Early Morning Walk

Flying to Asia for me is a 24-hour process from the time I leave my house in the morning until I get to the hotel in Hong Kong. As much as I try to "adjust" on the way over I still sleep poorly the first night in country.

One of my favorite things to do in Hong Kong is to get up early and walk along the harbour. Nothing in HK opens until 10 AM, so the city is still pretty quiet.

I took this picture one morning as we were heading over to the ferry terminal. I love the classic Old World style of the sampan in the foreground, very bright in color, with the hazy New World background of the Hong Kong Island side.

The large round building to the right of the boat is the Hong Kong Convention Center, where an amazing amount of the world's business gets conducted at trade fairs and conventions.

On the Road Again...

I am sitting in Incheon International Airport (Seoul, South Korea) getting ready for my connecting flight to Hong Kong. Tomorrow I will get on a high-speed catamaran-style ferry and enter in to Mainland China.

As some of you may have read in a previous post Banned in China, once I am behind the Rice Curtain I will not be able to post, read, or view blogs. Due to their nature, blogs are an area that the Communist goverment of China has no desire to allow their people access to.

I am hoping to do a few exciting things while on this trip, including golfing at a world class golf resort in Kunming, China. Hopefully when I return to the world of uncensored bloggism I will have new stories to tell and more pictures to show. Until then, swing by Mommy Matters and tell Christine how glad we are to have her back to blogging.

Tian Tan Buddha

As mentioned in my last post, I was able to take the Ngong Ping cable car to the top of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Although there is a small village for buying souvenirs, the real attraction for this ride is the impressive Tian Tan Buddha. Noted as the "world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha" it stands 24 feet tall.

I am not a religious person per-se, but standing at the foot of the 268 steps leading up to this beautiful statue leaves even the most jaded a little more humble. I watched a young lady from Singapore do a ritual she described as Three Steps, One Bow where devotees walk three steps, fall prostrate to the ground, rise, and repeat the sequence. This makes for a rather arduous route to the top.

In the following pictures I tried to capture both the size and the spirit of the place. If you have an afternoon in Hong Kong this is a must see.

Recent Trips

I feel like I have been on the road more than I have been home (Which is actually pretty true) and I leave again next week for my 3rd trip to Asia this year.

I was able to get a day off in Beautiful Hong Kong earlier this month and was able to experience something new.

The Lantau Island Cable Car (Ngong Ping 360) is one of the best things I have done in Asia. The views (on a clear day) are unbelievable, and the dizzying heights reached by the gondola is amazing. The end destination of the cable system is the Lantau Village, host to the Worlds-Largest-Sitting-Bronze Buddha (Future Post)

As you can see from the picture below we picked a great day to be there, and you probably wouldn't want to ride it during a typhoon, but if you are going to Hong Kong then I recommend you put this stop on your agenda.

On The Road Again

I am having difficulty posting as I am in Korea and on my way to China. I hope to have more data for discourse upon my return. Please come back around to see what's new in the world of Hu Flung Poo

A Day Like Any Other

A visit to the Port of Hong Kong is a surreal experience. An average of 11 container ships leave there each day, carrying roughly 7000-12000 containers each. Containers are stacked 6 tall and 20 deep as far as the eye can see.

When I first started buying from Asia I felt that the 30 containers I move per year were Big Time. Come to find out there are companies like Phillips/Magnavox that will move 80 containers of a single item PER DAY.

The sheer mass of stuff departing from this port alone (the 3rd busiest in the world) is mind blowing.

The process to load one of these ships is amazing. One guy sits at a computer in a building and selects which containers will go on his ship. The cranes are all automatic and will go out to the "yard" and pick the applicable container and ferry it to the ship. The average transfer time is 1 container per minute and they assign 6-8 cranes to a ship in order to get it loaded and out.

Maybe the most impressive thing to me was the casual execution of a seemingly overwhelming task. The workers are very competent, well trained, and very efficient. Maybe our ports could take a page out of their books.

A Day Off

For many Filipiano women, Hong Kong is the Land of Opportunity. Almost every household of moderate or greater means hires a woman from the Phillipines as a housekeeper.

These women come to Hong Kong by the thousands and work for money that most of us would consider insulting, putting in 12 hour days, Monday thru Saturday.

When Sunday comes it is time for them to let loose and kick back. The scene from this picture is common on any flat surface in downtown Hong Kong. Blankets are layed out, picnic lunches are distributed, and for 10 hours these ladies sit and enjoy the company and the language of their fellow country(wo)men.

I was amazed at the sheer volume of these ladies or all ages spread throughout the city. On the few Sundays I have been able to walk around I have encountered tens of thousands of these small gatherings, always talking, playing cards, or just napping on their small island of cloth.

I am always impressed by their good humour, their lively discussions, and their desire to be around each other.