Today we slept
in a little and then got up and ready for another day of sightseeing. Vandita and Anupam wanted a relaxing day at home so Peter and I set off to explore Kowloon, a huge and very densely populated area of Hong Kong. Peter had done a little research and found a local luthier that lived just off the train station at Ngua Tau Kok. He had called the guy to see if we could come by and was told when to make a visit. This luthier, Matthew, builds classical guitars and Peter was interested to see his set up. We made it to train station where Matthew met us.
Peter called to tell him we were there and Matthew said he would find us. I wondered how he would know how we are since we didn't give him a description and then thought, oh well Peter has a guitar shirt on so that will give us away. Eventually I realized that we were the only white people around and that we stood out from the crowd fairly easily. We walked a couple blocks back to Matthew's shop to see what he had going on. I sat on the couch and looked through our Hong Kong book and tried to make the rest of the day's plans while Peter and Matthew played guitar and talked shop. We were there about an hour or
so and when Peter was ready to go we headed back to the station and rode back the way we came getting off at Diamond Hill. The station there dropped us off just outside a mall. We were trying to find Chi Lin Nunnery and the directions we had said to go through the mall to the street. We tried this to no avial and got lost in the mall and looked at several maps before we decided to go back to the station and walk around the mall to the street. This worked much better and we found the Nunnery in a matter of minutes. Chi Lin Nunnery is a large Buddhist temple
complex covering a space of more than 33,000 square metersThe Chi Lin Nunnery was founded in 1934 but was rebuilt in the 1990s completely of wood frame buildings built without the use of a single nails. This construction is based on traditional Chinese architectural techniques dating from the Tang Dynasty that uses special interlocking systems cut into the wood to hold them in place. The Chi Lin Nunnery buildings are the only buildings to be built in this style in modern day Hong Kong. Everything was very beautiful all the way up to the monastery. There were several courtyards and gates within the monastery with ponds, flowers, fountians, and statues. Inside the walls of the monastery it was a bit sticky and hot because there was no breeze but when we exited the doors we were greeted by nice cool winds that helped us get a little more comfortable. We stopped in a store or two
on the way out, mainly to get some AC on us, and then we headed back to the mall to get some lunch. After going over the map and walking past many restaurants within the mall that had lines out the doors we decided to eat at Food Republic which was somewhat like a food court. All the counters were of the same business but they all offered different cuisines. We opted for Shanghai style and split a plate of chicken and rice. Once we had our food we walked around the entire court looking for two empty seats. We couldn't find anything, the place was completely packed. We walked again and retraced our steps but there were no openings anywhere. I didn't know what
to do as there really wasn't even room to stand to eat and I began to get a bit frustrated when a lady come up to us and told us to follow her. She and her friend were leaving so they gave us their seats so we could finally sit down. We were very grateful and happy to be off our feet for a few minutes. Once again, there was no silverware around so we did our best to eat our rice and chicken with chopsticks. We did okay but we did get a lot of stares from the locals. Vandita told us the farther we traveled away from Central the less and less the people speak English. We found this to be very true. We were sitting next to a couple
who finished eating when they said, "hello" and handed us an unopened Coke they didn't want. It was very sweet of them as we hadn't gotten a drink since we always carry water with us. We must have looked pretty pathetic to this people as everyone seemed to be overly nice to us. On the way out of the mall Peter wanted to stop in a music store to see if there was any J-Pop that he wanted to buy. He was in there a long time but didn't end up purchasing anything and then we were on our way back to the train station to head toward Kowloon City
where there is a Walled City, a largely ungoverned settlement. Originally a Chinese military fort, the Walled City became an enclave after the New Territories were leased to Britain in 1898. Its population increased dramatically following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. In 1987, the Walled City contained 33,000 residents within its 6.5-acre borders. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it was controlled by Triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling, and drug use. In 1987, the Hong Kong government announced plans to
demolish the Walled City. After an arduous eviction process, demolition began in March 1993 and was completed in April 1994. Kowloon Walled City Park opened in December 1995 and occupies the area of the former Walled City. When we got to the station we did our best to find the right streets but our map wasn't very detailed or helpful in this area and no one spoke English. We walked the wrong way for about 10 minutes before realizing our mistake and then turned around and walked back. It was really hot and muggy out and I think the
humidity is what really got to us, the heat wasn't anything more than what we get at home but the humidity was about +91%. We walked and walked without total confidence we were going the right way when we eventually came across the intersection we had been looking for. Getting farther and farther into Kowloon City it was unmistakenly obvious that we were definitely in a foreign land. In Central just about all signs have English translations under the Chinese writing but here there was absolutely no English except for one large rock area that read only "Start from Zero", we never did figure out what that was about. We found the walled city and walked through. The history of the city is what drew me to it and I was very intrigued with the structure and preserved area. The sight itself wasn't necessarily worth all our headache to find it, especially in the heat, but having read about the history of the area really was fascinating. Also, the experience of walking through land completely foreign to us with only each other was a completely new venture and I was happy to share the journey with my wonderful husband (even if he does get cranky in the heat). After lots of pictures and a little bit of resting we headed back towards the train station.
I had wanted to hit up a couple of the cool markets that I had read about and talked to Vandita about but being that it was so hot and I knew Peter was really uncomfortable I said we should just head back to Jordon and check out a large shopping store called the Emporium. This was an indoor shopping store similar to a department store in the states but at the same time completely different. Of course, there is no space for large stores so everything is built upwards, this building had 5 stories and there was absolutely no method to their departments. The aisles were very cramped and you would be looking at women's shirts and the next thing you know you are surrounded by musical instruments, the next floor up you would be wandering past swimsuits and shoes and then find yourself in medical supplies, and not things like thermometers or ace bandages but rather hospital beds and wheelchairs. There was a furniture area, jewelry, and really anything else you could want including smoking products and washers and dryers. It was a very crazy mishmash of random items. We did end up finding something cool for our shelf at home. It is a large piece of bamboo, about 4" in diameter and 5" tall, that has been dyed to resemble dark wood and then carved to reveal the natural color in Chinese symbols and Oriental plants. It said "Pencil holder" on the sticker but we are just going to use it for decoration. I was ready to go home but Peter knew I wanted to see the markets so he insisted we head toward the Jade Market
which was closing in just 30 minutes. I was a bit weary that we wouldn't make it but Peter persisted so we walked in that direction (after heading the wrong way first) and eventually came upon it. A couple stalls were already clearing out but most were still open. The Jade market wasn't very big and reminded me a lot of the Flea Market in Sanford but every booth had the same thing, Jade (of course), pearls, miniature statues and then a couple miscellaneous items here and there. We bought 4 little jade crosses for the children and for mom and then just walked around to see the rest. Everyone at the booths were very in your face trying to make a sale but we learned quickly not to say anything other than, "no thank you" and keep walking. I tried to take some pictures discretely and we will see how they turn out. I didn't want to be the annoying tourist who comes to stare and not buy anything (even though that is pretty much exactly what I am). We left the
jade market and I, once again, was ready to quit but Peter is awesome and knew I really wanted to see the Ladies Market so we found the train and took it to Mong Kok to check it out. Apparently this is a night market and isn't really much during the day. It was similar to Stanley Market but the booths were obviously temporary and only along one long street that crossed over many perpendicular streets along the way. Stanley seemed much more permanent with AC's and credit card terminals (for the most part) and it was an impressive maze
of confusing turns and forks. I really hadn't planned on buying anything at either of the markets today and really just wanted to experience them and see what they were all about. However, we found some awesome deals so we couldn't resist, this is where our haggling tactics really paid off. We cut most of the beginning offers by 40% and sometimes more than 50%. We just didn't want anything so bad we had to have it so we would offer a really low price and when they countered something more we would start to walk away. They hated this and I
don't think a single person let us leave without taking our only offer. It was amazing to hear how fast they would drop their prices and sometimes we wouldn't even have to say a word. Pretty much all you had to do was look away and their prices started falling. We had a good time finding more gifts and things for ourselves but since our feet had been killing us for the last several hours we were more than ready to head back. We found the train fairly simple and hoped on to head back to Central, we had to switch trains once but it was quick and easy. When we got to Central we made a mistake and went out the wrong exit so we were lost once again. To complicate things a bit more it is Sunday and that means that all the house-help from all over has the day off. Anupam told us yesterday that on Sundays all the house-help goes to Central after church and has picnics and gatherings. He
said it was quite the sight to see and we were now experiencing it. There were people everywhere and not much room for even breathing. We walked and walked looking for the bus station and finally got help from one of the IFC mall security guards. We were so happy to see the bus station sign but when we got inside the line for bus 1 was easily 4 buses long. Our feet were really hurting us by now so we decided to head to the street and hail a cab. This was a little more expensive but it did save us the trouble of waiting as well as walking up the steep hill to the flat from the bus stop. We made it home and not a minute too soon, my feet felt like they were going to give up on me. When we got home we found out that Vandita had slipped on one of the steep hills around the flat and fractured her ankle. She now had a boot and
crutches and was in a lot of pain, poor thing. Anupam had ordered take out for dinner and I tried to help with the babies and table as much as possible. Today was Ederly's day off so she wouldn't have house help until tomorrow. After dinner I took a shower and then headed to bed, I was so beat I could barely keep my eyes open.
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