Rain in Hong Kong

Monday, June 28, 2010--Hong Kong

I arrived at the library 5 minutes before it opened at 10:00. Everything was very organized. People in Hong Kong, due to the British influence, know how to queue (when compared to other Chinese). There were 3 nice queues waiting for the doors to open, so I joined one. Then when it opened, the library had both escalators going upward on all floors for the first 5 minutes. After that, they reversed one so that people could go either up or down.

I went to the library which is only about 5 blocks from my hotel to use their free wi-fi. The hotel has ridiculous prices for using their cabled Internet. While there, I saw my blog for the first time since leaving home. It was blocked in China because it is a part of the Google empire and Google and China are having a war to see who is going to control whom. Anyway, I had made all my posts by e-mail and had not seen them on the blog itself since leaving home.

When I finished, I returned to the hotel to leave the computer. Then I walked downtown with plans to see an art gallery and to explore. When I got about 5 blocks from the gallery, heavy rain began to fall. I ducked into a complex and ate lunch at McDonald's. I bought their barbecued chicken sandwich which was one of the worst sandwiches I have ever eaten. Instead of being a real breast as it showed in the picture, it was a compressed patty (chicken Spam?) which was difficult to bite and not very tasty or substantial. The rain was still falling when I finished that, so I went into a supermarket in the same building. There I found some Danish cookies that are a copy of Hob Nobs which I like. I bought a package and ate a few of them.

Finally, the rain slowed and I started making my way further toward the galleries. Two blocks later, it came down in torrents again. I was near a metro station, so I just went inside and caught the metro back to the hotel. This was the kind of rain that is not nice to experience and even makes trying to get to a museum or a gallery seem like a task that should be abandoned. In the hotel, I just read and watched TV.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010--Hong Kong

Finally, there is a day with the sun out. And it is my last day in Hong Kong. But the humidity is still 95% with clothes sticking to people and the skin of the boys playing basketball at the park glistening with sweat that will not evaporate.

Unfortunately, today still became a day of failure even with the sun out. First, I went to the Hong Kong Arts Center to visit the Pao Galleries where I had tried to go yesterday. It is a trendy art gallery featuring contemporary art and photography. Unfortunately, however, it was closed. There was no sign to indicate whether it was because they have no show at the present or because it was Tuesday.

From there, I explored the downtown area taking some photographs of the modern architecture as I worked my way toward the Star Ferry. I took the ferry across to Kowloon on the other side of the harbor. I walked past the Peninsula Hotel where I ate brunch the last time I was in Hong Kong (35 years ago) and up Nathan Road. I found the Louie Business Hotel where I had originally planned to stay before finding my present hotel, the Empire Hotel Causeway Bay, on wotif.com for only $4 more per night.

I wanted to see the Hong Kong Museum of History, because I like to see photos of what a city has been like over the decades. Hong Kong should be a city with a history that has been well documented. But I had another disappointment. When I got there, the sign said that it is closed on Tuesdays!

I just returned to the room, got my computer, and went to the library again. By the time I finished there, it was 17:00, so I returned to the room for the evening.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010--Hong Kong to Bangkok

I got away from the hotel early. The bus stop for the trip to the airport was just at the end of the block, and the bus arrived within 5 minutes or so. Then it took only 1 hour to get to the airport (versus the more than 2 hours it took in the rain when I arrived).

Since I got to the airport early, I decided to see if I could catch an earlier flight. They put me on stand-by and told me to return to the counter in an hour.

I was a bit hungry, so I was looking at the sandwiches and buns at 7-11. A young man asked me where I was from. We started talking, and we both bought sandwiches and went to sit together to eat them and visit. He was South Korean and not as young as he looked. He said he was 40, although I would have guessed 28. Anyway, he was a bit qwerky. I later learned why, but I liked him. He told me he is a bit of a genius (high IQ) and got a degree in mechanical engineering. He owns his own factory in China that makes children's watches. He's apparently a hands-on owner, because his hands looked like he works with them on the machinery. He also said that his hobbies are perfecting his golf swing and his baseball pitch. He seemed overly friendly while being quite sweet. Anyway, the hour passed very fast.

When I returned to the counter, they had a seat for me on the earlier flight. I had to rush, but I got there just as they were boarding. And that got me to Bangkok in mid-afternoon instead of late afternoon which is good because of the traffic congestion during rush hours here. I caught the bus and metro and was in my hotel room around 16:30.

My hotel still is not doing well. They have suffered since the fire they had 3 years ago (just 2-3 weeks after I had been here). It's quiet with few guests. And today I learned that it does not have Internet in any form for guests. Guess I won't return there when I come back into town later this month.

In the meantime, I am across the street using one of the cheap cyber cafes that has been here for some time. It won't be so bad not being able to use the computer in my room.

It was sunny with some rain clouds in the distance when I arrived and made my way to the hotel. Right now, however, I can hear thunder. I guess I have to make it back to my hotel in the rain. I didn't bring my umbrella, but it won't be a big problem.

Spending Update: During 4 days in Hong Kong, I spent $329.66 for an average of $82.42 per day. Since leaving Texas, I have spent $1802.50 over 56 days for an average of $32.19 per day.