We got another early start today so that we could make a couple of the calls we hadn’t been able to make yesterday. It was really fun to talk to family! That has been the hardest part of the trip so far for me – only being in touch by e-mail.
I hate to say that since we had missed breakfast on the ship, and knew we had a long day in front of us, we stopped at the nearby McDonald’s for breakfast. And I hate even more to say – it tasted mighty good!
We then took the metro to the flower market and bird market – on the outskirts of where we were docked. It took a while and a lot of questions to the locals, but we made it.
The flower market is really a couple of streets of stores and stalls that sell fresh flowers at really good prices.
Not only did it look so colorful, it smelled wonderful to walk down these streets.
Near this is the bird market where mainly men sell their birds and bird food and supplies. It is a thriving business here because there birds are supposed to bring good luck.
The men give their birds “fresh” food which means they have large supplies of live worms, crickets and bugs!
We didn’t find the size bird cage we were looking for (for decoration only) although there were many made out of beautiful woods. But it was fun just walking around this area – very different from anything we have ever seen.
It was the middle of the afternoon, and we thought it would be fun to have tea at the Peninsula Hotel - a fine old established hotel known for its afternoon teas. There must have been 30-50 people waiting in line, so we skipped and had a snack at the Art Museum cafe.
Last time we were here, we walked along the waterfront outside the Intercontinental Hotel where the “Walk of Stars” is. So, we decided to do that again.
It was a cloudy day and starting to get cold, so we didn’t walk as long as we had hoped to, but it was fun being on the waterfront.
The highlight of the day was the dinner we had planned at the Peking Garden restaurant. The guest chef, Paulette, told us about this place and what to order. It’s called “Beggar’s Chicken.” The story is that a very poor man was given a chicken, but he had not pot to cook it in, so he wrapped it in lotus leaves, put clay around it and baked it in fire pit. This restaurant has a similar way of cooking it – they need a 24 hour advance notice since it takes a long time to cook!
They give you a heavy hammer to break the clay (hard bread really) pot around the chicken.
Then they cut away the leaves (and foil) away from the chicken and lift it out of the pot (bread!)
After they cut it up a little, they serve it (bones and all) on the leaves on a platter.
It was very tasty, and it was so tender it literally did fall off the bone. However, you had to be careful because there were bones in almost every bite! It was a great experience. Afterwards they gave you a picture of your hammering the chicken and a little brass hammer as a momento of the dinner. We shared this with Barb and Charlie (one of our tablemates), and so all of us enjoyed it. In addition to the chicken, we had soup and dumplings before the main course, and then banana fritters for dessert – where they put the sugar glazed bananas in ice water at your table before serving them.
While we were eating, they also had a noodle maker preparing fresh noodles near by. It starts off as one big thick hunk of pastry, and as he throws it back and forth, it separates into very thin stands. Very amazing!
We were able to enjoy this dinner in Hong Kong because the captain gave everyone an extra 4 hours in this port so we had the chance for a 2nd dinner out. It was quite an experience – and one I would recommend if you get to Hong Kong!
Back on the ship, we went to the Hong Kong Cultural show they brought on board. It was done very well with lots of colorful costumes and traditional Chinese music. They did the Dragon Dance (the costume glowed in the dark!) followed by the “Changing Faces” – a performance art technique where the performer changes his masks so quickly the audience barely notices! It was rather astounding!
Sail away was around 11 p.m. It was fun to see the harbor at night with all the lights as we left. We really enjoyed our two days in Hong Kong and could have stayed two weeks. We didn’t even have time to take the ferry across to the Hong Kong Island side (although we did all of that the last time we were here.)
I’ll end with a bit of Hong Kong superstition – the belief in the power in numbers. 3 is life; 9 is eternity; and 8 is prosperity. The bad number is 4 which is death. As for food, the long strands of noodles symbolize longevity. That is why they never cut their long strands of noodles before cooking or serving them!
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