Adventurasia Community

Our wonderful tour guides, K2 and A, have been very busy entertaining us “foreigners”……..or maybe everybody is just entertaining me since I’m a total “foreigner” who barely speaks cantonese. I always need someone to translate for me especially when going out for a meal…….just can’t read those chinese menus! [editor. I guess he got tired of eating wonton noodles with beef brisket] On the other hand, I’m getting better at asking where the washrooms are, except I always get a strange look when I ask for a “pristine” one. “Pristine” washrooms are a rarity even in classy restaurants let alone public ones. Sadly, I’ve only found three on HK Island so far and they’re never nearby when I need them……sob! FYI - One’s in the mall at Admiralty MTR, the other is in Stanley Plaza on the other side of HK island, and the 3rd is at the HK Jockey Club. Each are manned by an old fella who stays in the washroom for his entire shift. Anytime there’s a drop of water on the floor or if someone misses their aim these old guys are on you in seconds. Now if that’s not “pristine” I don’t know what is!!!

Clubbing doesn’t seem the same in HK as it is in Taipei. We went to this club called The Manhatten during ladies’ nite and they packed so many people in there you could hardly drink your beer without spilling it down some girl’s blouse:) They played a couple of good songs and then the rest was some kinda Pseudo African drum music. Nonetheless, B actually danced this time. It was either that or he was trying to hail a taxi from the middle of the dance floor!!!

Our wonderful hostess’ also took us to an island called Cheung Chau for a hike and to have fresh seafood dinner. We came across this little island girl who I’ll call “mini-A”. She looked about 8 yrs old, was smartly/sophisticatedly dressed, and walked “ladylike” with her nose up in the air. For those of you wanting to come here in the future “mini-A” should be the main attraction as she stands out like a sore thumb amongst an island of old fishermen. Oh yeah…….and we went into this dark cave which pirates used to hide their treasure. In order to get into the entrance you had to jump about 7 feet into total darkness not knowing where you’d land. I was the last one and B says “Jump next to me!” So the “dumbass” that I was…..I jumped and gashed my right arm! Turns out there was a huge sharp boulder next to him. Thanks, B! The girls were OK because there was another tourist up ahead leading the way with a flashlight.

We also went to China by train the other day. I think B and V were trying to scare me because they were telling me about the dirty conditions, non-existent sanitary washrooms, the pickpocket gangsters and filthy beggars who’ll latch onto my arms and legs once I cross the border. The last time I was warned of this I was in Mexico. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I had this vision of Mexican Chinese people wearing sombreros and ponchos lining up on the dirt roads to “jump” us as we arrived by rickshaw from the train station. I was disappointed to discover that the city we went to looked just like HK but without the 7 Elevens.

Anyhoo…..we went for a day of shopping and there were really good deals there even if they were name brand “knock offs”. I’d have to say V is aggressively good at haggling with the shopkeepers. The tactics are quite amusing! She’d haggle for a long time until they were both talking loudly (Vendor: “I’m not making much profit!” V: “Yes, because we’re from the same village!” or “Lower the price because then I’ll tell ALL my friends to come here!” or “I’m buying so much here you should lower the price!”) Then when the shopkeeper says not a dollar lower Vivian walks out knowing the shopkeeper would call her back with a lower price. For about $90 Cdn I got “name brand” shirts, pants, sport winter jacket, casual shoes, luggage, and lunch. I should’ve got V to do the haggling for me! I think I paid too much!!I’m also happy to report that I didn’t see B haggling upwards in price!

I’d also like to take this opportunity to apologize to the people of Mong Kok for mispelling the name of their district as Mong Tok (typo) in my previous email. I do not wish to be “linched” the next time I pay a visit nor do I want my readers looking for Mong Tok district should they also pay a visit because they will never find it! Also there’s 2 districts which sound the same. One is called Wan Chai and the other is Chai Wan…..confused the heck out of me!!!