Party Rock in Hong Kong

I went to Hong Kong and Macau back in February, but this music video was put on the back burner for a while... I'm not really sure why. When C and I finally go down to editing it, it only took about a couple of hours. It's pretty silly and low quality, but we had a lot of fun making it. Enjoy!

Last Day in Hong Kong: View from the Peak Tram

Our last day in HK was spent at a slower pace. We got some food and then headed off to the Peak Tram for some great views of the Hong Kong Island. The Peak Tramway is a funicular that goes from Central to Victoria Peak and is apparently quite popular. We had to wait in line for quite some time, but it was worth the good views. Before the installation of the funicular was finished in 1926, people would have to get to Victoria Peak either on foot or by sedan, which seems like a hellish amount of work for the chair-carriers. Being packed in a tram seems, at least for me, a much better way to travel.

We decided to walk down from Victoria Peak, since I had forgotten my tram ticket, but I think we all enjoyed the walk. The flora in Hong Kong is remarkably different than Seoul and it seems to be quite a nature friendly city. The weather was also phenomenal, although we had a lot of fog and that seems like that is often the case. All in all I loved Hong Kong. A lot of different cultures were mixed together yet there was also a very Chinese feel to the city, probably because 95% of the residents are Han Chinese. The meals we had were fantastic, and I hope that mainland China has such great food. The people really made the trip fun, however, as they were always kind and welcoming. As a short three hours from Seoul, I hope I can come back for a weekend trip soon.

My view from Victoria peak but check out this fog-less one.

The History Museum of Hong Kong

Much of Saturday was spent at the history museum of Hong Kong which I definitely recommend to travelers who don't mind spending a lot of time at a museum. If there is one word I'd use to describe the museum it would be comprehensive. Going back to ancient history, the museum covered practically everything that happened in Hong Kong. I guess that this is an easier feat than some other countries, but I was still astonished at how deep the museum got. In the ancient history section, there were dioramas and videos showing the geographical formation of the island. It moved on to describing the plants, animals and early peoples that inhabited prehistoric Hong Kong. The next exhibits were focused on the early Chinese peoples that lived on the island before the colonial period and had displays focusing on their culture and their way of life. One of the groups spent their entire lives on boats, only coming to shore to sell their products to land-dwellers. I remember something similar about a certain people in the SE Pacific doing the same... it must be a completely different than what we know. As we finished wandering around the first floor, we realized there was an entire floor that we hadn't even begun to explore. This floor focused on the colonization period, and included videos and bundles of information about life under colonial times. The information truly was exhausted, with whole sections of the museum devoted to, for example, the post system under colonial rule complete with replicas and examples. Information about the city continued all the way up to the transfer of sovereignty from the British to the Chinese in 1997. Although nothing can change politically in Hong Kong for fifty years, it is now officially part of China. By the time we got to the second floor, we were running out of time and just skimming displays and exhibits that looked interesting. I would guess I only read about 20% of the words in that museum, and we were there for three hours. Time ran out, however, and the museum closed. If I lived in Hong Kong I wouldn't mind spending an entire lazy Saturday reading about this fascinating city.

Wedding preparation diorama

Pillars of buns for the Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Lanterns

A early 20th century convenience store

Japanese propaganda

Diner replica

Hong Kong: Po Lin Monastery, Tian Tan Buddha and the Night Market

The second day in Hong Kong was spent at the colorful Po Lin Monastery. Located on Lantau Island, the monastery was a subway and a dizzying bus ride from Central Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the weather was once again quite foggy, but that also added an interesting dimension to the pictures we took. Built in 1906, the monastery isn't super old, but is adjacent to the Tian Tan Buddha, which is one of the world's largest bronze Buddha statues. Sitting at some 112 feet tall, it can apparently be seen from Macau on clear days. Katrina is a Buddhist, and she helped explain some of the history of philosophy of Buddhism. Pretty great setting to get a lesson on Buddhism! Such a lovely day trip from Hong Kong.

Kind of digging the fog

One of the statues around the Big Buddha (The Offering of the Six Devas)

Buing buinging at the temple

Getting back to Kowloon, we spent the evening exploring the night market and trying to get some good deals on cheap goods. I bought a couple of souvenirs for BH, but didn't want to buy too much. My apartment is way too small and cluttered right now! I can't wait till I have a place big enough to put random ceramics and decorative piece.

First Day in Hong Kong

Our last day in the Philippines was kind of a mess, so by the time we arrived in Hong Kong we just wanted to get some sleep. The train from the airport was efficient, albeit expensive, and before we knew it we were at our hostel. Tom had some great recommendations for Hong Kong and so we stayed at the Chung King (sp?) mansions on Nathan Road on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. If you want a laugh, check out this promotional video my friend made:

I love this guy. We got to our hostel, but unfortunately our  beds weren't ready. Catie and I were flagging by this time, so we went down to the second floor of the Chung King mansions and got our first Chinese meal.

Sweet iced coffee and two dishes over rice (Ying Yang pattern)

Lunch was followed by a quick jaunt around the area close to our hostel. Looking good so far. However, our non-stop travels from the Philippines were starting to wear on us, so we went to the hostel for a quick nap while we waited for our friends to arrive.

A junk with the skyline sorta in the background

Nirali, Tom, Katrina, and Miguel, all English teachers in Seoul, got to the hostel around five and our vacation in Hong Kong truly began. After another delicious Chinese meal, we went down to the harbor to see Hong Kong's famous skyline and walk the boulevard of the stars. Modeled after Hollywood, various famous Hong Kongers have left a hand print on the sidewalk. Some of the best were Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. The boys were a little star crazy, but it was interesting to learn that most of the actors I think of as Chinese are actually from Hong Kong. The skyline was kind of a bust, however, as the fog was quite deep. There is also a light show across the harbor everyday at 8, but once again the fog kind of ruined the show. One unplanned distraction were some brilliant lanterns in the shapes of the Chinese zodiac next to the old clock near the harbor. I'm proud to be a rabbit!

Rabbits beat tigers

After the failure of a light show, we got on the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and took the mid-level escalators (apparently the longest outdoor covered escalators in the world) up to the party district to celebrate Tom's birthday. As cheap travelers, we ended up spending much of the night drinking cheap beers outside the 711. There was quite a lot of revelry and numerous tourists in various stages of intoxication stumbling about. I think we threw Tom a pretty good birthday. Especially since we met this crazy partier who decided to molest Katrina during her one-beer-induced nap.

Oh Allie