Friendship, Fantastic start to a journey
Travel Location: Hong-Kong,China
Hong Kong Day 1 16 May 2009
Our time in Hong Kong began the instant we walked through customs the way the next two days unfolded. Kathy’s friend Su, running towards us with open arms of welcome and excitement, despite the fact that she herself had only just returned from New Zealand on the very same flight 6 hours ago!! The next two days were action packed and full, but so enjoyable.
After a trip back to Su’s apartment via the wonderful, clean and efficient Hong Kong rail system, and a welcome opportunity to freshen up we were off with Su to see Hong Kong. Firstly, a visit to the Stanley Markets via a bus up over the hills to the other side from where we were staying. We had the most wonderful traditional Chinese lunch in a very old and traditional restaurant. Then a meander through the market with many stall holders and some “Italian style jewellery” made in China which were uncanny replicas of the jewellery we sell. At least the owners were honest with us and their customers.
Then we met up with a long standing friend of mine from NZ, Bill, who has been living in Hong Kong for 7 years and loves it there. He takes a taxi to work every day (as does Su) and so it was just natural that we took a taxi to “The Peak” which is a high point with views all over Hong Kong. As it was so hot, we firstly enjoyed a lovely Haagan Das ice cream before taking an unexpected and beautiful walk through the “bush” that surrounded this area. It was lovely to walk in the shade, listen to the birds singing and see wonderfully coloured butterflies feeding on the nectar of flowers. It really was a highlight of our trip, or should I say, one of many. So refreshing and tranquil. Hong Kong has regulations about the amount of ‘green space’ and that is good. There are 7 million residents in this city and they pretty much all live in high rise apartments, some of which are truly impressive “bee hives”, with the majority living in such small areas that we in NZ would find it difficult to imagine. Then a return to the city in a taxi, all of which are the same model of vehicle, the same colour scheme and are purpose built Toyota’s, that allow the driver to open the opposite passenger’s door, which is a nice touch!
Next was a tour of the harbour on a traditional Chinese junk. Not a single nail was used in the construction of this vessel using traditional methods. It was a wonderful experience, as we sat on the upper deck of this vessel and toured the harbour at sunset. It was truly stunning to see the light on the many high rise buildings. Pity I can’t show you any of the photos I took, but that’s another story. They will have to wait until I get home. We enjoyed a cold drink and just soaked up the experience.
The day was capped off with a fantastic meal of Spanish tapas at a restaurant in the night club district of Hong Kong. So colourful and vibrant. It was a great experience to not only share this with Bill, but also to meet one of Su’s friends who is an Australian Italian. She also works with Su at the school. An evening of wonderful food and intense conversation!
Hong Kong Day 2 17 May 2009
The next day dawned a slightly clearer day, with some rain overnight to clear some of the smog away which drifts in from China and mingles with the locally generated smog, although Hong Kong is a wonderfully clean and safe place. We set off on the bus again over the hills to visit the Buddha (it was Sunday after all!!). This is an impressive sight, standing up tall and was one of the things we wanted to see in Hong Kong. We mixed with throngs of Buddhist worshippers and also visited the local monastery. The Buddha stands about as high as a 4 story building and sits on the top of a hill. Visiting the Buddha up close did involve climbing up about 200 steps in the heat and did involve a lot of perspiration, but it was worth it. After another ice cream for lunch we boarded a gondola to take us back to the city over the mountains and harbour. It was in itself a fantastic experience and the view of the city and airport that unfolds as you go over a ridge is amazing. It sweeps into a terminal that connects with the sub-way train, which we took back to the city. All beautifully clean, but people here are very conscious of the swine flu etc and it was not uncommon to see people wearing face masks, including ticket office booth holders. I will always remember the sight when we exited the subway. It was unexpected, but an impressive barrage to all senses of colour, sound and a density of people as far as the eye could see. Every where were shops of electronics and camera equipment and throngs of locals all reviewing the latest equipment. Kathy and Su went of to the “Ladies Market” which was also near by, while I browsed the array of electronics on offer. Every piece of hardware being manufactured was there. Apart from a 8GB SD card (which I got for about half the best price I have seen on Trade Me) I was also tempted by some good quality clothing on sale as well.
We then rounded off our sampling of Hong Kong public transport (which is excellent), with a ride on one of the trams to a place Su knew that would enable me to get some new open toe sandals and Kathy also was not shy to avail herself of an opportunity! My purchase was for only $20 for some leather sandals. Assuming they last, great buying.
Then off to our last venture of the holiday in Hong Kong, being another dinner out with Su, her friend Bruna, Bill and views of the harbour, including the famous laser light show. It rounded off a fantastic time in Hong Kong, and we so felt the love of Kathy’s friend Su, who had only just returned from NZ from being at her much loved step mother’s funeral.
We were up early the next morning to head off to the airport and it was quite a wrench to leave our dear friend Su, whose kindness to us in the context of her own grief was just wonderful in the root meaning of the word. We taxied to the train terminal to check in and found that the flight was delayed by one hour!! Dang!! We had got up at 5:15am to make sure we got there in time, but never mind, it was wonderful to deposit our bags in the station and head to the airport on the lovely clean train, knowing we had plenty of time.
The flight to London was full and not a memory I wish to recall! However, flying over China and Russia was a new experience and broadening to the mind to appreciate the vastness of these two countries, with many city names I had no consciousness of.
We were nervous to ensure we had sufficient time to clear immigration and customs at Heathrow, collect our bags and then change terminals to check in for the flight to Milan, but we made it fine. Being surrounded again by Italian speakers was a foretaste of what lay in store.
We arrived at Malpensa in Milan slightly ahead of schedule, tired, but excited. The airport shuttle bus to the city was miles further than either of us expected and took nearly an hour mostly on autostrada. We were just collecting our bags from the bus when our determination and concentration was broken by a cry of greeting from our dear friend Simona. What a lovely fresh surprise to embrace the warmth of her welcome and meet her lovely boyfriend Emmanuele. After packing our large bags into a small car it was a short trip to our hotel to farewell our friends and collapse into bed after the longest, most exhausting day.
