Hong Kong: Day 2, no rest for the weary

Despite having been on the road since very early the previous morning, we hit the ground running (or at least walking) as soon as we arrived. Our hotel room wasn’t ready for us, so we had breakfast at the hotel cafeteria with my mom’s brother and sister (Uncle L and Aunt R). I had stir-fried noodles with dim sum. Then as we were leaving to go for a walk, we found out that our room was ready. It was really nice to be able to change clothes since it was about 75 F/ 2X C and phenomenally humid. So maybe an hour and a half after breakfast, we went out for lunch at a Shanghai style restaurant where we tried their variant of dim sum. The wonton soup was great, but the potstickers weren’t as good as I’d hoped for. There were also some soupy buns—be careful eating these because they tend to either squirt or dribble broth down your chin.

Then Uncle left us and Aunt went window shopping with us. We started by going to my mom’s favorite optician to order glasses. I ordered a pair of prescription sunglasses for under $200. I should mention that compared to these two, my mom moves like lightning. It was really difficult for me to walk so slowly and hundreds of people pushed their way by us. Eventually I got their blessing to meet them back at the hotel in a few hours and headed off on my own.

I was amazed at the variety in this part of town. One block would be just packed with signs for a thousand shops, then the next would be lined with fabulous old banyan trees. There were fancy malls with high end designer wares, and other shops that were probably really alleys. And if you looked up, you’d see how a lot of people live in rather run down high-rise buildings. Condensation from the hundreds of old air conditioners rained down on the sidewalks, and every store had their doors wide open and air conditioners on full blast so the further into a shop you walked, the cooler it got (quite an enticement on a day like this). Clearly electricity is too cheap here. Each store also had an abundance of clerks and an additional person who stood on the sidewalk and tried to talk people into visiting the store with coupons or promises of huge discounts. The sidewalks were also lined with men (most appeared to be of Indian descent) muttering or calling out, or even chasing you down the sidewalk if you accidentally made eye contact with offers of custom tailored, suits, imitation Rolexes, or copies of designer purses. I was warned that these guys are associated with shops either above or below street level, and that they would want me to follow them away from the crowds, but I wasn’t up for that.

I was surprised to discover that many of the discount stores do not allow you to try on the clothes. Considering how much bigger than average I am around here, I wouldn’t even consider buying anything without trying it on. It seemed like about every third shop was either a restaurant of some kind or a jewelry store. Camera and electronics stores were also very common. None of these seemed particularly busy, but there somehow must be enough business to go around.

By 4 PM I ended up back at the hotel for a well deserved shower. At 6 PM, Aunt R picked us up to go out to dinner with Uncle L at his wife’s favorite Cantonese restaurant. Uncle L’s wife (Aunt A) has always been quite a character. While she used to hold an import and respected job, she is now retired to life as a princess. She is far to dainty and delicate for any sort of vigorous or strenuous activity. The more she complains, the more Uncle L pampers her, so she is now pretty much completely helpless. She has a full time servant who pushes her around in a wheelchair, serves her food, and keeps her napkin tucked in. She refuses to take medicine or supplements since the pills are too big for her to swallow, thus she suffers from osteoporosis. A month ago she fell and broke her wrist. This was such a horrible and painful experience for her that she could not eat or drink and consequently needed to be hospitalized for over a week. The hospital staff could not cater to her adequately, so her servant had to sleep there with her.

Dinner started out with FRESH shrimp in my honor. Now I don’t particularly like shrimp, and I prefer not to eat things that filter for a living, so there was no way I’d be able to eat giant shrimp that had only moments before been boiled alive and were served intact with eyes and feet and all. I could swear that the antennae were still twitching. I fear I may have angered Uncle L since Aunt A ordered it specifically for me. Sorry, but I have my limits. The second course was soup which was pretty good (I avoided the mystery meat at the bottom). Then came duck skin. Then roast chicken, artfully cut up and presented artfully as though it was flying (complete with the head). Then something that could have been sautéed romaine lettuce with nuts. Then the rest of the duck chopped finely and served in lettuce cups. Then fried rice with pork fat. Luckily I was not the least bit hungry after the two previous meals.

Another thing about dinner was that the restaurant was so loud. It appeared to have normal sound dampening like carpet and such, but it was full on a Friday night, and Cantonese is a loud language. It is not spoken, it is yelled. I had a hard time following the conversations, and besides ringing, my ears actually hurt. Luckily our hotel room is on the 8th floor so the traffic noise isn't so bad. And the view is amazing!

Now I’m thoroughly exhausted, and the internet connection (that we had to pay extra for) is so slow that I can’t even load a weather forecast. I’ll try to upload some pictures, but since it’s now 10 PM, I won’t spend long trying tonight. We have to get up early tomorrow so that we can meet Uncle L and Aunt A for brunch.