Hong Kong Part III

I've come to realize that I'm in the middle of telling several different stories. I haven't quite yet finished the recounting of my time in Hong Kong nor have I finished sharing my family's visit. I've also realized that I have left you hanging and haven't finished Taryn's visit and our time together before the family arrived or (and I let out a sigh) the conclusion of Peter's trip. I'm going to try to take care of one of those sagas this morning.

I last left off at the end of my second day in Hong Kong. The following morning was D-Day for Taryn. She was subjected to three exams each lasting two hours throughout the day. What that meant was that I had the whole day to explore by myself. My first night in Hong Kong we rode the bus to the top of Victoria Peak and were rewarded with some incredible views of the city at night. I wanted to catch the same views but during the day. I also wanted some exercise. I took off at about 7:30 am and began the trek uphill. I mentioned earlier that for a large city, Hong Kong has a surprising amount of forested areas. Victoria's Peak is one of those places. Only a few minutes out, I entered into a very thick forest and began to wind my way up the hill. This was no little hill and it was pretty much uphill for a good 45 minutes. But I was rewarded with some incredible views of the city, Kowloon and the harbor. The next step was to take the old tram back down the hill. While some may be scratching there heads and wondering why I didn't take the tram up and walk down, there is a simple explanation. I started out about halfway up the hill. Taryn's room is located in the mid-levels and so in order to get to the tram I would have had to go downhill. Plus the tram was a good 45 minute walk (or more) from Taryn's room. Not to mention the second item on my list was the Bank of China building which just happened to be at the base of the tram. Being a bank, it wasn't open at 7:30 am. So there was logic. Plus, I also wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I had climbed the tallest mountain in Hong Kong. Anyway, I soon found myself climbing again however this time it was in an elevator inside the Bank of China building. If you can picture the Hong Kong skyline (I mean, who can't?), you might make out a very cool looking building with neat angles and roof lines which look like the tops of the towers were sliced off leaving a slope. Well, that's the Bank of China building and I really like it. So I decided that I wanted to go up to the viewing platform on the 43 floor. After accomplishing that, I headed towards Kowloon. Hong Kong SAR is made up of several different areas mainly Hong Kong island (and a good number of other islands), Kowloon (the land just across the river/straight between Hong Kong island and mainland China) and the New Territories (which are simply an extension of Kowloon into mainland China). So I crossed the body of water (I've yet to determine exactly what that body of water is called...straight, river, harbor, stream...I've no clue) and ended up in Kowloon. After gazing back at the immense city rising up out of the water at the foot of Victoria Peak, I headed towards the the History Museum to brush up on my Hong Kong history. I'll spare you most of the details, but Hong Kong has a very interesting history. A point of note though is that only recently (on July 1 actually), Hong Kong celebrated its 10th anniversary as a part of China. There was a huge celebration and my family actually was in Hong Kong and was able to witness it. If you have any questions, please direct them towards them as I'm clueless. Aside from my current state of mind, the museum was interesting and enjoyable. Plus it was air conditioned. I then spent the next few hours wandering in different areas of Kowloon and eventually made it into the New Territories. Historically, the British claim to mainland China ended with Kowloon and the boundary was rather artificially drawn up. A ruler was simply place on a map and a line was drawn. The boundary is meaningless today, but where the old boundary lay now lies Boundary Road (I wonder who thought of that?). A few markets and temples later, I was ready to head home and meet Taryn. Her exams were about the wrap up and it was soon going to be time to hit the town and celebrate. I returned and soon after that so did Taryn and in her brain dead stupor (6 hours of law exams in 10 hours...who can blame her?) was able to recommend a place for dinner and off we went, accompanied by several of her friends of course. That was shortly followed by drinks and more lively conversation at a classy pub. Now, this was an evening that I enjoyed. It was absolutely wonderful to get back into the world of academia. Here I was in the company of a handful of bright and interesting individuals who have spent time doing a variety of things (including study law in Hong Kong). It was a reminder of what I enjoyed so much about my stint at university and whetted my appetite for my eventual return to campus. Our discussion were lively and the consumption of alcohol made us all funnier and the inclusion of a Connect 4 game fulfilled all of the criteria needed for a memorable evening. And that was my last night in Hong Kong.

Seeking to put an end to this of the adventure, I'll quickly add the highlights of the following morning and my eventual return to Thailand. We awoke early the next morning despite our late evening in order to get Taryn packed and moved out and talk to the parents. We hit the streets and tried to take in the last few sites of Hong Kong. We were unsuccessful with the exception of the Noon Gun. I honestly can't tell you much about the gun other than it's fired everyday at noon. There's some reason for it, but I was too sleepy and hot to retain any information whatsoever so we returned to the comforts of a coffee shop shortly after noon and there we remained until I needed to head out to catch my flight. A few hours later, I was back in Thailand and on my way back to Lampang. 9 hours later I was home. My weekend trip to an international destination was complete and so is another blog entry.

Until next time, fair reader.

Ryan