March 11, 2009
Hong Kong, China
Queen Victoria’s call to Hong Kong on March 11, 2009 marked my second visit to China following Shanghai a few days prior. Since the things to do in Hong Kong are so expansive, I decided I would once again do a full-day tour to maximize what I could see and experience. The “Grand Tour of Hong Kong”, as it was called, would end up taking me all around the city by coach, boat, and tram.Similarly to Shanghai, Queen Victoria was berthed at a container terminal just outside the city, but what I started to find is that when the ship docks in these container terminals, it makes it interesting to drive into the city and witness the transition from the outskirts and industrial sections to the more active areas of these big cities. Nonetheless, the drive from the container terminal to our first stop on the tour was quite short.
Our coach arrived at the embarkation point for a nice morning cruise aboard a Chinese junk shortly after departing the terminal. Though it was quite cloudy at the time, the two-hour cruise went up and down the Hong Kong harbor and I was able to take in the skylines of both the Kowloon Peninsula and also Hong Kong Island. We headed back towards Queen Victoria after going in the other direction for quite some time and passed by the Tsing Ma Bridge, which is the largest two-deck suspension bridge in the world.
As midday approached, we disembarked the Chinese junk on the other side of the harbor in Hong Kong Island and headed on to our next mode of transportation: funicular tram. I got a chance to ride up Victoria Peak on this 100+ year-old mode of transportation and also had some free time to spend at the summit. Sadly, the weather was still a bit cloudy but the views from Victoria Peak, over 1,000 feet above sea level, were quite nice. I did not expect to see any fast-food establishments at the peak, but there was a Burger King among other restaurants and also a Starbucks. This was not one of the more exciting portions of the tour, but the ride to the peak was quite thrilling.
From the Peak, we resumed travel by bus and headed to the fishing village of Aberdeen. The ride to Aberdeen took our coach past many luxury homes old and new. The view from the coach was quite expansive since we started out over 1,000 feet up. The ride also took me farther outside the commercial center of Hong Kong Island, and it was interesting to see the contrast between one of the world’s main business districts and that which lied in its shadows.
Upon arrival in Aberdeen, I was treated to a glimpse into a way of life that I had never encountered as I boarded a sampan (small boat) for a ride around the fishing boats and houseboats that make their home in the harbor there. We passed by the world’s largest floating restaurant that is only accessible by boat, and it was quite large, but the highlights were weaving in and out of the rows of fishing boats and house boats. Some served both purposes, and it was amazing to glimpse into this way of life. The day just kept getting better.
15-20 minutes after boarding the sampan, I debarked and walked to the Aberdeen Marina Club for a dim sum luncheon I would never forget. We were situated in the main ballroom and conference hall at the Marina Club and treated to quite the dining experience. Similar to Shanghai, the food was brought out in family style quantities and placed on the revolving center of the table. We were treated to six or seven courses, and I indulged in everything. I even ate the seafood soup and I do not usually care for seafood outside of shellfish. I particularly enjoyed the spinach and garlic course I was given, but everything tasted exquisite. By far, this was the most classy and tasty tour lunch I had experienced since joining Queen Victoria in September. The tour operators ensured that we had enough time to eat and that we were not rushed at all, but it was still time to go before I knew it.
After a morning dedicated to seeing the sights of Hong Kong, my afternoon had a different flavor to its itinerary: shopping. Our guide continued to provide excellent commentary on where the coach was traveling through and also general information about life in Hong Kong, but the focus of the afternoon dealt with getting the guests to places where they could purchase various items.
The first stop in the afternoon itinerary was at a jewelry factory in a less-glamorous part of town. After a quick tour through the workshop, it was time to visit the showroom which had everything from metal bracelets to diamond rings and everything in between. I had no intentions of buying any jewelry but enjoyed the quick browse before heading off to the more extensive shopping stop: Stanley Market.
Stanley Market was the place to buy just about anything you wanted except for electronic goods. I did not see too many cameras or computers on sale here, but as far as clothing and souvenirs went, this was the place to go. We only had about 45 minutes to browse and make our purchases here, but it was amazing to see so much for so cheap. I ended up purchasing a silk tie, a polo shirt, and a couple pairs of shorts; everything was name-brand and authentic, but I probably paid somewhere between 20-25% of the retail price.
Sadly, it was from Stanley Market where the coach began making its way back to Queen Victoria, as the tour had come to an end. Luckily, the container terminal was quite far from the market, so I was able to see a bit more of the city en route. In the end, the tour was quite possibly the best one I had done to date. The itinerary, guide, food, and shopping was all the best yet, and everything was executed at a higher standard than anything I had experienced as a tour escort. Unlike most ports, my great experience in Hong Kong did not end when the ship set sail. Word came over the ship’s PA system that Queen Victoria had been granted special permission to sail through Hong Kong’s harbor at night, so as soon as I could, I went up to the crew’s private outside deck to witness the spectacular light show that the Hong Kong skyline puts on every night. Unlike any other city in the world, the buildings light up with these spectacular neon lights strategically placed with different colors on different buildings. Some are red, others yellow, others green, and so on and so forth. Each building presented its own unique pattern and display, and put together, the entire skyline was beautiful. With the Kowloon Peninsula on one side of the ship and Hong Kong Island on the other, Queen Victoria was right in the center of the world’s largest light show. Before I knew it, the show was over as we sailed out of the harbor and the ship made her way to Thailand; a spectacular day had come to an end.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Shanghai in a day
March 8, 2009
Shanghai, China
Queen Victoria continued her voyage through Southeast Asia when she docked at Shanghai’s overly massive container terminal on March 8th. Since I spent approximately $135 USD on a visa for entry into the People’s Republic of China, I knew the way to see as much as possible would be to go on yet another full-day tour.
I was chosen to escort an excursion entitled “Shanghai – Past & Present” which provided me with a nice mix of things to see and do throughout the day. The first stop was the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower, one of the more distinguishable items in Shanghai’s vast skyline. The shape of the structure was innovative and interesting, but the pinkish color of the tower’s “pearls” was a bit off-putting.
Soon after arriving at the “Pearl”, as locals know it, we boarded an elevator and went up to the main observation level located 863 feet above the ground. I was able to walk around and catch a 360-degree panoramic view of the city of Shanghai and all the interesting buildings nearby.
I spent a bit of time viewing what I could of the Shanghai skyline before descending back to ground level and going to the Contemporary History Museum, located at the base of the tower. It was filled with wax figurines and models of buildings, storefronts, and Shanghai streets of the past and inside I even found some automobiles and trams historically significant to Shanghai. In the end, I wrote this portion of the trip off as “filler” and something that the local tour operator added so they could save time by having two stops in one place. I went through the museum at a brisk pace before exiting the tower to spend some free time walking around outside.
I walked across the street from the tower pavilion and found myself in a stretch of what seemed to be shops alternating between selling food and souvenirs. There were tons of outdoor food establishments that consisted of various ingredients and a wok to cook them in, made to order. It looked and smelled amazing. Sadly, lunch had been arranged at a somewhat up-scale Shanghai hotel, so I forced myself to wait just a little bit longer before eating PROPER Chinese Food. I then ventured into an overcrowded (in China, everywhere you go is overcrowded) shopping center but quickly got turned off by the sheer number of people inside. It was still an interesting experience to enter a Chinese shopping mall.
After returning to the bus outside the Pearl, we headed to a hotel for lunch. Upon arrival at the Jin Jiang hotel, our guide informed us that it was at here where Former US President Richard Nixon stayed during his visit to Shanghai in the 1970s. Our dining room was located on the fifth floor in one of a few different buildings that comprised the hotel, and immediately after sitting down, food started being brought to our tables. It was a family-style luncheon, with large platters of food being placed on a revolving platform in the middle of each table. This offered everyone a taste of many different things rather than larger portions of each course (what I was used to seeing from doing many lunch-included tours in Europe), so I helped myself to various items that pleased my taste buds. The food brought to our tables was not so different from what one might eat in a Chinese restaurant somewhere else in the world, but the overall taste was much better here in Shanghai.
After eating seven or eight small courses, I returned to the coach and we headed to our next stop: the Jade Buddha Temple. The Jade Buddha temple was founded in the late 19th century and is still a place of worship. In all of my travels through Southeast Asia, this was the more interesting temples I had the chance to visit. It was booming with activity in that everywhere I looked there were people praying or burning incense, and I even witnessed some Buddhist monks singing.
Like the Sofuku ji temple in Nagasaki, the Jade Buddha Temple consisted of more than one building. It had a large courtyard and a few different buildings filled with many different statues of Buddha, but the most spectacular statues were the two made of jade, one in a sitting position and the other reclining. They were beautiful, and unfortunately, I was not able to view them for a long time due to a tightly-packed itinerary. While at the temple, I also had the opportunity to take in a “tea ceremony”, which was little more than an opportunity for me to taste some different types of Chinese tea, and I took advantage. After the tea tasting, I returned to the bus and moved on to the old town of Shanghai for an exciting conclusion to the tour.
Our coach made its way from the Jade Buddha Temple to the old town of Shanghai, from where we walked to the location for our last guided portion of the tour: the Yuyuan Garden. The Yuyuan Garden was originally a private garden that dates back to the late 16th century, but buildings continued to be constructed through the 19th century. It was beautifully designed and the mix between pagodas small and large with ponds, green areas, pathways, and rocks could not have been more perfect. It was interesting to walk through something so beautiful and was like nothing I had ever seen. I had to keep the entire tour group moving along, so I was not able to fully take in my surroundings but still enjoyed the guided walk through the garden.
After leaving the Yuyuan Garden, I had the opportunity to spend nearly an hour walking around the old town of Shanghai and I used this time to buy some souvenirs. I purchased a silk tie with Chinese characters on it, a postcard, and a small jade Buddha before heading back to meet our guide and walk back to the bus. On the way back, I purchased a food item that I doubt I’ll ever forget. I would call it a candied fruit kebab in that it consisted of five or six different pieces of fruit covered in hard candy. It tasted great and was something totally new to me, but one of these pieces of fruit was a cherry tomato. Weirdly enough, the cherry tomato tasted better than the candied cherry, a component to the fruit kebab.
All in all, my day in Shanghai was good, but not great. I did a lot and saw a lot, but it was not the most-exciting port I visited in the region. Nevertheless, I am glad that I paid the money for the Chinese Visa so that I could see what I saw, if only once.
Shanghai, China
Queen Victoria continued her voyage through Southeast Asia when she docked at Shanghai’s overly massive container terminal on March 8th. Since I spent approximately $135 USD on a visa for entry into the People’s Republic of China, I knew the way to see as much as possible would be to go on yet another full-day tour.
I was chosen to escort an excursion entitled “Shanghai – Past & Present” which provided me with a nice mix of things to see and do throughout the day. The first stop was the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower, one of the more distinguishable items in Shanghai’s vast skyline. The shape of the structure was innovative and interesting, but the pinkish color of the tower’s “pearls” was a bit off-putting.
Soon after arriving at the “Pearl”, as locals know it, we boarded an elevator and went up to the main observation level located 863 feet above the ground. I was able to walk around and catch a 360-degree panoramic view of the city of Shanghai and all the interesting buildings nearby.
I spent a bit of time viewing what I could of the Shanghai skyline before descending back to ground level and going to the Contemporary History Museum, located at the base of the tower. It was filled with wax figurines and models of buildings, storefronts, and Shanghai streets of the past and inside I even found some automobiles and trams historically significant to Shanghai. In the end, I wrote this portion of the trip off as “filler” and something that the local tour operator added so they could save time by having two stops in one place. I went through the museum at a brisk pace before exiting the tower to spend some free time walking around outside.
I walked across the street from the tower pavilion and found myself in a stretch of what seemed to be shops alternating between selling food and souvenirs. There were tons of outdoor food establishments that consisted of various ingredients and a wok to cook them in, made to order. It looked and smelled amazing. Sadly, lunch had been arranged at a somewhat up-scale Shanghai hotel, so I forced myself to wait just a little bit longer before eating PROPER Chinese Food. I then ventured into an overcrowded (in China, everywhere you go is overcrowded) shopping center but quickly got turned off by the sheer number of people inside. It was still an interesting experience to enter a Chinese shopping mall.
After returning to the bus outside the Pearl, we headed to a hotel for lunch. Upon arrival at the Jin Jiang hotel, our guide informed us that it was at here where Former US President Richard Nixon stayed during his visit to Shanghai in the 1970s. Our dining room was located on the fifth floor in one of a few different buildings that comprised the hotel, and immediately after sitting down, food started being brought to our tables. It was a family-style luncheon, with large platters of food being placed on a revolving platform in the middle of each table. This offered everyone a taste of many different things rather than larger portions of each course (what I was used to seeing from doing many lunch-included tours in Europe), so I helped myself to various items that pleased my taste buds. The food brought to our tables was not so different from what one might eat in a Chinese restaurant somewhere else in the world, but the overall taste was much better here in Shanghai.
After eating seven or eight small courses, I returned to the coach and we headed to our next stop: the Jade Buddha Temple. The Jade Buddha temple was founded in the late 19th century and is still a place of worship. In all of my travels through Southeast Asia, this was the more interesting temples I had the chance to visit. It was booming with activity in that everywhere I looked there were people praying or burning incense, and I even witnessed some Buddhist monks singing.
Like the Sofuku ji temple in Nagasaki, the Jade Buddha Temple consisted of more than one building. It had a large courtyard and a few different buildings filled with many different statues of Buddha, but the most spectacular statues were the two made of jade, one in a sitting position and the other reclining. They were beautiful, and unfortunately, I was not able to view them for a long time due to a tightly-packed itinerary. While at the temple, I also had the opportunity to take in a “tea ceremony”, which was little more than an opportunity for me to taste some different types of Chinese tea, and I took advantage. After the tea tasting, I returned to the bus and moved on to the old town of Shanghai for an exciting conclusion to the tour.
Our coach made its way from the Jade Buddha Temple to the old town of Shanghai, from where we walked to the location for our last guided portion of the tour: the Yuyuan Garden. The Yuyuan Garden was originally a private garden that dates back to the late 16th century, but buildings continued to be constructed through the 19th century. It was beautifully designed and the mix between pagodas small and large with ponds, green areas, pathways, and rocks could not have been more perfect. It was interesting to walk through something so beautiful and was like nothing I had ever seen. I had to keep the entire tour group moving along, so I was not able to fully take in my surroundings but still enjoyed the guided walk through the garden.
After leaving the Yuyuan Garden, I had the opportunity to spend nearly an hour walking around the old town of Shanghai and I used this time to buy some souvenirs. I purchased a silk tie with Chinese characters on it, a postcard, and a small jade Buddha before heading back to meet our guide and walk back to the bus. On the way back, I purchased a food item that I doubt I’ll ever forget. I would call it a candied fruit kebab in that it consisted of five or six different pieces of fruit covered in hard candy. It tasted great and was something totally new to me, but one of these pieces of fruit was a cherry tomato. Weirdly enough, the cherry tomato tasted better than the candied cherry, a component to the fruit kebab.
All in all, my day in Shanghai was good, but not great. I did a lot and saw a lot, but it was not the most-exciting port I visited in the region. Nevertheless, I am glad that I paid the money for the Chinese Visa so that I could see what I saw, if only once.
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