June 28: Last Day in Hong Kong
Monday, October 13th, 2008In the morning, we had our presentation. We thought only a few people would show up to a presentation on a Saturday morning, but about 15 people came, including Barbara Seidelhofer, who gave really good suggestions for literature connections. We checked out of our room and took a cab direct to Gen’s father’s hotel in Kowloon. His hotel was right across the street from the Peninsula, the most expensive hotel in Hong Kong. It is also famous for its high tea in the hotel lobby. The three of us headed over, glad we were still wearing our presentation clothes since the dress code was “smart casual” (business casual). Unfortunately, tea didn’t start until 2 p.m. and it was only 12:30. Kathy suggested we go find lunch somewhere. I thought that meant we were planning to skip tea in order to do sightseeing. But after we ordered Japanese food in the basement at Sogo, Kathy said we should get back to the hotel as soon as possible after eating. Thus, we went into the tea with fairly full stomachs. That made it easier on our wallets, as we could order a tea set for one plus three pots of tea (Sophie met us at the hotel), and share the three-tiered tray of pastries, sandwiches, and scones. Some dishes like the scones were easier to divide among four people than others, but in the end it didn’t matter as I was the only one who had room for a large portion of the set. We sat and drank and chatted while a classical quartet played a wide variety of music. It was a lovely setting; the only thing that detracted from the ambience was the line of people we could see waiting for people like us to finish our tea so they could have their turn.
After lunch, we headed back across the bay on the subway to catch the famed tram to the Peak, a scenic overlook with shops. Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative. While standing in line to get tickets to the peak, it started raining pretty hard. Going up the in the tram we had to hurry to close the big windows to keep the rain from pelting in. O either side of us we saw only trees and slanted buildings and mist. It was like traveling in a rain forest.
We got off the tram and emerged into Tourist Central: traditional souvenirs, American restaurants, and shops on several floors. We took the escalator up to the “overlook”, and saw only tree-covered hills, mist, and a quarter of the buildings. I have to say that misty overlook had a beauty of its own to it, especially when the mist started moving rapidly across the hillside. We came back to the overlook after seeing some shops and found the mist had started clearing in the city below, so that we could make out more of the harbor and the ships moving along in it.
We walked around the Galleria, another mall at the Peak, then took the tram back down the hill. We took the subway back to T.S.T. I ventured out on my own with guidance from Gen and a map near the subway station to buy a souvenir at the Hard Rock Café, and then met Gen and Kathy back at the hotel. We went out for dinner one last time. Gen asked at the hotel and found another fast food restaurant, Fairwood. Kathy wasn’t hungry; she had soup. I had the “five treasures” meal: chicken, sausage, pork, a duck’s egg, and rice in a bowl. Gen said this is what real Hong Kong people eat, not dim sum. So that made it special.
We went back to the hotel, got our luggage, and Gen helped us find the shuttle from the hotel to the Kowloon Airport Express train shuttle stop. When it finally came we got on, and got a few more minutes to see bustling streets, neon signs, street food, and meat hanging in the windows before getting on the train and starting the long journey home.
Epilogue
The frequent-flier miles ticket I had booked from Philly to Seoul with a planned stopover in Japan came naturally with a 7-hour layover in Los Angeles. Normally it would have been horrible to be stuck waiting several hours in an airport for a red-eye flight after coming off essentially another overnight flight. But my hometown is Los Angeles, which means it was just enough time for my family (mom, aunt, uncle) to drive down, pick me up, and go out of the airport into sunny (albeit slightly cool) Westchester for dinner and after-dinner Starbucks with me. Since my good friend Nick lives near L.A.X., I knew the restaurant options well. And since L.A. is a Mexican food mecca, I chose a nice sit-down Mexican restaurant where you can watch them cooking up the tortillas by hand. It was the perfect end to my vacation.
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