Hong Kong

Our arrival in Hong Kong was once again this year overcast & cloudy, but not nearly as foggy & bleak as last year. We spent much of the morning walking the busy streets downtown and just absorbing the tone of the city - what an incredible place. By Noon, the mist burned away and reached 72-degrees - quite a beautiful day! Photos & commentary will be in segments as we will be here for 3 days, including a side-trip to Hong Kong Disneyland.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

        

   

   

   

        

   

        

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

       

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

We decided to view the nightly laser show from the harbor this year, so we boarded a tour ferry at 7:00 for nearly 2 hours. The fog started rolling in shortly after the 13-minute show began, but wasn't nearly as obstructive as last year. It was a chilly evening, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

   

   

Visiting Our First Walmart In China!

You Wouldn't Find These Creatures In Phoenix!

...Or These!

...Or Those!

Bulk Rice

...And Something From The Sea?

Up at 4:30am, I fill my coffee mug, pack the laptop, and venture a few hundred feet into the terminal building to connect to the Harbor City FREE internet. Unlike yesterday and after 30 minutes of frustration, I find there’s NO connectivity because apparently our passengers have been ‘stressing the system’ since arriving. A posted sign by the port authorities would have been nice, but so typical of the behavior here, it was up to me (or us) to figure it out. Yes, I’m aggravated, not just because of this incident but the general demeanor of the residents here – same as last year – amazing city, but discourteous, offensive behavior. More on that tomorrow.

I’m back on the ship now, paying again for slow satellite internet time. Accordingly, I can only share a few quick photos today.

A trip to Hong Kong wouldn’t be complete without a trip to, where else?? Disneyland!! Cheryl and I had a GREAT time yesterday just being kids again. Disney has always touted itself for being the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’ although the Chinese, even at Disney, can’t seem to muster a smile. With our visit here last year, I’ve since learned that it’s just part of their culture – eye contact is considered disrespectful, let alone a friendly smile. You just have to learn to put all that aside and have a good time, which is exactly what we did. So again, a few quick photos – I’ll post more once we reach Singapore in a few days and have access again (hopefully) to free, high-speed internet.

        

Our last few hours in Hong Kong were the absolute best. Last year on the World Voyage we met a wonderful couple from Canada (Leigh & Wendy) and continued corresponding once the trip was over. Actually, they disembarked in Barcelona and spent several weeks touring Europe. When we returned to the ship after our first day in Hong Kong, there was a message on our phone front the front desk. In part, the message was from Leigh & Wendy – they were in Hong Kong, & when they saw our post on Facebook indicating our arrival, they walked down to the ship terminal from their nearby hotel – they were (are) actually waiting to catch another Holland America ship next Monday for a 45-day cruise. At any rate, we were able to connect and make arrangements to meet on our final day. They once again walked all the way down from their hotel to meet us outside the ship and we pulled up chairs in a coffee shop just inside the terminal. We only had 2 hours as ‘all-aboard’ was scheduled at 3:00. The time went by much too quickly as is the case when you’re with dear friends – what a marvelous couple! As our time drew to a close, we agreed to plan a trip together at some point down the road – maybe two years – we’ll see – but definitely a lasting friendship.

As I reflect on our 3 days here this year combined with our time last March, I can describe Hong Kong in a few short words. It’s bigger than life – full of history & culture – amazing skyline – excellent, very efficient subway system – congested streets – smoggy – innovative – overcrowded – and in my opinion, unsociable. Many folks would disagree with the latter, but I (we) find their demeanor as distant & hostile. Most city sidewalks are elbow-to-elbow. You often see hundreds walking straight toward you with heads mostly down, expressionless faces, and on a mission – everyone’s in a hurry to get someplace. You get bumped, pushed – they have no concept of personal space. You often feel the tips of their shoes touching your heels – very uncomfortable. Smiles are a rare commodity, and I believe the words ‘please’ & ‘thank you’ are excluded from their vocabularies. We found this to be true even in nice restaurants – the venues are beautiful and the food is good, but service is generally poor by American standards. Interesting place to visit – I wouldn’t live here, nor would I recommend an extended stay - but it's definitely worth seeing & experiencing for a few days.

On to Vietnam – scheduled to arrive Friday morning.