HONG KONG

                                          City Information

Hong Kong means frequent harbor. Also called The Gateway to China, Hong Kong is home to 8 million people. The World’s Playground covers only 400 square miles. China’s Jewel is actually a group of 235 islands in the South China Sea. The City of Life has more billionaires and Roll Royces per capita than any other city in the world. No matter what one calls the city he is talking about Hong Kong, which a hundred years ago was a sleepy fishing village.

Hong Kong is made up of three sections, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. Hong Kong Island covers 31 square miles and has a population of 1.8 million, Kowloon covers 18 square miles with a population of 2.1 million, and the New Territory’s 235 islands cover 374 square miles with a population of 3.4 million people.

Kowloon is a 40-minute drive from the airport. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong and the word for hello is lay ho and  doe chay means thank you. Hong Kong  has its own currency and on my last visit one US dollar equaled 7.75 Hong Kong dollars. Driving is done English style  on the left side of the road, so be aware and careful crossing the street as  pedestrians do not have the right of way. I noted that traffic moved very fast but it stops immediately, no matter where they are, when a traffic light changes. It was amazing to see this. Obviously brakes are very good as are reflexes! Ice and water in restaurants is ok to drink, but drink bottled water otherwise.

Today the Wall Street of Asia is a hard paced, materialistic society. It is a city of marked contrasts where modern skyscrapers and cell phones mix with Chinese junks and ancient medicine. Although England turned its colony over to China in 1997, a British influence remains. After all, England ruled the colony for nearly 100 years. High tea is still popular in the city.

Because of limited real estate space rents are extremely high and the cost of living is one of the world’s highest. Another contrast, awesome to think about, was the bamboo scaffolding along the sides of the new hi-rises being built. Sensational modern architecture often cling to 45-degree slopes.

Although today Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city, it continues to be steeped in Chinese traditions, spiritual beliefs, rituals, superstitions and the ancient art of Feng Shui. This combination creates a rich cultural tapestry of life.  Feng Shui is the art of positioning objects in harmony with nature to create good fortune. Even today architects consult Feng Shui masters in regard to construction. In Chinese mythology dragons live in mountains, and Hong Kong is built on mountains. Openings and glass doors are common sights in buildings so that dragons can pass through them from the mountains to the harbor for a drink. Hong Kong is certainly a city of contrasts of old and new, east and west and ancient traditions blended with a gleaming modern city.

Streets were teaming with people---all the time. The city is a shoppers’ paradise. In fact many people visit the city for the express purpose of shopping. A tailor-made suit can be ready in 24 hours at about one-quarter the cost if made in the United States. The city’s tailors are some of the best in the world. Hong Kong has no exports, but they repackage a multitude of products. It is said that one can buy anything in the shops lining the lanes leading off the main streets.

            We arrived in Hong Kong the last day of the week-long Chinese holiday and the streets were one big mob scene. Since all the hotels that used to be on Hong Kong Island have been moved to Kowloon, that is where we stayed. The area is half the size with twice as many people, but there was little we could do about it. Kowloon means nine dragons and is named for the hills behind the city. Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island is locally known as the back of a dragon and provides a magnificent view of the city and harbor.

            City cabs were red with a gray roof and all looked new. They were everywhere, so finding one is no problem. The best views of the city are from the water or from the mountains. One high-rise after another sprawl up the mountainsides.

            There are five tunnels under the harbor. The first one, opened in 1972, is a mile and quarter long and  65 feet below the water level. It can accommodate 110,000 vehicles an hour, but the average is only 79,000. The second tunnel opened in 1979, and the last one, a train tunnel, in 1998. It was good to learn that taxis charge round-trip when using the tunnel, because they have to get back to where they started.

                Reflections in glass building fronts were seen everywhere. The 5^th tallest building in the world with 88 stories is on Hong Kong Island. Another building known as the Swiss cheese building has 1728 round windows. It is difficult to find a building that is not a high rise, and when you do it is dwarfed by the high buildings around it.

                The city has few historical sites and only a handful of cultural sites. But one of them is Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong’s oldest temple that is now dwarfed by surrounding buildings. Built in 1847, the temple honors the gods of literature, man, and war, Mo. The strong pungent scent of burning incense was noticed immediately upon approaching the temple. Inside the front door hung huge bell shaped incense coils. The air was very smoky and hazy inside. To the left of the entrance sit the ten judges of the underworld. Fabric banners are displayed all over the walls. Buddhist and Taoist statues are inside.

            People come to the temple to ask for guidance as well as to give thanks afterward. Profits from the organization that own/manage eleven temples support schools. The prayer bell was cast in Canton in 1847. Along with a drum it is a call to the gods for their attention that an offering has been made.

            For the shopper the city is a paradise with everything from street hawkers to high-end upscale department stores, with everything in between. You can buy anything here. In Hong Kong they believe that the body is a delicate balance of the forces known as yin, (water, quiet, substance and night) and yang (fire, noise, function and day). It is said that the balance of these forces is what makes Hong Kong unique.

             I’ve been in several cities where there are steps up hills or even short gondolas, but the mid-level escalator on Hong Kong Island was a new feature for me. We were told it cost 30 million dollars and takes twenty minutes to ride the two-mile-long escalator from one end to the other. Elevation goes from street level up to 185 feet. The escalator runs only one way and changes directions to accommodate rush hour traffic. There are 29 exits/entrances; one about every block. The escalator is well utilized and relieves a lot of street traffic and pollution in the city.

            In a post dated 5-25-14  I noted the changes that have taken place at Victoria Peak in the years between my visits to Hong Kong when our hotel was actually on HK Island.

TASMANIA

                                           An Island State

      From Texas to the land down under is a long trip. Australia is also about the size of the United States so when you make the trip think in terms of at least three weeks. I made two trips, five years apart, seeing different sections of the country each time with the North Island in New Zealand on one trip and the South Island on the other trip. Needless to say I have lots and lots of stories about those trips, many of which I’ve already posted.

     Our accommodations were different on each trip. The first time we stayed in 5-star hotels with never a whim lacking. But my favorite accommodations were the second trip when we stayed in small boutique/ B & B hotels. Although no complaints with the large hotels I just prefer the small friendly facilities.

     In Tasmania our boutique hotel had a widow’s walk which I’d never been on, although I’ve seen many on old Victorian homes. Our hotel, a stately mansion, was located on a hill in the heart of historic Battery Point. A short flight of stairs led up to the widow’s walk which was much larger than I thought it might be. The room was totally enclosed with glass windows and glass ceiling. There was a wonderful view of the entire city of Hobart and the harbor.  With the sun shining in everywhere the room was comfortably warm.

     Our hotel was an easy walk from Salamanca, the restored old waterfront. A series of aged warm sandstone warehouses line the uncrowded waterfront. The buildings, built in 1930, once stored apples, corn, and wheat for export. At one time there was a jam factory in one of the building.  Now the area houses trendy restaurants, sidewalk cafes, stores, and art studios.

      At the Salamanca Café we had lemmington for dessert---a lemon sponge cake covered with chocolate dough and coconut.  I thought it was a little dry, but ok. It certainly did not fall into the category to die for.

       There is much reclaimed land at Hobart’s harbor, and it took convicts 60 years to reclaim it all.

      Apples grow well in Tasmania, and many of the 250 varieties are exported to Japan.

       One end of the island is covered with heavily grown jungle/rain forest which is basically unexplored and  unpenetrable and certainly no tourist area.

      Hobart has a lot of history and a gorgeous botanical garden where walked many of the paths before sitting to watch colorful birds fly around. I particularly enjoyed the spectacular flora. It is a very walkable city. Hobart, capital of Tasmania, is Australia’s second oldest city. Tasmania is the country’s only island state.

VENICE ITALY

Venician  Memories   

Gondolas of Venice are for tourists. Water taxis get one around the city, and water boats transport all goods and supplies.  There are no cars or bikes in old Venice.

 

Venice is easy to walk, but the many alleyways make it real easy to get lost.

Italian coffee is so strong a spoon will stand up in it all by itself

Venice is at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea. The city is divided into six districts. Yellow signs around the city direct you to Piazza San Marcos, the Rialto Bridge, Pizzale Roma, or the train station.

The Grand Canal is the main waterway and is shaped like an inverted ‘S’. The train station is at one end, and Piazza San Marco (St Mark) at the other. You can cross the Grand Canal at three points

  The large St. Mark’s square is bordered  on three sides by stores that all are under a covered walkway.       The Basilicade de San Marco, a Byzantine church, and Doge’s Palace are on the fourth side.

All the paintings inside the church are done in mosaics and simply gorgeous! The many columns are of different colored marble, and there are many statues.

The elevator to the top of the church tower provides a fantastic view of St Mark’s Square.

This clock near the palace is several hundred years old. It strikes on the hour and the hand on the roman

numerals move every five minutes. It’s fascinating to watch the little people strike the bell. The bell slowly rotates so it is struck in a different spot each time.

The winged lion is the symbol of both St. Mark and of Venice.

Handmade lace was gorgeous and still made in Venice.

A very rude young vendor in the square.

The Rialto Bridge is the largest bridge in Venice and the only one with shops on it.

By the evening dinner hour the vendors are gone, and musicians play for the dinner crowd at the sidewalk restaurants.

A nice visit with a medical student from Madrid who was visiting the city and with whom we struck up a conversation.

We were lucky to stay in an old hotel in old Venice to get the real flavor of the city. There was no A/C, but with the window open at night we were sent to dreamland by the singing gondoliers below!

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

                                               Winnipeg Info and History

            Our historic hotel, built on part of the site of Fort Garry, was an easy walk to an area called The Forks. Forks National Historic Site and the Forks Complex is a 56 acre site, built in 1988, at the junction of the Red and Assiniboini rivers. The Forks is a crossroads, meeting of the old and the new, meeting of diverse peoples, and a place for people to meet, work, and play.   The complex contains markets of all kinds, a public market, shops, eateries and restaurants.

The adjoining park contains many bike and walking trails with numerous interpretive displays, a children’s museum, and an aboriginal ceremonial pit, with some interesting art surrounding it. An old four story warehouse has been converted to a shopping plaza, housing unique shops and restaurants. We climbed the observation tower for a look over the complex. We wandered through the park, took some pictures, and read some of the interesting interpretive markers, and suddenly the day was gone.          

We walked the few blocks to downtown. We observed many pedestrian overpasses which I’m sure must be nice during the cold winter. Such overpasses are probably common in many cold places, but coming from a warm climate they were new to me.

Winnipeg is Canada’s seventh largest city as well as the Provincial capital of Manitoba.  In spite of being geographically isolated, Winnipeg is a center of commerce and culture including a symphony, opera, ballet, theater, and local native artists. Buffalo hunting plains Indians as well as French and English settlers were the first inhabitants. Today, distinct ethnic areas are found in the city that include: Ukrainian, Jewish, Italian, Polish, Chinese, Mennonite, Hungarian, Portuguese, French, and English.

            In 1738 the fur trading company, NorthWest Company, established a trading post at the juncture of the Red and Assiniboini Rivers. In 1812, Lord Selkirle, a Scot, brought an agricultural settlement to the area. The city incorporated in 1873, and in 1886 the Canadian Pacific Railroad followed the European immigrants.  Winnipeg, the principal city in western Canada, is a railroad hub for livestock and grain

            A city tour highlighted many buildings, but the one that got my attention was The Provincial Legislative building, built in 1920. It is made of Tyndall stone, a type of limestone quarried nearby. A statue of Queen Victoria stands proudly in front the  building. A huge bronze buffalo stands on each side of the grand staircase in the foyer of the building. Golden Boy sits on top of the building’s dome. A French sculptor put a sheaf of wheat, representing agriculture, in one hand of Golden Boy, and a light, representing economic development of the future, in the hand raised above his head. Golden Boy is sheathed in gold, weighs 5 ton, and is 13 ½ feet tall.

On the day of our excursion to Oak Hammock we had a late lunch at Lower Fort Garry, where we were served a delicious Irish stew and bannock, an Indian bread. Lunch ended with apple crumble topped with ice cream. It was a delicious lunch prepared and served by the Ladies’ Auxiliary of Fort Garry.

Lower Fort Garry Historical Site was closed for the season, but they opened the site specially for us, and it was wonderful to have the place all to ourselves with our own docent and no crowds.

Lower Fort Garry, now a historic site, is the oldest stone fort in the province. The Big House was built in 1832 for Governor George Simpson, then president of the Hudson Bay Company. The entire fort is built of limestone. In 1670 King Charles signed a proclamation giving exclusive trading rights of a huge territory to the Hudson Bay Company.  The North West Trading Company gave the Hudson Bay Trading Company competition, and in 1821, they joined forces. In 1826, a flood destroyed Fort Garry. Lower Fort Garry was built twenty miles south of Winnipeg on the Red River in 1830. It was the headquarters for the Hudson Bay Company from 1831-37. Hunters complained about the location, so later on, Fort Garry was rebuilt in Winnipeg.

Fort Garry was the home of the York boat, the boat that won the West. It was a heavier and larger boat than the canoe requiring 6-9 rowers. The boat was too heavy to be ported across land, so it was dragged. The river system opened up the Prairie Provinces to settlement.

I’m not a big fan of cold weather, but we were lucky to have sunny days with minimal winds during our stay in Winnipeg.