We woke up early and had another great breakfast at the hotel. They have a fantastic bakery. I also like their dim sum. We went to the Jade Market. There must be a hell of a lot of Jade in the world, and most of it seems to be in the Jade Markets. There are several buildings filled with little stalls selling Jade items. The name of the game is bargaining and knowing when to walk away.
The sales people speak very little English but get their point across. Which is basically buy it from me and I will cut the price. First sale of the day. Auspicious sale, lucky sale. They have lots of ways of making a sale. Stupid me thought that jade was green. Wrong, it comes in many colors besides green – from white to black. I personally like the ones that were multi-colored. I was a champion bargainer or so I thought. I got almost 50% off. Then they thanked us for the sale. Then they gave me a jade good luck piece. Then they gave Cathy a free jade ring. They were very happy and in a giving mood. Or perhaps I didn’t quite get them to sharpen their pencil enough in the negotiations. Like most of the negotiations we have experienced in Southeast Asia, there is no talking. They have a hand held calculator and put a number in it and show you. They then hand you the calculator and you clear the number and enter a lower number and they shake their heads clear your number and choose a new number between the two. The calculator is then passed back. Process continues to someone gives up. Maybe I should have continued.
We decided to walk around the neighborhood and discovered it was a gigantic outdoor market covering several blocks. There were vegetable stalls, butchers, fish vendors, and everything else you could think to buy. The raw meat hangs from hooks and I saw customers touching the meat and poultry checking for freshness etc. Nothing is hermetically sealed beneath plastic. We then had a very serendipitous experience. We were going to catch a cab and needed to walk to a street that had cars on it, and not hawkers. We could have gone either direction but I randomly chose to go towards one. We took a few steps and stood in front of a stall selling Bollywood movies. What are the chances of running into that in Hong Kong? If we had been told where it was located and headed out from the hotel I am sure we never would have found it! We purchased several.
Southeast Asia (especially Hong Kong) is pissed at the United States over Swine Flu. They take it very seriously. They feel that the United States is being negligent in not testing people BEFORE they leave the country. They WHO guidelines called for departure screening but they decided because you can be infected and not have a fever or other symptoms people would pass the inspection and be able to travel, spreading the disease. Editorials here say so that at least you would keep sick people off planes and maybe deter sick people from even attempting to fly. I think they are right. We think of the disease as starting in Mexico. The people here think of the disease as being spread from America. Many more infected people have come to Asia from America then Mexico! If they find someone who is infected they are quarentine everyone for seven days ANYONE who sat with in 7 rows of the person on the plane.
Don’t sit by someone who is sick! There are free dispensers of antiseptic everywhere and signs saying the elevator buttons are sterilized every hour or two. We are very lucky that the flu is not more deadly!
We then went out for Dim Sum. A friend had recommended a Dim Sum restaurant. We were the only non-Asians in the place. It was definitely a non-tourist local Din Sum restaurant. It was probably the best food we have had so far. We of course ordered Shu Mei the standard we judge all Dim Sum by. It was great! We then walked back to the hotel. Probably a mistake. The heat and the humidity were at its peak. We were drenched by the time we returned to the hotel.
Cathy decided to relax and take a nap, I opted for a massage. We really like Hong Kong. In just two days we are familiar with our Kowloon neighborhood and feel comfortable walking around and not getting lost.
We had drinks at the hotel and then prepared for dinner. We walked to the Star Ferry and crossed the Victoria Bay to the Hong Kong side. One of the great beauties of Hong Kong is that there are no bridges spanning the very narrow Bay. They easily could have built bridges, but recognizing the unbelievable setting they chose to dig tunnels under the bay. It was a wise choice. We then went to Dinner at Lung King Heen. It is a 3 star Chinese restaurant at the 4 Seasons Hotel. It was spectacular and the service was perfect. All ways attentive and never intrusive. We were very lucky to have found the restaurant review and deciding to go.
We took a cab back through the Eastern Tunnel to Kowloon. Cathy noticed there is absolutely no obvious security in Hong Kong. After Mumbai and Bangkok where the hotels all have high security here it is completely open. It is very nice. I guess the spirit of Bruce Lee is keeping Hong Kong safe.
We received an email from Courtney who has already arrived in Java. I thought this was interesting: “Scott and I are fine and had an easy flight here. Had to go through the "human disinfectant machine" where they spray you and your belongings upon entry at the airport. I almost lost my passport in the confusion."
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