Going to Thailand

Tuesday - The morning was spent planning our trip to Thailand and booking Double Happiness fare to Phuket and Bangkok. That is two destinations two people, good price but no changes allowed. Since we are leaving in less than 24 hrs we were required to go to the Royal Thai office on HK Island, pay in cash and get the tickets. The rest of the day was spent visiting a Buddhist nunnery (Chi Lin), the Nan Lian Garden and a Taoist temple in Kowloon. The nunnery was built of joined wood with no nails and consisted of many rooms with golden Buddhas surrounding square courtyards. There were plantings in the court yards with bonsai, thick, gnarled trunks, probably very old trees, in miniature. The gardens adjoined the nunnery and was a replica of a Tang garden where "one would be content with ones lot if he stayed still in his mind and was in harmony with nature". The curving garden paths trees were lined with bonsai planted in the ground and all variety of rocks ranging from 3 ft to car sized with exquisite form, color and texture. It wasn't clear to me if the rocks were found objects or sculpted. The garden was a peaceful place set amongst a busy, noisy, polluted city. There were ponds with water lilies and koi, pagodas and larger buildings separated connected with curving paths. One of the buildings had a display of Chinese timber joining. I marvelled at how precise the carpentry needed to be, especially as all the work was done with only hand tools. The garden would have been a fitting way to end the day but it was overdone with an a visit to the Taoist temple, bustling and unharmonious in exact contrast to the garden.

Wednesday - I am writing this blog on my PDA phone at 40K feet over the S China Sea on the way to Phuket. I am using Word to write and edit and will transfer the document to the blog when I can. The plane is more empty than full, the service gracious, the alcohol free and the lunch quite nice. We have no reservations ,in Phuket but will arrive early enough to find a small hotel in a town away from hubbub of Tan Patong, the place most people vacation when in Phuket. Phuket is an island on the southwest coast of Thailand and much too favored as a vacation spot. It is best known as one of the areas hit by the tsunami but has apparently been rebuilt.

It always seems that wherever you go it takes the whole day. We left the apartment at 7:30 am, took a shuttle bus to the train station, a train to a subway to the airport express train, to two airport trains, to a plane to a van. Our initial impression of Thailand is of unplanned and overdone growth of what may have been a beautiful island. We went to Karon Beach, south of Patong, the large, unruly center of tourism here. The hawkers are everywhere, touting food, souvenirs, trips, hotels, massages etc. We are staying for two nights at My Friends House 2, an inexpensive nondescript small hotel lacking charm, with a swimming pool about 15 minutes walk from the beach and a little further to downtown. It was recommended to us by a Danish couple who we asked on the street. We cooled off at the pool before taking a taxi to the centerfor the evening. Dinner was chicken satay and mango.

Thursday - Slowing downAmerican style breakfast was at the hotel. We walked to the beach, rented lounge chairs and umbrella and spent the next five hours swimming, reading and watching the world go by. The island is filled with Danes and Swedes and there is a direct nonstop flight from Copenhagen. The beach was had its share of overweight Scandinavians on holiday. The best breasts however, belonged to an Italian woman who also had the best tan on the beach. They were large, symmetric, perky and perfectly shape. Most of the women wore tops but she flaunted her assets. Oh, the beach had the finest white sand which squeaked when you walked on it (like Singing Beach in MA). The water temperature was in the 80's, comfortable but not too hot. There was no reef or snorkeling so we shall be off to Phi-Phi Island tomorrow. We had a wonderful green shrimp curry and sliced fish in ginger sauce for dinner.

February 16th, Our day in Britain

It is now Tuesday night February 17th. We had a quiet supper at 'home', consisting of Ramen noodles and chocolate chip cookies made at the bakery of the Park and Shop supermarket. While most of the bakery goods here are a mere shadow of what we have become accostomed to, these cookies are actually quite respectable. Chocolate is very available in all it European and American brands but rather more expensive than what I am used to from Trader Joe's. But I digress. I will try to add yesterday and today to the blog but as we are leaving for Thailand early in the morning, I may not get a chance to finish both days at this sitting, which is too bad as the visit to the nunnery and the Nan Lian Garden associated with it was spectacular.

Yesterday was a British day for us here in the orient. We went to Hong Kong Island (Admiralty stop on the MTR subway) and then took a double decker bus to the southern and eastern end of the island to visit the ports on the southern and eastern end of the island. We sat in the front row of the top deck across from Brits on their way to Australia. Of course I told them that we were from the other Cambridge where they drive on the right side of the road. The road to this end of the island went was hair pinned and narrow, winding along cliffs that plunged down to the water and past bays enclosed by mountains. It was a 20 minute ride to Stanley a relatively sleepy town on the water, with a harbor, beach and tourist restaurants overlooking the water. By now we were hungry so we stopped into one and fish and chips (not the head this time). It was a pleasant change from the standard fare we had been eating since arriving a week ago. Of course there was a street market there selling all sort of consumer goods. We reminded eachother that we were going to other places that sold the same items for less money and left empty handed. More over, we did get our buyers signals set so that we could play good cop, bad cop when it came down to serious bargaining in the future.

Next, on to Abderdeen riding in the first row on the upper deck, with Cliff and Julie from Lincoln (England) across the aisle, also on their way to Australia. Abderdeen was a very busy port with lots of sampans in moored in the water or along the piers. The hawkers harrassed us as we strolled along the promenade to take a 30 minute ride and see the house boats and the floating restaurants in the harbor. Richard resisted at his own peril and so we went back to HK Central and hopped the Star Ferry, pretty ancient boats back across the harbor to Kowloon. As can be seen from the photos, the weather was uniformly grey all day.

Since Judy hadn't been to the walk along the water in Kowloon, we headed in that direction from the ferry slip. We window shopped and then stepped into an Asian Art Gallery that specialized in carving of rocks, polished stone, tusks of various types and antique Chinese pottery. A lot of the ivory was claimed to be from mammoth tusks whose importation into the rest of the world is apparently not banned as ivory from elephants is. The price on some of the pieces which were sitting quietly on pedestals was over one million dollars US. Of course, I had no desire to touch them but they were sitting there unprotected. I had to talk Judy out of buying one of these pieces which she adorded.

The culture complex along the water is modern and beautiful and a wonderful place to stroll when the weather is good. It consists of a Science Museum with planetarium, Art Museum, theater and of course the Avenue of the Stars, a tribute to HK Cinema (see day 1). As it was misty and cool, and we were tiring we headed back to Yuen Long. Here's an image of a typical subway or train corridor. I may do a special blog on the subways and malls of HK, if I get a chance.

Our first weekend in HK

We spent a quiet morning in the apartment (see photo of view out of window) and planned our sight seeing for the day. Since it was overcast we put off taking a ferry. We found a walking tour in the western district of HK Island on the internet and decided to follow it leaving the apartment afternoon.

First we visited the Western Market an Edwardian style building originally called the "Harbour Office" that was built in 1906 with a restaurant on the top floor, small shops selling fabrics on the second and high end shops on the ground floor. We then walked Wing Lok Street lined with specialty shops selling the famous ginseng and birds nests that are believed to be an essential for life longevity and health. One store specialized in dried deer parts including what we think was deer penis (see photo). On to Des Voeux Road West where a variety of exotic dried seafood in all the shops Next on to Ko Shing Street which is the wholesale Centre of HK's herbal medicine trade.
On to Cat St which is lined with traditional street stalls selling wide variety of antiques, curios and other collectibles: jade, stone, with busts and memorabilia of Chairman Mao in great profusion. From there we went to the Buddhist Man Mo Temple, where we offered incense and respect to our departed elders. They were doing a booming business in selling joss and incense which people were lighting and leaving in pots filled with sand or giving to the monk to burn in the oven sitting outside in the courtyard. We next checked out the outdoor escalator which is about 1/2 mile in length and rises on to Victoria Peak. It runs down hill during morning rush hour and up hill the rest ofthe day. We ended our walk on Li Yuen Streets, East and West which have outdoor stalls with huge displays of clothing of all kinds. Judy shopped and tried to bargain but came out empty handed.

Finally we took the subway to Simon's office to have a drink with him and his son German. Simon had to be at work on Saturday because they were redoing the plumbing in his office. German who is 26 years old works for a manufacturer in Szenzhen on the mainland and travels around the world selling women's intimate apparel. We returned to Yuen Long exhausted. Judy's knee continued to improve and she did a lot of walking during the day. We will try to be less active on Sunday.

Sunday - We are being less active this morning. We took the shuttle bus to the big mall in town, checked out the supermarket which is like the current oversized supermarkets in the US and sells everything. There was a nice selection of fresh Sushi which we may take advantage of another day. We then walked back to down town and spent almost an hour talking with the China Travel Agency about flying to Thailand and to Guilin and Jingdezen in China. They were most helpful and I believe that Judy's knee will be well enough to continue on our trip. We will try to find a hotel in the middle of the historical district in Bangkok and probably find a hotel on the beach in Phuket. While we would rather be somewhat more adventous, the inactivity may be curative. We spent much of the afternoon in the apartment researching Thailand and lolling around. In the evening we met Audrey (Jay's girlfriend) for dinner in a mall at the Kowloon subway stop. It was very high end, modern and large. We dined at a Shanghaiese restaurant and had a delightful evening discussing all manner of subjects including US film. Her undergraduate these was on Woody Allen. That's all for now folks. Hope you are all well.

Of Foreign Lands and People - Feb 14

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovers. The street market in China had beautiful flowers for sale though I haven't yet taken advantage of it by buying any for my dear partner. Today was a very quiet and a mostly restful day for me and especially for Judy.

She woke up in the morning stating that her knee felt better, called Millie the secretary at Canossa Hospital in HK and scheduled an MRI for Monday with the possibility of cancelling it if her knee had improved. Since in any case she wouldn't have surgery in HK, it may not be of benefit to have the MRI now. She is standing and walking better but it is difficult for her to not over do it. We are now thinking that a decision on Thailand will happen after Monday, MRI or not.

So, we went to the center of Yuen Long, the local town we are in and walked around the street market. We had some breakfast by street grunting (so called): some sort of fish ball, a pork filled steamed bun, peking ravioli and a sweet sesame bun filled with red bean paste. Judy had great fun speaking Mandarin to the shopkeepers. The produce in the market was very nice and we bought some fruit to have in the house. We walked through the fish market which was indoors with many small stalls selling all variety of fish, some alive in water, some thrashing around on ice and mostly still alive. The dead fish were larger and cut up into pieces. The shopper handled the fish to decide which ones they wanted to buy. There was all variety of sea food, scallops, live crabs, oysters and clams. The Chinese, much more than Americans, see where their food comes from. There were many herb and traditional Chinese medicine shops displaying ginseng from a variety of countries and countless herbal medicines we couldn't identify.

We returned to the house and rested in the afternoon. Judy iced and elevated her leg and Richard started Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle" in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth. Someone in the apartment complex was practicing piano playing a piece that I have played in the past and recognized. Ironically it is titled "Of Foreign Lands and People" by Robert Schumann. It is a wonderful short piece which I then googled and listened to several versions of including this one by Vladimir Horowitz (it is the first 1 1/2 minutes) and can heard at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUa1JA1oZQI

We made arrangements to meet Simon, a Cantonese engineer, living in HK, who Judy knew in college and hadn't seen since then. He had found her on the internet and telephoned her about a month before after having no communication for over 30 years. He came to our apartment and we went out to dinner together to an outdoor restaurant around the corner which he said he knew. He ordered for us and the meal included: bak choi (chinese cabbage) with pig lung soup, fish heads (with the eye which i believe is a delicacy), a chicken and brocolli dish, a summer squash stir fry of some sort and pork spare ribs cut in small pieces (that were not very meaty). He suggested an Indonesian restaurant in town as an alternative to this one which wasn't as good as he remember it. However, he did eat with gusto. After several hours of eating and talking we said good night and returned to the apartment.

It is now 5:20 am and time to finish my night's sleep. No photos from me today. The pace of this blog will slow down a lot when we go on the road. I am hopeful that we will be travelling soon. Love to all.

February 13th again very early in the morning

Yesterday, we decided to not let an injury interfere with our travels. Judy and I went to the local hospital (Pok Oi) and have her knee examined. We took a taxi to the hospital and checked in at the emergency room. We would need to pay out of pocket for the exam and deal with reimbursement ourselves. The doctor recommended an x-ray. We decided to deal with reimbursment when we returned to the US.

The entire hospital staff wore masks and a small number of patients also wore masks. There were signs asking anyone with respiratory or communicable infectious to wear masks. The ER was rather empty at 8:30 in the morning and after checking in waited to be called. X-rays were carried out and the ER doctor examined them in our presence and stated that there were no broken bones in the knee. He suggested that she undergo an aspiration to relieve the pressure and for further diagnosis. The aspirate had blood in it and suggested a referral to an orthopedist. Apparently the only way referrals are done at the hospital are by admission. We said we would talk to you health insurance and find out what they recommended.

After some time on the phone we decided to do some sight seeing on Hong Kong Island and visit a private hospital, Canossa. As it turns out, we can only get the insurance to pay for us if she is admitted. This hospital also happened to be on Mt Victoria the highest peak on the island with trails and observation deck at the summit and one of the prime tourists sites. Hong Kong Island is one of the busiest places I have been. Leaving the subway and walking around was like leaving a packed stadium after the end of a baseball or football game but without the crowd ever dispersing. All is modern to the extreme, from subway to buildings to parks. There are skyscrapers everywhere, with the prominent IM Pei Bank of China another signature design. BTW, while the photo looks like the weather is overcast or rainy, in fact the weather has been quite good but there is a constant haze which interferes with the otherwise beautiful views of the harbor, mountains and city.

After too much hiking on the top of the mountain we headed down to Conossa Hospital, closer to the bottom of the peak. We were able to see a orthopedist who didn't seem to think that the aspirated blood was a big problem but recommended to either wait, or have an MRI immediately or wait a few days to see if it resolves. We left undecided and took a hospital shuttle bus down to central HK with the orthopedic department secretary Millie. BTW, much of the professional staff speaks English at both hospitals so communication was fairly easy.

We took the subway (MTR) to the Mon Kok station to take in the HK night life. This area was loaded with small shops, hawkers trying to get you into their shops or restaurants and wall to wall people walking, shopping and being seen. If the consumer society is in its death throes in the US, it is alive and well in Hong Kong. The crowd was very young and stylish. Neon lighted signs were everywhere and the din was palpable.

We were tired and hungry and were drawn in by one of these hawkers to a restaurant up two flights of escalators. We had a quiet dinner, went back to the apartment and collapsed into bed.

February 12th, Very Early in the Morning

I have been awake since around 3am as my internal clock is kind of messed up.
We left Cambridge on Sunday morning, drove to NYC and spent a nice afternoon and evening in New York with Sasha and Sydney. We dropped off 3 boxes of records at their apartment and then took a walk through the warehouse section of Greenpoint to get to the waterfront and admired the nicer residential blocks in the neighborhood.

We met my cousins Robert and Genia and Judy's sister Nancy and husband Richard for an early dinner at a Turkish restaurant on 2nd Ave and 50th Street in Manhattan. After dropping off Sasha and Sydney, we went out to Riveredge NJ and spent the night at the cousin's house.

The flight wasn't until 3pm Monday afternoon so we had a leisurely morning with Genia. The flight left more or less on time, but was interminidable, I think around 15 hours in duration. We cat napped on the flight but really had not gotten more than 3 hours sleep. So we arrived at 8pm local time, changed some money at the airport and went on our way. Unfortunately, Judy was tripped by her luggage and landed hard on the marble floor, on her knee primarily and was rather badly injured (more about that later). We met up with Audrey, Jay's (our house exchanger) girlfriend who took us to our temporary home away from home. Audrey is a translator for the Hong Kong government and translates documents between English, Cantonese and Mandarin. We took a bus from the airport to within 5 minutes of the house and then a taxi to the complex Sereno Verde a complex of tall apartment buildings in a gated compound. As it was now around 11pm but 10am in Cambridge we went to sleep, Judy with an icepack wrapped around her knee which was increasingly swollen and sore.

The next morning, Wednesday, we awoke and it was clear that Judy would not be able to do anything more than spend the day with an icepack on her knee in the apartment. Richard went out to do the shopping, totally disoriented, anxious about getting lost and not being able to communicate in search of some food. The apartment was left with no food of any kind so we couldn't even have a cup of coffee or a bit of breakfast. I took the shuttle bus, a 10 minute ride to town, got out at one of the train stops, in front of an elementary school. It was a little after 8am so the bus was loaded with school kids and their parents on the way to dropping them off. I got off to a flurry of "bye bye's", the Cantonese word for good-bye and walked around town. The streets of this town, Yuen Long, in the New Territories of Hong Kong were mobbed with people, even at this early hour. There were a series of main streets and smaller alleys. The smaller alleys had small shops sellling Chinese greens, citrus fruits, cooked ducks and chickens and many many small restaurants and cafes where people sat with their tea and dim sum. I wondered about for a while and finally found a small supermarket, did the shopping for some provisions and walked back to Sereno Verde about a ten minute walk. I took no photos of the town as I think I was too attentive to navigating and didn't want to get side tracked. I will post some photos of the town at another time.

I returned to the apartment to find Judy unable to walk very much and in a great deal of pain. We had breakfast and coffee and more ice for the knee. We decided that Judy would have to stay off her feet and see whether the pain and swelling went down before looking for a doctor. She didn't think that anything was broken but what does she know.

I decided to go off to Kowloon and visit the Hong Kong History Museum and any sites in that area. More about that later and I did take photos. Perhaps I will try to get a little sleep now.