ON A CLEAR DAY

On a clear day I’m sure there are wonderful things to see in Hong Kong. Unfortunately I went to see them today but I have no idea what they looked like due to the fog at the altitudes I was at. But more of that later.

Yesterday (Saturday) I awoke and was out of my hotel by 10AM. It was raining a bit so I thought I wouldn’t do major sightseeing, but walk around some and maybe buy a thing or two. I wish it was that simple. One of the tourist books you can get shows different walking tours so I took the subway over from the island I’m on (Kowloon) to the Hong Kong island. I quickly lost the trail I was supposed to be following so I just wandered aimlessly around looking at the old shops.


My first purchase, and a major one at that, was an antique statue from the Tang dynasty. It’s about 8 inches high and has some color on it (it’s a woman) and a bunch of dirt which you really shouldn’t take off because the color might come with it. I bought it because I like it. And, I can use a personal thing or two in my apartment. Her cloak is orange and her lips are red. When I get back to Paju and unwrap it, I’ll post a picture.

There was a temple close by the antique shop (actually there were a lot of antique shops) which I decided to visit. It’s in the middle of the street so it’s a bit of a surprise setting.


Inside there were people lighting incense and praying. It was a Buddhist temple and here are a few people lighting incense. I don’t know why they do, but it would be good to be an incense merchant in the land of Buddha.


Did you ever wonder why Buddha appears to be fat all the time? Here’s the reason. People keep bringing him food. Of course if you put all this food in front of him all the time, he’s going to put on weight. I propose we have a “let’s put Buddha on a diet” week here in China.


I then visited a linens store and bought myself a 2nd set of sheets along with a quilt. I needed it, and I purchased a towel with it. I think it cost more than I wanted to spend, but yesterday I was calculating the exchange wrong. Not everything in Hong Kong is cheap and the sheets set is nice.

From there I did one of my favorite activities and visited a bookstore. I spent about an hour there and came out with six books. I just love looking at books. I’m set for books for a while now.

I have been riding the subway and it’s quite clean and nice. The price isn’t bad and I have my Octopus Card. The Octopus Card is a card you can put X amount of dollars on and then swipe it as you get on public transportation. It’s much more convenient than always buying tickets. However, after the bookstore my parcels were so heavy I just plopped myself into a taxi. Everyone in Hong Kong speaks English, except for my taxi driver who didn’t exactly understand where I wanted to go but he somehow made it to my hotel.

I dropped my purchases off and hit the streets again. I went to the jade market and if there was any real jade in the jade market, I’d be shocked. What a bunch of junk. I then walked down “Jade” street where there are a bunch of jewelers, some of them who’ve been in the same location for 30 years. I bought some stuff there including 2 new earrings for myself. I got a green jade earring and a white jade earring. They’re very nice and the couple who run the store were very nice. I spent about a half hour chatting with them and it was most enjoyable.

From there I went to a street where there are tons of electronics stores. What could I possibly want? Don’t ask. I walked up and down that street several times. It was jam packed with people. I went in a store that was huge, and it was only cell phones. Amazing. I bought, and I’m embarrassed to say, a video camera that also takes still photography. Why, oh why, would I do such a thing? How about so I can shoot some video at Leah’s wedding? That was one of my ideas. Video cameras are great when your kids are young to capture those moments. This was not my most brilliant purchase ever, but who knows, perhaps I’ll get some pleasure out of it.

I went to a California pizza restaurant for dinner and had a pizza. It was so good. I’ve been eating quite well since I left Gwangyang. It’s nice to be eating again and enjoying it. I then walked through an evening market where I bought assorted junk including 3 pairs of Converse All-Stars running shoes. I own a pair of red ones and now I have blue, orange, and green. I’m Mr. Fashion.

I got back to my hotel room about 11PM so it was a long day, an expensive day, but a good day. My mind was made up that Sunday was to be sightseeing day.

I awoke and had breakfast in the hotel. I had breakfast at Starbucks yesterday so I wanted something different. It wasn’t a huge ripoff, just a small ripoff. But since I’m spending money like a drunken sailor, why not spend a little more.

I left the hotel about 10AM and headed down to the pier where I took a ferry to Lantu Island to visit the Giant Buddha. This is the world’s largest sitting Buddha. However, it was misty and the Buddha was high up on the island, so you could be standing right under it and not see it. The fog was so thick you couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you. Here is what I saw of the Giant Buddha. First with a front view,and then we have a side view.



Here are some statues around the Buddha.


And of course, anywhere you find a Buddha, you find a place to light incense. And be careful because it’s hot.


After my visit of not seeing the Buddha, I came back and then rode a tram car to the top of Victoria’s Peak. The ride was interesting, and I hear the view is great, but I wouldn’t know. Here’s what I saw.


There was a small mall there with a bulk candy shop and I sort of went overboard. I won’t say how much I spent, but if I eat it all, it may be declared suicide by the coroner.

I came back to the pier and then went to another mall close by thinking that perhaps I could see a movie. So I did. I really didn’t like the book, “The DaVinci Code” so I decided to see if the movie was better. I don’t know if it got good reviews, but the most interesting thing about it was Tom Hank’s hair. He needed a haircut. It was dry and convoluted like the book. I don’t get it. Why does everyone like it? The theater was nice and the seats were the most comfortable theater seats I’ve ever been in. They felt like leather. And, it was the first time I’ve ever been to a movie that didn’t have previews. It had commercials, but no coming attractions. The price for the film was about $10.

I knew I wouldn’t have enough room in my suitcase to take everything home with me, so I went to another night market to look for a suitcase. I did good and found a quite suitable one for about $17. I also visited a fortune teller. Hell, I’m in China and there are a lot of fortune tellers. This whole street is filled with them.


This guy took down my birthday and using his Palm Pilot and some books did some research to come up with my fortune. This included my past that has my many successes in business, my making of much money with the help of women, my kind brother, my rich father, and other things that were so far from the truth it was amazing. He hit on that I had 2 kids and I’ve had some health issues. He also said I’m a non-conformist and adventuresome. But all in all, he was useless. But I’ve done it, so there.

I rolled back in after a meal at McDonalds around 11:30. Another full day and tomorrow all I’ve got planned is to pick up my visa and fly back to Korea at 4:30. I won’t be visiting Hong Kong again, but if you’re in the neighborhood I strongly recommend it. It’s clean, it’s easy to get around, there may be things to see on a clear day, and there is shopping, shopping and more shopping.