Paris Gastronomy

Fabulous article in NY Times - as always - a must read for those who love to eat in Paris.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/travel/22Grimod.html?scp=2&sq=paris&st=cse

Magnum Photo Exhibit in Paris

Here is the article link - sounds like a must see.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-26/magnum-the-next-generation/

Lantau Island Part 3

From the fishing village we returned to the village next to the cable cars, for a traditional Chinese tea ceremony performed by a beautiful young woman who demonstrated the preparing and pouring tea can be an art form, one that can easily be lost in our modern, ever faster society.

We then headed back down the mountain on the cable car, as twilight was coming, and marveled again at the peace and beauty found on Lantau Island, so close to the bustle and frenetic energy of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Saying farewell to our adventure as we drove on the bus through the streets of Kowloon, watching thousands of people, walking, shopping, eating, as if the city would never, could never rest.

Lantau Island Part 2

From the Buddha's perch on the hillside, we could also look down on the monastery which was responsible for building and running the site. From there we took another bus into a local fishing village that the tour guide advised us is a dying village, one which will probably not exist in 10 years, since the young people do not want to participate in this hard life, and seek better education and work. We wandered through the village and the markets where dried salted fish is considered a great delicacy and can command large prices, alongside mult-colored buckets of living fish and shellfish, with air pumps powered by car batteries.

Although cats and dogs are rare in the city, at least here they must serve a purpose and we did see both creatures. The guide showed us government-built apartment houses which the village families refuse to move into, instead retaining their independence in their small decrepit homes built on stilts.

More to come with more photos in Part 3.

The Beauty of Lantau Island

Our final day in Hong Kong was very special as we journeyed via the experienced folks at Grayline Tours to the mystical Lantau Island. Although portions of the trip were accessible without the tour bus, the bus made it more pleasant and infinitely easier as parts of the Island are quite remote, and having the tour guide who was moving between translating in Mandarin and English for the 20 or so travelers was enjoyable and informative. We drove more than 40 minutes from Kowloon to Lantau, where the bus parked at the foot of the Island's cable cars, where we would travel for more than 1.5 miles across water, and up mountains, to see the bronze Buddha on the hill. Although the weather was not clear, the mist gave our travels a mystical feeling as we marveled at the green beauty of this island, after being in the city all week, the lushness of the growth, but it did not include big trees, and was certainly not developed other than a a cluster of big apartment buildings and the Novotel near the tramway entrance. Although the line was not long, we had paid a little bit extra to travel in a "crystal" car, which includes a plexi-glass open bottom so we could view all below us, and we got priority on the line.

When we arrived at the top of the mountain, we could see the Buddha patiently waiting for us and the others to visit, as he watched over his hillside below. To reach him, we walked through a small tourist village with gift shops and restaurants, as well as the ever-present Starbucks, about a quarter-mile to the foot of the Buddha's perch on the hill, where vendors were ready with the much-needed drinks and ice cream for the journey both up and down.

We slowly cautiously climbed the 268 steps to the summit, where we were met by the lotus ladies in waiting, statues, patiently holding court at the Buddha's feet.

To be continued so I can add additional photos.

Yes, Even More Hong Kong Photos

These photos include those on the bottom which are interior shots of the Man Can ancestral home, the two on the left which are the exterior of the Man Clan meeting hall, and the one below which is a fairly typical home in the Man Clan village.

Additional Hong Kong photos

These are other photos of the Man clan ancestral home in the New Territories outside Kowloon, both exterior and interior. Next post will have even more.

Yet more Hong Kong

Days 4 and 5 in Hong Kong were a little different since my husband was involved in his business meetings and did not join us for touring. Instead, my son and I ventured more locally. We walked to the Hong Kong Art Museum and Space Museum which are on the water, near the Star Ferry and the Intercontinental Hotel. The Art Museum looks out on the harbor and their Walk of Fame with stars, like the one in Hollywood. It was a lovely, but hot walk after the comfort of the museum. The museum also had a beautiful book and gift shop where I found my son a lithograph of his Chinese zodiac sign - the rat, which had a very elongated body, with an interesting Asian flair to it, in keeping with the art contained in the Museum. The space museum reminded me of a lesser version of the Rose Planetarium in NYC at the Museum of Natural History. We walked through the exhibits, with many hands-on learning tools and videos, and purchased tickets (museum entry is Free on Wednesdays) for their version of IMAX in the planetarium which had very comfortable seats, wonderful helpful staff and arm rests that opened to individual headsets so one can choose the language in which you want to listen to the film narration. Since ours was English we had the pleasure of hearing Michael Douglas narrate the film "Dinosaurs Alive".

We then had a late lunch, walked the mall to purchase tea and shop at Uniqlo for a few more things including mens socks which come with and L and an R so you finally know which foot to put them on.

The following day, we ventured via taxi to the Jade Market and the Ladies Market. Unlike France where markets open early, 8 a.m., so they can close at 1 p.m. and everyone can eat a leisurely lunch, nap, etc. in Hong Kong stores and markets open late and stay open late. The Jade Market did not open until 10 a.m. We took a cab directly there from the hotel. When cabbing it in Hong Kong we learned, the red cabs are the ones to take, having a different license than the green cabs. The green ones can only take you to certain transit points, while the red ones (all aging toyotas) with a much more expensive license not unlike the medallions in NYC, can take you anywhere. The minimum fee is $18.00HK or about $2.25 USD.

The Jade market was two buildings with numerous stalls with very friendly, slightly aggressive vendors hawking their goods, tables and boards full of jade jewelry, pearls, carvings, and traditional Chinese tourist gifts and goods. We purchased a few small items for gifts, negotiating with every vendor as is the custom, with each seller pulling out their calculator punching in the price to begin the process, and holding it out for me to punch in my numbers, going back and forth until we had reached an agreement.

In contrast, the Ladies Market was wild and uncontrolled, comprising fours long, wide blocks of stalls, marked by striped material from which vendors hung their goods, and adding folding tables for additional products, including faux designer handbags, shirts, shoes, and hair clips, luggage, and traditional Chinese shirts and dresses. The Ladies Market did not open until 11:30 a.m. or so it was supposed to, but it did not really get moving until 12 noon. Again, we walked leisurely through the stalls, watching people negotiating the goods and the prices, purchasing a few items for gifts, and to take home as souvenirs of our exotic journey.

Again, we had a late lunch back at the mall and ice cream (Hagen Daz yet again), and relaxed until dinner.

That evening we ventured to the Peninsula Hotel to their restaurant Felix which had been well-reviewed in Frommer's, but we found it a gross disappointment. Although the decor is spectacular and original, the food was mediocre and over-priced and the service quite poor and unsophisticated. Earlier in the week, we had an very good dinner at Hut Sung, in the top of 1 Peking Road, an office building with a spectacular view of the Harbor overlooking Hong Kong, which was a perfect place to eat and see the laser light show which takes place every evening at 8 p.m.

After Felix we walked the streets toward the Hotel, people watching and contemplating the next day which was going to be another Grayline tour adventure which we wanted to rest for.

Hong Kong's Wall Street

Our third day in Hong Kong was more mellow. We took the Star Ferry again, to Hong Kong Island, then walked through the Financial District which is blocks and blocks of elevated pedestrian walkways, covered, some enclosed and air conditioned, connecting numerous buildings, malls, shops, banks, post office, and so on. Thousands of people walking all over, but not getting rained on, and not in the sun, while thousands of cars and buses moved through the streets below without stopping for we the people walking. Much safer and more pleasant than walking the windy streets of the NYC financial district.

We walked until we found the beginning of what are called the mid-level escalators which are essentially another people-mover, climbing the hills, covered, running up what is almost an alley way on the steep hillside, probably about a half-mile. There are breaks where we would cross the street, the get on the next segment. There is no escalator going down, so we walked down, crossed onto Hollywood Road and strolled, stopping for a cold drink, and viewing the numerous beautiful and antique shops, as well as an old Temple, walking several side streets into the smaller areas with more tourist-type shops for gifts (like statutes of numerous communist dictators), then walking down on the main streets where the double-decker buses including ones wrapped with advertisements for products including campbell's soup were running, and eventually connecting back into the pedestrian walkways to walk to the Star Ferry again. A very pleasant day, with a walk of several miles but not a huge push, even with the hot-humid weather.

And yet more photos

And here are yet more photos of the gods/warriors who guard the doorways of the temples and homes, the damaged wishing tree, the lillies in the pond at the ancestral home.

More Pictures

Of the ancestral home, the 4 in 1 tree, the dragon bone, and on and on. The fish was on the wall of the ancestral home and is a symbol of wisdom, as fish never sleep, they are always swimming and moving to stay alive, like someone who truly loves to learn, and must always need to learn to live.

A Private Tour

Although my husband and I are normally not people who go on tour buses, we quickly determined that to see parts of Hong Kong we wanted to see, especially outside the main city areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon, the best, safest, reasonably priced, and most efficient way to do it was via a wonderful bus tour run by Grayline, and leaving from a hotel two blocks away. Although it was two blocks away as the crow flies or how most people normally walk, Kowloon is a city that can be described as pedestrian challenged, as there are numerous gates and rails and fences, blocking pedestrians from crossing streets in many areas, as the pedestrians are directed and corralled like cattle, to keep them safe and to keep city traffic moving.

So, although it was two city blocks, it may have taken us 4-6 blocks to get there as we routed around the traffic. We were extremely lucky that day, as the weather was wonderful once we got out of the city and headed north into the New Territories, and even luckier because we were on a small bus with one tour guide whose English was fairly good, and we were the only people on the bus, thus, having a private tour for five hours, listening to Brian, our tour guide, spout facts and information endlessly, and answer all my son's questions (which are always many).

The first stop was an old homestead previously owed by the Man clan, one of Hong Kong's five ruling clans. It is old by their standards, about 100 or so, since there is not much left of old Hong Kong. The house and grounds comprise maybe 4 acres of land, as part of a small village that we walked through, to also see the clan ancestral meeting hall. We learned about the top of the buildings having the boat-bow shape representing the Taoist ying/yang. Then traveled to another ancestral meeting hall of the Yang clan, which was bigger and older. Unfortunately, the government has been restoring it, and clearly, is not experienced in restoration, so it is done with concrete block, then painted over with black paint and lines to appear as though it is brick.

We learned that the center beam is called the dragon bone, and is painted red. We learned about the ancestry, and how it is represented in the shrines within the halls. Also on the tour was the banyan wishing tree, which had been damaged after too many people had hung oranges on the branches for good luck. The government had brought in a tree expert from overseas to repair the tree, but also planted another one nearby. When arriving at the tree you can either purchase a parchment from local ladies who sell them, or from the temple nearby. You write you wishes and they are hung on the nearby boards by your chinese zodiac sign and later burned. We also had the opportunity to use what Brian told us were the five-star toilets which were quite clean, run by the HKTA, the Hong Kong Toilet Association.

Also on the tour was seeing the exterior of a walled village, a tree which has grown combining four different trees into its trunk and returned to Kowloon to walk through the local market where lives eels, toads and other animals are sold, along with organ meat of who knows what animals. Not particularly sanitary but interesting. In our walk, we also entered another beautiful temple with incense hanging from the ceiling, in swirls, burning so heavily that one can barely breath, the scent is to pervasive. The temples are so different than a western church or synagogue, they are not designed or built for people intending to sit for a three-hour service, designed only for saying prayers, paying respects to ancestors, and burning paper offerings (like paper cars and purses and food, to supply them in the afterlife, but also to bring prosperity in this life).

At the end of a long but fascinating day, we returned to our hotel, happy to have traveled, but happy to be back in air conditioning and for a long shower.

Contemplating Hong Kong

Less than 48 hours after returning from Hong Kong, I am still decompressing and digesting the trip and all its intensity and wonders. Especially after spending several hours in NYC this evening, the comparison is startling. While both cities are very intense, surprisingly, New York feels calm and spacious in comparison to walking the streets of Kowloon and Hong Kong. The difference in population congestion is striking. Hong Kong is a population of over 7 million people and is not a city where single-family townhouses are conceivable. As we learned the average square footage of a Hong Kong apartment is 700 sq. feet and houses six people of three generations. Thus, it was a revelation to return home to our 3000 sq. ft house and contemplate how many people could live there, and to enjoy the woods and quiet. Both Kowloon and Hong Kong have little green open space, each place is paved, full of high rises, and would never survive without great air conditioning due to the intense heat and humidity.

In general, it was a very intense, busy week, working hard to see as much as possible, in case we do not have the opportunity to return.

On the first full day we ventured over to Hong Kong Island via the famous Star Ferry, enjoying the spectacular views of the harbor in all directions, watching the many boats of all sizes operating on the water. We then took the double-decker shuttle bus to the Tram which climbs the hill to Victoria Peak. The incline on the hill is so steep you can feel the pressure on your back as you are forced into your seat. Although the weather was not clear, the view of Hong Kong Island, as well as the Harbor, Lantau Island, Kowloon, was fabulous. The people watching was also fascinating, a very international crowd, everywhere. It was immediately apparent that two American contributions to the world have made there way to China and thoroughly invaded, Starbucks (which can be found everywhere) and Hagen Daz ice cream, both of which were available on Victoria Peak.

One of the most difficult parts of the trip, besides the 16 hours air time, is the 12 hour time difference. We did not make it out to dinner that evening. Among the things we noticed immediately were the HVAC mini-splits everywhere, hanging off the walls even of high rise buildings, and the bamboo scaffolding and nets, rather than steel and planks.