Concrete Jungles and City Forests

Finally! After two and a half months of travelling and many arrivals, we finally got someone meeting us with a name sign on the airport. A lifelong dream come true!

Well, at least Thomas got his name on a sign. Close enough!

Port of arrival? Hong Kong, but this wasn't the end of our extravagant greeting that Thursday afternoon. As usual, when we fly, we find our transport from the airport prearranged and we followed our unknown host past the taxis, and a sign saying: "Limousine Parking". We exchanged looks knowingly. Would this be another Rayong?

It wasn't a limousine though. Still pretty cool!

Zooming through the fairly empty highway that evening, we got a good view of the city. And what a view it was! Basically I got a stiff neck as I was looking for tops of skyscrapers all the way over to the other side of Hong Kong Island. In perfect formation, they fill entire parts of the city, until it seems like the land cannot hold any more buildings. The Island, being roughly the size of Manhattan, isn't filled to the brink with skyscrapers yet though. Our home the next couple of days would Deep Water bay, on the less densely populated south side, filled with expats and multi-millionaires. Our hosts this time: Jenni and Trent Hagland. Thomas' cousin, her husband and their two adorable daughters Waverly (4 months), and Eden (now 3 years), all entertained us in their own way.

Our comfy home overlooking Deep Water Bay.

The parents offered us lodging, sightseeing tips, delicious dinners, and good company. All this to the sound of Trent's comprehensive record collection and very cool taste in music! Eden was, as many kids, a little scared of these strangers suddenly occupying her home. All this changed, though, as her third birthday party arrived Saturday. Jenni, using her remarkable planning skills, got us to dress up as Disney princes, fitting with the theme for the dress-up party, and we did our best to help make Eden's celebration as memorable as possible.

Thomas the Noble Knight, offering his services for the celebration.

And what a party it was! Held in the big common venue for their housing complex, Jenni had put tons of work into keeping 24 toddlers entertained for 2 hours. Apart from having real life princes, there were jumping castles, donkey tails, monster-making arts and crafts and other activities to help turn the premises into a miniature theme park! The cake literally took the cake. Snow White's hut was so beautiful that Eden cried her eyes out as the devouring of the lavished layers commenced. The parents, overlooking the whole event, were offered beer and got a rare chance to socialize with fellow parents, while their kids were occupied. We also got credit for our volunteering. The following Monday, one of the mothers, at pre-school, asked Jenni where she had hired us. She wanted us for her kids' birthdays as well!

Don't destroy Snow White's beautiful home, Mommy!

Final preparations for the grand party!

We also had secondary hosts. Remember Hoi Ki and Angel, the two Chinese girls we met on our journey through the Himalayas? Well, a visit to Hong Kong wouldn't be complete without an introduction by some real locals (no offence, Jenni and Trent). Before the meet-up, however, we needed to do some essential shopping (mainly costumes and presents) and sightseeing. The Manhattanesque streets of Central provided us with sightseeing in itself, but we also visited Hong Kong's answer to Hollywood's Chinese Theatre (Coincidence? I think so.). The Avenue of Stars featured hand prints and statues of Hong Kong stars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Starstruck on the Avenue, overlooking the Hong Kong skyline.

Bruce Lee gettin' ready to bring down a deadly roundhouse kick on yo' ass!

For some older stories, the Hong Kong Museum of History provided us with an overload of background info on this province, which until 1997 was a colony of Britain. We couldn't trace the same grudge against the colonists that we have encountered in countries like India and Vietnam. Well, since its current owners, the People's Republic of China, promised that nothing would change in 50 years, you would think the locals would welcome their new Chinese overlords? But no, mainland Chinese are frowned upon in Hong Kong for many reasons. All from trying to sneak in totalitarian laws, hamper free speech and introduce masquerade elections, to the simple mainland Chinese who come in hordes to the city for shopping. I don't think I need to elaborate more about our experiences with the newly rich Chinese tourists. So it seems, at least in the final years, that Hong Kong didn't suffer too much under British rule, and many people, including our trekking friends, are worried about the future with increased communist influence.

Culinary delights in good company.

Back to our dinner with the girls! We met up for some incredible Cantonese cuisine at a traditional Chinese restaurant in Central. Later, we took the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world to Central's higher levels (Central is built against a hillside), and visited the more modern styled street of Lan Kwai Fong - riddled with bars and clubs for every liking. After a couple of beers, and talks of this and that we came out from one of the waterholes. What we saw was far from the small crowds we'd encountered as we entered. The streets were literally packed with tourists (most of them drunk) dancing, talking, and having a good time. Great fun!    

Also, beer in good company.

Not as good a company on Lan Kwai Fong.

Thomas contemplating the mysteries of a cantonese night-snack.

But apart from its metropolitan vibe, Hong Kong also had plenty of outdoors to offer us. We made Sunday an all-around outdoor day, and started with a trip to The Peak. With such a decisive name it is, if not the highest peak in Hong Kong, the one easiest accessible for tourists. We chose to skip the abysmal queues for the tram from Central and took a carefree bus ride to the top instead.After a casual walk around the peak (almost), not wanting to miss out on the experience, we stood in a way shorter line for the tram on the way down, giving us fond associations of Bergen's Fløibanen (which of course we must say is way more comfortable, to please all Bergensers reading this blog).

Our Chinese friends (this time accompanied by Angel's boyfriend), also took us to the Twins. If anyone had any dirty expectations, sorry to disappoint you, it's just a hiking trail leading to two peaks on the southern part of the island. It was fascinating to see how a huge metropolis like Hong Kong could have an outdoor scene just a stone throw from Central. Looking in one direction, you would never have guessed you had a city of seven million right behind you. Almost like back home, give or take 6 million people.

The new album cover for the band 3 Chinese and 2 Norwegians.

Stanley from above.

Hoi Ki with a positive outlook as always, while Angel is more down on her spirits.

After a 3 and a half hour hike, we arrived at Stanley, basically a beach walk for tourists and a market for tourists. We braved the crowds, got some ice-cream, and then said a painstaking farewell to our friends, whose company we had enjoyed a lot! Heading back to steak dinner with Jenni and Trent (first one in way too long), it slowly dawned on us that our  Hong Kong adventure was nearing an end. Luckily we'll get a quick revisit - our plane departs from Hong Kong to Japan, after we arrive from Mystery Destination X at the end of March. More on that in Thomas' next post. For now, only one thing remains to be said: So long, Hong Kong!

Stanley Harbor beach walk tourist promenade.

Final farewell picture, thanks guys!