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March 1, 2012
(in Busan)
Walking around this airport gets me so excited. There are flights to Tokyo, Manila, Taipei, Cebu. I'm gonna get on a flight to Shanghai.
(in Hong Kong. I cannot access Twitter in Shanghai. It's blocked by Chinese internet censorship.)
I was pleasantly surprised by Shanghai's airport. Getting in and out was a breeze. The workers all spoke English well.
Not what you might expect from a "communist country". I received far worse treatment at London Gatwick two years ago.
One guy, whose job was basically the "TSA" screening, spoke Korean to the other passengers, then switched to English for me.
I went through customs and found my connecting flight in 30 minutes. Try doing that in the states.
It was overcast in Shanghai, almost foggy. I'm sure the legendary smog had some part to play in the conditions.
Overcast in Hong Kong as the plane is landing. 5:50pm here.
I don't think I've been this excited since my first day in Korea. The crowd at this airport... People from all over the world.
That's the first time I ever took $2000 out of the ATM. The exchange rate is about 7.75:1.
Took the train into the city. Cheryl met me and helped me find the guest house. It's small, but clean and well located.
My first chinese food. Barbecue pork and duck with rice and special sauce.
We walked around Causeway Bay. Cheryl wanted to take my picture at Times Square.
Had some traditional Chinese dessert. Looked a lot like 떡, Korean rice cake.
March 2, 2012
Out the door at 8:15am. A few things on my mind this morning. Mostly differences I notice from Korea.
I was surprised that I didn't have to take off my shoes to walk in the guest house. Koreans would NEVER wear shoes indoors.
Cheryl picked up my phone off the table and said phones get stolen all the time. In Busan, people leave their phones sitting at the table.
Same think with the HK$1000 bill in my wallet. She suggested I fold it up and hide it. It is a lot of money, more than US$125.
I haven't been to Tokyo, so Seoul is my only "Asia mega-city" experience. HK's different. Even downtown Seoul is a lot more spread out.
Downtown Hong Kong is probably bigger than Chicago. I've never been to New York, but I figure it looks a lot like this.
I saw my favorite car last night, a Bentley Continental. I have seen a few in Busan and Seoul, but it stood out in a former British colony.
Upon getting off the tram, I walked through an open courtyard under the HSBC bank building. I found the camp of "Occupy Central".
Says its been here since October 15. In the courtyard of HSBC's headquarters are signs that say "Shame on HSBC". Quite democratic, I'd say.
I noted the contrast with violent crackdowns and mass arrests in New York and Oakland.
How long will the US call itself "the land of the free" but continually demonize or criminalize any legitimate democratic movement?
Oh, and I'm looking at you too, Europe. Democracy is not alive and well in the Western world these days.
9:15am. Found the Peak Tram terminus. Walked on the car, 10 seconds later, doors closed, voice said, "Next tram in 18 minutes." #winning
It's so touristy. The tram stopped at "Peak Galleria". Haagen-Dazs. Madame Toussad's House of Wax. 20 wifi networks, none open. 9:34am
Rode the tram up, it was foggy at the top. Walked around, hopped a bus. Driver was friendly, waited while I jogged to the bus stop.
Took the bus to the ferry terminal. Rode the "famous Star Ferry" across Victoria Bay at 11am.
Walked around the waterfront at Tsim Sha Tsui. Saw the Bruce Lee statue at Avenue of the Stars.
I found a balcony outside the HK Museum of Art overlooking Victoria harbor. Did my sit ups, push ups and stretches. Feeling a lot better.
Carrying that backpack around yesterday made my muscles tense. I was exhausted last night, even though the time change is only 1 hour.
3:15pm. Took the ferry back to Wan Chai. About to sit down to a lunch of barbecue pork and rice.
Now it's 4:20. I came back to the guest house and took a shower. I'm going to lay down for my afternoon nap.
Met some kids staying at the guest house. Yao from Beijing (she's a Penn State alum) and Jeffrey from Toronto.
We went across to Kowloon side to meet some people for dinner at Mong Kok. I had an interaction with a "Circus Kung Fu master".
This guy was doing a Kung fu street performance. He forced me to volunteer. I held a thin steel rod about shoulder height...
And the guy grabbed the other end and wrapped it around his neck. TIGHT. This happened three times. His face was turning red.
I was seriously concerned that he was going to choke himself. Instead he say down and accepted donations from the peanut gallery.
Then we ate takoyaki and I went to meet up with Cheryl. She took me to Temple Street night market. There was a lot going on there.
We ate a pancake with oysters fried in it. A rice casserole with pork chop and Chinese sausage. And barbecue clams that were super tasty.
We sat next to a couple from the Philippines. She a travel agent and he a firefighter. They told us about white sand Philippine beaches.
Then a little night shopping on Temple Street. There's a lot to see there. Everything from traditional Chinese calligraphy to sex toys.
I found these amazing vintage posters that look to be at least 50 years old. Cheryl tried to explain Mah Jong (the board game) to me.
One of my roommates is a Columbian grad student named Pablo. I'm eavesdropping on a conversation about the cocaine wars and Pablo Escobar.
March 3, 2012
I woke up about 9:30 this morning really hungry. Against my better judgement I went to McDonald's for breakfast.
I went to 3 temples today. 2 taoist and one Buddhist. I didn't really know what to expect. There was a lot of incense being burned.
The Buddhist temple was similar to the Taoist temples. Very different from Korean temples.
A young woman was working in the Buddhist temple. She had found a gecko on the wall and was shining her iPhone's flashlight at it.
I bought a bundle of incense sticks, set them alight and walked around the temple.
I got on the tram and rode it for about 45 minutes. The weather is misty and dreary. I was feeling sleepy. I drank an iced Americano.
I found the subway, came back to the guest house, and took a shower.
Quick lunch of pork and rice. Took the ferry across the harbor and found the history museum.
History museum was fascinating. I learned a lot about the Chinese people who populated the area, especially the Tankas, or "boat people".
The boat people apparently lived their whole lives on boats until they settled in the 1950s.
I learned a lot about the Opium Wars. As usual, white people were the bad guys here.
British traders wanted to buy tea to ship to the US, UK, etc. they didn't have anything to trade, though.
Until they settled on smuggling opium from India into China. Eventually 10 million Chinese people would be hooked on the drug.
(Lin Zexu, our man in Guangzhou [Canton]. He was responsible for putting an end to the opium trade in 1839, the event which lead directly to the Opium Wars and the cession of Hong Kong Island to the British Empire.)
I hadn't realized that Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese during WW2. Saw some interesting Japanese propaganda posters.
March 4, 2012
Last night I went out to dinner with Cheryl at a Szechuan restaurant. It was insanely spicy, but delicious.
We went to a dessert place in Causeway Bay and I had a hot papaya pudding. Tasty. It was really crowded there.
After hanging out at the guest house for awhile, I went out with a couple of my roommates to the nightlife district in Central.
We were standing outside the 7-11 drinking beers when this Hong-Kongese girl came up and started talking to me.
She showed me an unopened package of Kleenex and asked me if I had anything to trade, "like a cigarette or something."
I was seriously confused. Eventually I went in the 7-11 and bought her a small bottle of white wine to "trade" for the tissue.
Upon completion of our transaction, she explained to me that she was given a paper clip and challenged to see what she could get by trade.
I actually gave her a ₩1000 bill (less than $1) for the novelty of Korean money, but her friend reminded her that she could not accept cash.
I remember reading about a high school kid in the states who started with a Nintendo and arranged trades through CraigsList.
After months of trades, he actually "flipped" the Nintendo into a decent used car. There's a lesson to be learned here, I guess.
Anyway, old girl had turned her paper clip into a small bottle of wine, and it was just after midnight. I wonder what she ended up with.
I'm going to fly to Shanghai tonight and then have a long layover before flying back to Busan tomorrow morning.
Depending on how adventurous I feel, I might try to go out in Shanghai tonight.
My Korean friends have told me that they feel they don't have much freedom to dress and act as they would like.
There are a lot of men here who wear long hair and facial hair. Not common in Korea. There are also a lot more women with short hair.
I walked around Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday. Maybe my favorite part of HK that I've seen. I saw a real estate office and looked at the postings.
Apartments are really expensive here. I think a studio apartment in a nice neighborhood would cost over US$1000.
One great thing about living in Korea: teachers don't get paid all that much, but most jobs come with a furnished apartment. Nice perk.
So basically I could only live here if I was making an extra US$1000 a month over what I'm making in Korea.
I met Cheryl at a banquet style restaurant for dim sum. There were a lot of families there. We talked to the people at the table next to us.
This young disabled guy was staring at me so I introduced myself. He was with his mother and grandmother.
The dim sum was great, there is a lot of variety. We had 5 different dishes and drank Chinese tea. New fave: dumplings stuffed with shrimp.
Went back to the hostel and said goodbye to my hosts, Vincent and Nicole. She is getting married in October, so I joked that I will be back.
(Vincent, Nicole, and I)
(Cheryl and I)
Took the bus to HK airport for my 6:35pm flight to Shanghai. About to have a beer and get on the plane.
(in Shanghai)
Ran into a Swedish architect and a Spanish engineer coming from Sian. They told me to go to the French Concession to find an expat bar scene.
No seatbelt in the taxi. Driver is changing lanes every few seconds (in the rain) and honking at other drivers frequently. 9:45pm
To the French Concession. I found a place called Shanghai Brewery. Ordered a beer and chicken fajitas.
Met Francesca, an Italian designer working in Pudong with Volkswagen-Skoda. We decided to go out in the rain to find another bar.
Ended up at Westside Bar. Cool European vibe. This Chinese rock group was playing and they were damn good.
They played perfect covers of "Yellow", "21 Guns", and other American and English pop music.
Francesca and I shared a taxi back to Pudong, and then I hopped a cab back to the airport. It never stopped raining.
None of the three taxis I rode in had seatbelts. More than a little disheartening, especially given the weather and the driving style.
March 5, 2012
11:35am now. I'm back in Korea. Going to go to the jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) to shower, shave, and head in to work at 2.
The last four days has been a whirlwind trip, but I took my first bold step into the world of China. It was great.
