Tuesday in Hong Kong

Tuesday, January 29
Up early. It is raining and cold. No Victoria peek today. Out for a little walk along the shore and take a few more pictures. I am being met in the lobby at 11 am for lunch.

At 11, two of my sister - in - laws, who do not speak English, and my Niece Teresa who does speak English, meet me. We take a taxi to the far end of the island, near Heng Fa Chuen Station for Dim Sum. We are eventually met by Betty, my Brother-in-law’s wife who is visiting from Toronto. Colander, her sister, who lives in Scotland, and my nephew Barry, who is a lot bigger than I am. This is new, I am not the biggest anymore.

We eat and talk. Teresa is in third year at Electrical Engineering at Science And Technology University. Barry is an office worker and bus driver for the city. Betty and her sister are visiting their mother for Spring Festival or Chinese New Year as us western people call it.

After lunch Betty and Colinda and I head back on the subway to Causeway bay. The is a big SOGO store there, and the school where Lin was a teacher before moving to Canada.

St. Paul’s Convent School is an older all girls catholic school. They were undergoing renovations so we went in the temporary entrance at the side. They had just finished painting a beautiful mural on the wall, and were removing the cover. I spoke to the receptionist, explained my wife taught there 15 years earlier, and I wanted to take some pictures to show our kids in Toronto. She said no problem. There were a few nice things inside, and a good view of St. Paul’s Church located next to the school.

There are very few level street crossings for pedestrians, There are either underpasses or over passes. One near St. Paul's was advertising the Summer Olympics, with dates and countries listed on each step. Very nice.

We then went to Sogo store. Colinda had something to do so Betty and I had a coffee and talked a while. We finished around 3 pm. I headed off on another search and photo mission.

First went to Victoria Park, and walked through the park. They have an outdoor jogging path, and other areas for kids to play. There was a laughing corner, with two funny looking art pieces. The hair on the boy was hilarious. I left the park and headed for the shoreline. A large marina made me wonder if I was in Hong Kong or Ontario Place. Huge yachts were all over. Mixed in with older style traditional boats. These look like junk, so I assume that is what they are ... Chinese Junks. They skyline in Kowloon, across the harbour, is as breathtaking as Hong Kong’s.

One of the most amazing things I have seen is the variety of architecture. First in Shanghai, and now in Hong Kong. There are very few square buildings. Downtown Toronto looks like a bunch of boxes. First Canadian Place (37th), Scotia Plaza (59th), BCE Place–Canada Trust Tower (83rd), and TD Centre, are all square. UGLY square buildings. In Shanghai and Hong Kong the buildings have character. Breath taking high and beautiful to look at. The LIPPO building was one of the best. Even the swimming pools has character.

The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre extends into Victoria Harbour. It has a rather unique curved roof. Looks like a stingray. The centre is undergoing expansion., so I took a picture of the picture of the finished model. Very nice. Nearby was the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts Centre. Again an architectural masterpiece. A major upcoming performance are Orpheus X and Chatroom + Citizenship. Stopped at an HMV store and found two DVD’s I wanted. The copy of Dead Poet’s Society I bought in Xiamen did not work, so I found one. Also, I have the entire James Bond Series, all 21 movies. But there was a rogue James Bond Movie from 1983 not recognized as an OFFICIAL Bond movie. Sean Connery made a comeback to try and compete with Roger Moore. And there is was .. Never Say Never Again. Actually a remake of Thunderball and I believe it is the best Connery bond movie. A little more expensive then the ones I bought in Xiamen. Xiamen prices were 6 to 10 RMB (75 cents or 1.25 CDN), depending on DVD 5 or DVD 10. These were on sale at 88 and 98 HKD (1 RMB = 1 HKD which is $10 and $12 CDN).

Back to the hotel, then a search for food. I decided to head in the other direction. I found a Pizza Hut, Burger King and McDonald's. Then I saw it. It had to be the place to eat. CANADA RESTAURANT! I went in. Nothing Canadian hanging on the walls. Nothing Canadian on the menu. Waitress did not speak Canadian .... she didn’t even speak English! I ordered a set meal. It was very good. I got salad, soup, coffee, and TWO breaded pork chops and a breaded salmon steak.. Along with a dish of ice cream. Very good. Home to bed. Hooked up my DVD player to the TV and watched Never Say Never Again.