Our New Office

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008. After feeling mostly recovered from my bout with the Hong Kong flu yesterday, Sara and I visited the Kowloon Bay portion of Hong Kong. On the way over, we rode the star ferry. The views from the water were excellent, and it really gave us a sense of the size of Hong Kong. Despite being built on the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the ocean, Hong Kong is quite large.

Kowloon holds most of Hong Kong’s museums, lots of shopping, hotels, and restaurants. It also seemed to be a popular hang-out for models – we saw a lot of fancy looking young western women “hanging out” around important restaurants. Evidently, they hang out hoping to “bump into” someone important. It was a little surreal to see so many attractive, skinny young white girls in Asia, but I managed.

Our trip to Kowloon Bay was supposed to include a visit to a highly recommended restaurant, but we found it to be closed. Our next alternative, another highly recommended restaurant, was also closed. So was a third. It turns out that our guidebook was quite outdated, which is hard to believe since it’s only a couple of years old. I guess things change fast in Hong Kong.

Today was also my last purchase from a Chinese street vendor. I bought a trinket, a gift for a friend, and my haggling skills were at their finest. I negotiated hard, starting absurdly low, laughing and joking my way up to a number that the street vendor STILL wouldn’t accept (she let me walk away). After walking away, I knew I’d found a good deal. It was great fun, and as someone who thought he knew a lot about negotiation, I have to say my experience haggling in Asia opened my eyes quite a bit. It was fun, and I miss it terribly. In the Western world, tough, aggressive negotiation is often viewed with animosity, but it doesn’t have to be. A tough negotiation can be a bonding experience that brings people together, and it took a trip across the world to learn that. Still, it might have been the most valuable thing I take from Asia.

Next, it was off to Macau…

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008. I almost made it nine weeks in Asia without getting the flu, but late yesterday it happened. On the walk to our hotel, I started to feel bad. A combination of nausea and stomach cramps. By the time we made it to our room, I was done for. I spent last night and all day today laying in bed, sick as a dog. Food poisoning was the likely culprit…but who knows for sure. But there’s more to the story…

Late yesterday afternoon, as we were returning to our hotel, our cute little tourist map indicated we would be walking by the “dry fish market.” Without denigrating Asian and Chinese culture, what’s the freakin’ deal with dried, rotting fish? Dried fish husks (or something) were stacked waist high in bin after bin, and local Chinese were shuffling through them like playing cards. It’s like they were looking for a rookie Mickey Mantle card or something. Shark fins, whole fish (big and small), and quite a few items that I couldn’t identify (I saw some kind of dried whole lizard) were either hanging up our laying out right on the street.

What are these things, and why would one want to eat them after they’d been completely dried out?

As if the scene wasn’t bad enough, the quantities of dried and rotting sea life were astounding. Pile after pile, stall after stall, the dried fish market encompassed more than three city blocks.

The smell, of course, was overpowering. Had I not been so nauseous, I might have found it a little funny. Unfortunately, it was all I could do to keep from yacking right on the street.

My bout with Hong Kong flu began soon after, and I wonder if the smell from the fish market had something to do with it.

Monday, December 1st, 2008. We struck out early on our first day in Hong Kong with a visit to Victoria Peak. We rode an old cog railway up the very steep side of Victoria Peak, stopping along the way to let passengers on and off. Victoria Peak is a popular place to live for the well-to-do, and at $75 HKD (about $10 USD) the Peak Tram is a quick and relatively inexpensive way for these people to get up and down the hill. At the top, we visited a 6-story shopping mall with a roof-top terrace. The views were incredible. Hong Kong is mostly mountains, and all of the development occurs on the narrow strip of relatively flat land between the mountains and the ocean. It’s incredible – imagine the skyscrapers of Manhattan mixed with the mountains of Colorado and you’ve got a good idea of how Hong Kong is layed out.

It’s hard to grasp just how vertical Hong Kong is from these photos, but you can see how narrow the strip of “flat” land is between the ocean and the mountain here and across the bay.

The wife.

Next, we came back down the hill and visited Millennium Park. Like many parks in Asia, the gardens and water effects here were incredible. Large man-made waterfalls (carved from huge pieces of granite), serene ponds, and carefully cultivated gardens served home to a variety of wildlife (especially quite a few turtles). Millennium park also houses a world-class aviary. There’s nothing quite like visiting a wildlife sanctuary with skyscrapers looming overhead. Say what you will about big city life, but Hong Kong has done an admirable job of preserving a small piece of nature amidst all the buildings.

One of the many skyscraper views from inside Millennium Park.

We visited quite a few tourist spots as well. Walking down Hollywood Road, we came upon Man Mo temple, Possession Point, and a large number of trendy shops and art galleries. We also visited Antique Row, a collection of cheap knock-offs that tourists love. We stumbled across a fortune teller who charged $100 HKD (about $15 USD) to answer ONE question. I was tempted to pay the $100 HKD and ask “How do you sleep at night charging $100 to answer one question?”

One of the biggest events of today, aside from all the sightseeing, was a heart-to-heart that I had with Sara. During the past 8 weeks of travel, there were moments where my anger and frustration got the better of me. I know this doesn’t make me special – far from it – but it was a big moment to talk with Sara about how I deal with these feelings. It was very helpful, and I’d like to publicly thank her for listening, helping, and putting up with me during this trip. I think I’ve grown a little as a person.

Thanks baby.

On the way back to our hotel, things got a little rough…