We've Arrived! (First post of 2010)

(Cassie)

Ni hao and happy Valentine’s Day from China! Tonight is our second night in Hong Kong, but I was far too worn out to write last night. Anyway, flights make for boring writing. Especially ours, which were long, yet relatively painless considering the fact that we spent about twenty four hours traveling from the time that our first flight took off until we entered our hotel rooms. But enough about that??

Hong Kong is remarkable in that it feels a lot like a larger, more populous version of New York City. It is, however, much cleaner and has a more beautiful location. Our drive from the airport to our hotel took us across a very long (in fact the world’s longest) suspension bridge and gave us a gorgeous view of Hong Kong Island’s lush hills and seemingly endless high-rises. When we got to the hotel, Alex was down for the count, but the girls decided to go out on the town (in a manner of speaking). After getting into the elevator and forgetting to actually press a button for a while (we were all a bit out of it) we took to the streets to find almost everything?closed! As last night was Chinese New Year’s Eve, many of the shops had closed up early. This left the streets of Hong Kong feeling vaguely strange and emptier than expected.

This morning, however, the city was bustling. Although many businesses were still closed, many people were out and about. After breakfast, we decided to brave the Hong Kong subway (which is actually called the train here) to find a temple in different area of the city. We pushed random buttons on the ticket dispenser until finally figuring out how to use it, then spent another twenty minutes attempting to figure out where to go until Alaina finally suggested we wing it. Luckily, we ended up figuring things out and landed in Tsuen Wan, home of the Man Mo Temple. I have to say, I can’t get over how CLEAN the subway was. And they’re always on time.

After we all wrestled with our terrible senses of direction, we found the Man Mo Temple. It was a little oasis in the city, with trees around it and a little park across the street. The temple was dedicated to filial worship. Plaques with photographs and names of loved ones decorated the walls. In one room of the temple, huge coils of incense hung from the ceiling and people walked with bundles of burning sticks of incense to bow in front of altars overburdened with offerings of food. It was packed with people and smoke from the incense clouded the air, giving the temple an atmosphere of both chaos and mystery.

We left the temple to roam the surrounding streets, finding a stall selling antique cricket cages, jade, and Cultural Revolution era relics. After a bit more exploring, we headed back over to the hotel, where everyone but Lauren napped. We woke to head back out into the city for the “Festive Hong Kong 2010 Night Parade.” Alex was feeling exhausted, so he opted to stay in for the night. As the parade was due to start about an hour and a half after we left the hotel, we decided to stake out a good spot on the street and brave the long wait. Finally, two and a half hours after we had begun to wait and an hour after it was supposed to start, the parade reached us. It was a very interesting parade, and not quite what we expected. Among dragons, dancing girls in ethnic costumes, and a Chinese marching band were a Swiss band called the Tigers and?the San Diego Chargers cheerleaders?! Weird. The guys from SSpain next to us seemed to like them though. The cheerleaders were the final straw for Alaina and I, so after three hours of standing near the parade route we decided to head back to the hotel. Sandy and Lauren hung in there for the rest of the parade, and said it was worth the wait, but far more multi-national than expected. Frankly, there weren’t enough dragons for me.

Lauren and Sandy returned to the hotel, and the three of us went in search of food. We ended up finding a restaurant on a side street that was busy – always a good sign. We sat down to what we all considered to be the first truly Chinese meal we had eaten since we got here. It was delicious. That’s pretty much all for now. As much fun as I’m having here, I miss everyone at home! Kayla, here’s your shout out…I hope you’re reading! Goodbye for now?zhu nimen xin nian hao!