It was nice to be 'Andrew's parents' again!
Janis came with me to study group the next morning. My presentation on the Great Wall of China went quite well - it was a major relief to get it over with (now onto next semester, oy vey!).
For me, the best part of Janis's visit was catching up and growing close once again. Jeff and I hope that Janis will visit us again soon. Hopefully with her daughter, Maggie.
Julia and Michael overlapped with Janis on her last night - my apologies again to Janis for evicting her to the single bed in the third bedroom.
We had an eating-good-time with J and M!! By the time they left four days later, I thought we'd all turn into dumplings!!
In addition to eating at Din Tai Fung, Crystal Jade, the American Restaurant, and King's Dumpling, we also visited The Peak, the 10,000 Buddhas, and took the Star Ferry.
The night that Julia and Michael left, we celebrated U.S. Thanksgiving at Martha and Stan's (Rabbi B and Rabbi Z). Sixteen of us ate, drank, and talked, and ate some more! Our overstuffed UJC president, Bob, and our equally stuffed Rabbi Z are pictured at left, immobile after the feast!
Another visit to Sham Shui Po - with the AWA ladies. Not nearly as much fun as when Jeff and I roamed around with Joan and Ron, but I did get to sample some new food: yummy steamed rice noodles with sesame/soy sauce, and pink pork buns (looked better than they tasted).
Xmas decorations in HK are "over-the-top". The ones on the Kowloon side are garish (that's being kind), but the decorations in the Landmark Building on the Island side are spectacular! This year, the theme was winter wonderland - replete with a moving cable car, ski hill, ski chalet, and mini skis.
I did manage a getaway trip (with the AWA ladies) to Northern Thailand the last weekend of November - next blog!!
Before Andrew arrived, we celebrated Chanukah "Hong Kong style" - the annual UJC adult cocktail party was held at L16, a Thai restaurant in Hong Kong Park. The restaurant didn't quite understand the concept of mini potato latkes - we all bit into fried round things that sort of resembled latkes, but, alas, they were filled with shrimp!
We were so excited that Andrew finally visited us in HK, and we hope that he had as good a time with us as we did with him!
Andrew arrived on Wednesday, mid-afternoon. After dropping his bags off at the apartment, we started walking ... and walking. Heading west from Wan Chai, to Admiralty and Central, up the famous escalators through SoHo, to our dinner destination: Hometown Dumpling, of course! Alas and alack! Our beloved local has closed its doors forever - the landlord kicked all of the tenants out of the building, and will be redeveloping the site. The owners of the restaurant left a sign in Chinese on which they thanked their customers for their patronage over the many years, and informed us that they were retiring.
All was not lost - we had an excellent meal at another Chinese restaurant in SoHo. When we got home, the long journey finally caught up with Andrew. In mid-sentence, he fell asleep on the sofa and after transferring to his bedroom, he slept until 8 the next morning!
The next morning, Andrew's tour of HK began in earnest. First off, a ride on the Star Ferry to Kowloon. A productive visit to Jeff's tailor, Maxwell's, where Andrew ordered custom-made shirts with 37" sleeves!
We spent much of the day in Kowloon - the beautiful park, Nathan Road, the Xmas decorations at Heritage 1881, and Chungking Mansions, where none of the shoe shops sold sandals (wrong season) in size 14.
When we got home, Andrew went out for one of his famous walks. Not content to just wander through the Wan Chai market, he ventured west, looking for the mid-level escalators, but got lost and wandered up Garden Road, past the Helena May club, and finally found Kennedy Road. However ... he was at the western end of the street, and didn't realize that our building is at the extreme eastern end - over a mile away. I calculated that his little "walk" was about 5 miles!
That evening, I invited Diego, our UJC cantor, and his wife for dinner. I've often told Diego that he reminds me of Andrew, and was very happy that the two could finally meet.
The next day, we hit some of the big tourist spots of the city: Hong Kong Park and its famous fountain, the Peak tram, a loop around Lugard Road, and coffee at Starbucks on the Peak.
After lunch in Admiralty, we sat atop the number 6 double-decker bus and rode to Stanley. Andrew was impressed with the scenery along the way. We had fun in the market, and then had a relaxing drink on the waterfront before visiting the Tin Hau Temple.
We met Jeff later at Aqua Bar overlooking the harbour, and admiring the nightly light show.
The next day, Saturday, we had a private hike with Michael Hansen in the New Territories. The sky was blue, and Andrew got an almost-clear glimpse of the "real" China across the water - beautiful Shenzhen! We also passed through a lot of traditional Hakka villages. Many of the houses proudly display their date of construction. The example on the right is rather comical - legend has it that two brothers owned the original 1960s house. One brother decided to renovate his half - 2008!
Andrew spent the next few days in Ho Chi Minh City, enjoying the developing world. We only had two days to enjoy his company when he returned to HK. On his last day, we did a mother and son walk on Lamma Island, from one end to the other, and enjoyed yet another excellent Chinese meal on the waterfront.
Andrew, thanks for visiting!! It was a special way to end 2012, our third year in Hong Kong.
Happy New Year to all of our family and friends.
Our hotel was empty. We were the only guests! After dinner, we had a wonderful surprise. Our guide had bought some lanterns, and we gathered around the pool and set them off into the pitch-black sky. What fun! 
The next morning, we boarded two minivans at 7:30. The dizzying, zigzag roads outside of Chiang Rai are too narrow for large busses. Hours passed before we reached our first destination: a hill tribe village in the hills. In the past, locals in this area grew poppies for the opium trade. Nowadays, the fields are full of tea and coffee plantations. The countryside reminded me of Ecuador and parts of Yunnan, China. 
The village was poor, as expected, but the people were so interesting! They also did not mind having their photos taken. My pictures are of a grandmother and her young grandson. A hard life.
What left the biggest impression were the horrific sculptures all over the temple grounds. Grotesque heads hanging from trees. Warnings against the evils of smoking and drinking. And ghoulish hands reaching up from the pits of hell. One blogger has described the sight as follows: "If a savant on suicide watch could throw up the contents of his mind, (this) would be the result!"
We finally arrived at our hotel, the Meridien Resort, about 6 o'clock. We were pooped and asked Becky if we could delay dinner until 8 p.m. so that we could have time for a swim at the beautiful infinity pool, but Becky insisted on sticking to the itinerary. My roommate, Tamara, and I did have time to bond over red wine in the bar, a "tradition" that continued over the next few days.
Dinner was at a local restaurant that served Northern Thai/Burmese cuisine. Spicy and delicious! As I've often written, food is one of the best parts of travel, and the longer I live in Asia, the more adventurous I've become (note: this is foreshadowing for the next blog on Hanoi). We had a TIA (this is Asia) experience at the end of the meal when Tamara tried to pay for the wine with her credit card. Although the wall behind the cashier was filled with decals from Visa, Amex, and MasterCard, she was informed that credit cards were not accepted. Jane (seated next to me) used her "authoritarian voice" to summon the manager, and the matter was soon resolved.
I had a grand day! Our excellent hotel provided a free shuttle to and from the centre of town. Chiang Rai is small, and a very nice tour guide saw my lost look and handed me an excellent free map of the major sites. Local architecture is interesting and colourful.
The flower market is beautiful - smaller than Mong Kok in HK, but less crowded. When I walked into the covered food market, I noticed this toy poodle, wearing a frilly red dress, sleeping in her plastic basket in the middle of the table, surrounded by the vegetables that her owner was trying to sell. So cute! so unhygienic!
Another good (cheap) meal - lunch at Cabbages and Condoms, an NGO run by the Population and Community Development Association. Profits from the restaurant are used to promote family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention in Thailand. On their website, The PDA boasts that they have "contributed tremendously to lowering the average size of Thai families." The cool, dark interior of the restaurant was a respite from the blazing 33C outside temperature. There was even live music! 
Back at the hotel, I had time for a workout, a relaxing read by the pool, and a nap, before our group returned, looking haggard and informing me that most of their day was boring, and that much of the time was spent in the bus. Fortified by much wine, we had a lot of fun at dinner, especially the "purple ladies", Jane and Kathryn. My favourite Thai dessert (in fact, my favourite Asian dessert) was served - mango sticky rice. Divine!
The highlight of our last day in Northern Thailand was a visit to the Black House, an unusual and bizarre estate built by Thawan Duchanee, a pupil of Kositpipat! There are over forty buildings (not all are black) and monuments on the site, many featuring animal skulls, bones, and skins. I have to admire the artist's imagination, even if I don't quite get it. An article in the December issue of Business Traveller mentioned that neither the White Temple nor the Black House "is a place to pray - rather they are there simply to appreciate life and art."
