Hong Kong: The weird and wonderful

What would a trip in Asia be if not an opportunity to take pictures of things that baffle and confound?

Ok, the first two aren't from HK, but I did allude to them, so here's the Malaysian square toilet and the Man in Red.

And on to Hong Kong oddities!

On a wall along a street:

Parable of the ten virgins anyone?

This picture doesn't seem that strange (well, except for the half a zebra)

until you zoom in.
It reads:
"most important thing
laprotect natural from
environmental disinplio
Don't worry broke to every!
Life comes first"

Indeed. It wouldn't be fair to post that example of mangled English without also mentioning that this week I found a blog chronicling misuse of Chinese characters, often in the form of tattoos. Ouch.

This isn't so strange as interesting. Ever wondered how Chinese characters work on those dot-light signs?

Me neither. Until now.

Yes, I already put up a picture of the giant Buddha, but I didn't point out that it has a swastika on its chest.


Did I mention that the statue is not even twenty years old? This sent me researching to find out more about the history of the swastika, and it made me realize that the symbol is not so taboo outside Western culture.

And finally, my favorite night market stall sold...

...rows and rows of fake hair.

Hong Kong: Four Markets and a Wedding

The happy couple

Is this getting boring? I have visions in my head that I'm turning into one of those people who pulls out travel photos and doesn't let up on how AMAZING and INCREDIBLE and AWE-INSPIRING the trip was for at least an hour. I'm not trying to be that person, but I loved visiting Hong Kong, not least of all for the people I met there. Have I mentioned that the wedding was lovely? That the celebrations lasted from 11am to 9pm? That I almost couldn't move by the end of the day from all the delicious food? It was quite the international wedding, seeing as the bride is originally from India, the groom is American, and guests came from Hong Kong, the United States, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. There were other nationalities represented, too, because Hong Kong itself is such an international city. I had just as much fun getting to know new people as I did catching up with Wheaton classmates. In particular, I had excellent hosts, church friends of the bride's parents, who welcomed me and one of the bridesmaids with beautiful generosity.

Bridesmaid A and our lovely hostess D who never let us out of the apartment without a good breakfast and rebuffed my thanks with a simple "God is good, sweetheart."

Having no good transition to share my market pictures, I'll just say that my roommate M likes to go to church and grocery stores when visiting a new country. I think she's onto something. I visited Indian church on Saturday afternoon, where I was roped into playing piano, which probably wouldn't have happened if they had know how long it's been since I regularly played piano, and I visited four different markets (that's kind of like a grocery store, right?). I first visited the Pearl and Jade Market in the Yau Ma Tei area after a spectacular dim sum brunch. I don't have any pictures, but I do have some very affordable pearls and jade to show for my visit. After that I did some wandering through the neighborhood and stumbled on the Yau Ma Tei market.

This part smelled. And my sister, the nominal vegetarian who hates the sight of raw meat, wouldn't have liked it very much.

A passer-by kindly informed me that the stuff in front on the left is dried preserved duck. He didn't give me any help on the rest of it though.

I think there's some durian (beloved but smelly Indonesian fruit) in this picture. Can you find it?

After the wedding, I went to Stanley Beach which is just as famous for its cheap tourist market as for the shoreline. What can I say, I'm a cheap tourist. With art, trinkets, dishes, linens, clothing, and "your name in Chinese on (insert object here)," I got a great start on my Christmas shopping. But I didn't get any really good pictures there except for this one at the back of a trinket stall.

This little kid was cracking me up with the animated interaction between him and his GameBoy.

My last market was the Hong Kong night market, which is pretty interesting. The vendors' stalls fill the streets and shut down traffic from early evening to after midnight.

This stall was my second favorite.

My favorite night market stall belongs in tomorrow's post: strange (to me) sights.

Hong Kong: Town and Country

When you think of Hong Kong, it's the city that comes to mind first, and I saw plenty of interesting city sights.

Street views:
(The little red spider-like symbol on the blue sign tells you that there's an MTR station nearby.)

View from my bedroom window:


But I was also pleasantly surprised to find that there are some not-city parts of Hong Kong to discover.

Stanley and its beach are at the end of a 45-60 minute bus ride from the central business district.
To get to the wetlands park, take the MTR and a light rail line. Yes, I know that a wetlands park doesn't seem like much of a tourist destination (to people not raised by my parents). The ranger told me so.

(This shot might lead you erroneously to think that I have a spectacular telephoto lens or bird whispering abilities. Not so. I was however, able to manage a skillful combination of binoculars and camera.)

This bronze Buddha statue is out at the end of an MTR line. I was hoping to take a cable car to the top of the hill, but the cable car was under repair, so I went by bus instead, passing through some beautiful countryside on the way.
If only that trash can had been about three feet to the left...


Of course, it's a mistake to think that you can really away from the city in Hong Kong.

Stanley Beach:

Wetlands park:
Next time: day markets and night markets.

Hong Kong: The Waterfront

One of my favorite places was the waterfront down by the art museum looking from the mainland toward Hong Kong Island. I visited at midday,

at dusk, and after dark.Here's what happened when I decided that I would look good as a part of the scenery.

What a beautiful view! Wouldn't I look nice in front of it? Let's try out that handy remote function on the camera.

Oops! That was the two second delay not the ten second delay.

Better, but too much bench and not enough view.

Nice enough, but what about all that junk I'm carrying? Let's get rid of that.

Finally: perfection. And bonus points for making myself look tall(er).

Hong Kong: The Beginning

I averted a crisis today. Somehow I banged up my camera enough in Hong Kong that it wouldn't upload the pictures to my computer, but a trip to the mall and a multi-language technology consultation mostly fixed it. That means I finally have pictures to share, but so many that I think I'll break it up into several posts. I still have some time before I go back to school next week, so look for lots of Hong Kong pictures this weekend.

While I was in Hong Kong, it was hard not to compare it with Jakarta. For starters, if Jakarta is more horizontal--both geographically and architecturally,--then Hong Kong is all vertical with hills and high-rises everywhere.And if there's a sort of sleepy charm to my neighborhood in the evening, then Hong Kong is all hustle and bustle, with hustle early every morning and bustle until late late late at night.

If you're ever in Hong Kong, I highly recommend the Octopus card, which gets you on any of the public transportation systems in Hong Kong.

(The logo is what's blurry, not my picture of it). And with the excellent public transportation, it was easier than falling down to find my way from here to there. Here's how I got around the city:

MTR (or Mass Transit Railway. I went everywhere on this thing)

Double decker buses and taxis (the red and white taxis are way more expensive than Jakarta's Bluebirds so I mostly avoided them. I really like riding in the top of the double decker bus, though)

Tram (to the Peak for great views of the city)

Ferry (from Hong Kong Island to the mainland)

You've seen how I got there.
Next time: where I went.

Clothes make the woman...meet the man who makes the clothes

So I decided to save my last clean t-shirt for the trip back to Jakarta, and naturally I saved my favorite. Well, actually it was more that I didn't want my favorite t-shirt dripping with sweat after a day of sightseeing in Hong Kong. But then...

(A word about my favorite t-shirt: I bought it a couple of weeks ago at a mall in Jakarta. It has a picture of R.A. Kartini, an educated woman of letters of the 19th century and one of Indonesia's early pioneers for independence and woman's rights. It also just looks cool, and it's a way for me to say that I love Indonesia and its history.)

...in the airport in Singapore, a guy came up to me and told me that he's the one who makes the shirts (there's a whole line of Indonesia pride shirts that are similar). I told him that I love the shirt, and he wanted to take a picture, so I gladly obliged.

Cool, huh?

Not all I'm cracked up to be...

You would think that a somewhat experienced world traveler like myself would NOT:

• forget the map I bought especially for this trip.
• bring razor blades but not razors.
• panic for about 5 seconds about the multi-entry visa I need to re-enter Indonesia before remembering I took care of it more than three months ago.
• forget the 3 Hong Kong dollars that have been sitting on my desk in Jakarta ever since I got Hong Kong change in the airport when I paid for something in U.S. dollars.
• check two symptoms on the swine flu health form upon entering Hong Kong (I'm recovering from a cold not swine flu, and I could have told them that, but no one asked me), which earned me a face mask and an escort downstairs to have my temperature taken. It was normal.
• assume that "all plugs in Asia are the same" and not bring my universal adapter.
• forget sunscreen.

You would think....

But you'd be wrong.

It's been a crazy week, but...

I'm off to Hong Kong! I'm writing from one of the free Internet kiosks in the airport in Singapore, which means that this is going to be short because the sessions are only 15 minutes each. And yes, I know that I can restart, but my flight leaves here pretty soon. (Since third gate's the charm, I guess.)

The Singapore Airport and I are old friends, but I got to meet the Kuala Lumpur airport for the first time last night. The only notables were the square toilet seats (huh?) and the fact that a man seemed to have no problem coming into the women's restroom to aid with toddler potty training. Oh, and the guy I saw dressed head to toe in red. Jeans, jacket, shirt, belt, shoes, backpack, rollaway, and when I got closer-- eyeglasses, too. International travel affords plenty of opportunities for great people watching.

And I'm off! Pictures and anecdotes from Hong Kong coming soon!

The Promised Smattering...

Seen: Michael Jackson buttons on a messenger bag in the angkot.

Heard: "I love you cool!" (yelled at me from the street).

Released: A 2000 rupiah note. Worth about 20 cents U.S.

Bought: Dishes and silverware (finally.)

Taught: An unit on journeys. New thoughts on "The Road Not Taken" too long for this post.

Disciplined?: A swarm of students flicking flakes of sunburned skin off the peeling scalp of a surprisingly calm classmate.

Discovered: A very nice little lounge perfect for dinner, dessert, or drinks on a Friday night.

Ate: Indian food three times in one week.

Cooked: pancakes at school with a friend.

Laughed at: The name on my new tax id card--MAIL LAURA ELIZABERTH

Celebrating: Ramadan

Looking forward to: Wedding in Hong Kong. Two weeks. (Not mine, if that was unclear)

Dreading: All the papers to grade between now and then.

EArtHquAkE!

I had all these tidbits percolating in my head and brewing into a series of good blog posts, but they'll just have to wait while I explain that:

1) Yes, there was an earthquake near Jakarta today. 7.0 magnitude if you're curious.
2) Yes, I felt it.
3) Yes, I'm ok.

I was in the computer lab on the fourth floor with my last class of a busy day, when suddenly I had a weird feeling of vertigo. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that the feeling of unsteadiness was external and not internal.

Now, really I should have been more alarmed, but this being a Midwestern girl's first real earthquake (my mother tells me I slept through a modest one in Indiana at the age of 18 months), I was more curious. I did not climb under my desk, and what's more I didn't even give my students instructions to do so. I joined them at the window to watch the trees down below slightly swaying as though there were a breeze for the duration (15? 30? seconds)

The aftermath was actually more unpleasant than the earthquake. Students flooded the halls, and we didn't know whether to evacuate. The fire alarm (which unlocks the emergency exits) was slow to go off, the students don't take evacuation very seriously, and I ended up with a more grumpy and rushed end to my day than I would have liked.

But still: an earthquake!

I was wondering what effects my apartment had felt, and on the way home I was imagining broken glass on the floor, or the books on my unsteady shelf upset, but there was nothing. Not even the toiletries around my sink had been overturned. So you'll just have to take my word for it.