On Pushy Mainlanders and Other Random Notes from Hong Kong

• I love the J.W. Marriott in Hong Kong. We could stay in the hotel and have a perfectly lovely vacation without ever going out. Just be careful to follow the rules. We got in trouble once for not taking our shoes off before putting our feet up on the folding recliners by the pool.
• The passion fruit tea at Starbucks tastes the same here, but instead of an iced tea, it's more of a crushed ice smoothie. I'm going to suggest it to the Starbucks at home.
• We've eaten at two French restaurants on this trip to Hong Kong. 
• Food figures prominently in these bullet points.
• There are a lot of "pointers" in Hong Kong that we didn't notice before. These are people who, no matter where you are, politely point where you should go. The museum was full of them. Though the next exhibit was clearly marked, a person in a uniform would be standing there pointing to it. When we bought our octopus cards in the subway station (the card that allows you to use transit), we encountered an official pointer. As we came to the front of the line, she pointed to the counter so we'd know when and where to go though it couldn't have been more obvious. Clyde and I theorized that this may be a response to all the mainlanders. Which brings me to the next bullet.
• Chinese mainlanders have a reputation for being pushy and rude. Hong Kongers are especially annoyed at their bad manners. Clyde and I have noticed it in other places as well, such as in Yellowstone National Park and at the Louvre museum in  Paris. Busloads of Chinese descend en mass. They talk loudly no matter where they are. They sometimes cut in line. Occasionally they're just clueless. I'll never forget the Chinese lady who took a picture of a picture of the Mona Lisa. Though it was in the next room, she took a photo of the directions to the real thing. Perhaps a pointer would have been helpful. I've heard one theory by way of explanation. It might be that the Chinese were so isolated and broken down by the cultural revolution, that the entire population never traveled or saw the rest of the world. A couple of generations went by where survival was the only goal. No one visited museums or national parks. Now they have the money and freedom to go to places, but having money doesn't automatically mean you know social etiquette. 
• The best thing about the J.W. Marriott in Hong Kong is the breakfast buffet. They're usually good at Marriotts, but this one is over the top. Everything from traditional Chinese noodles and dumplings (see photo below) to fresh pastries, salmon, fruit, French toast, omelettes to order, and everything else you could possibly want. Yes, I even found the "frosties flakes."





• Clyde is very good at spotting the difference between local Hong Kongers and mainlanders. Of course, he can hear the difference between Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, and Mandarin, what most mainlanders speak. My husband is very smart. (In case you haven't noticed, I didn't bother to put these in any particular order.)
• The coffee at the J.W. Marriott is the best in the world. I don't know why. It just is. Last time we were here we asked what they use and they told us it was Starbucks Pikes blend. So we started using it at home. But it's not the same. I don't know what they do to it here, but it's so smooth, rich, dark, and non-bitter at the same time. It's almost worth the entire visit. 
• This blog is brought to you by J.W. Marriott (just kidding - I wish). 
• Hotel sex is always better. I don't know why. It just is.
• There are some large shopping malls here in Hong Kong. You'd think a vertical city with no extra room wouldn't have malls, which we Americans associate with vast parking lots and suburban sprawl. There are, however, large, multi-level malls with giant atriums in Hong Kong, complete with nice restaurants and gigantic Christmas  decorations hanging from the ceiling. They are underground. They often connect one subway line to another. We're talking high end stuff too, like Versace and  Yves Saint Laurent - not a Walmart or Sears in sight.
• Speaking of Christmas, they advertise for it here, complete with snow scenes and reindeer. It's odd to see kids throwing snowballs and sledding on a billboard in a place where I'm sure most people never see snow.
• The subway is great: clean, modern, fast ... I love a good subway.
• Tomorrow we are off to Japan for a quick visit. Stay tuned.

Another PostBlog from Hong Kong

From the formation of the earth to the People's Republic taking control of a chaotic British ward, Hong Kong has a rich and varied history.

Today was educational. We took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor to go to the Hong Kong Museum of History.

The most interesting thing that I'd never known anything about was the Japanese occupation during World War II.

It's no secret that Japan invaded China and subjected its people to the most terrible occupation. Hong Kong was no exception. Britain put up a fight but was no match for the formidable Japanese who attacked on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor.

Not only did the people of Hong Kong suffer the humiliation of being occupied, they were subject to conditions which resulted in shortages, dissolution of institutions like the educational system, cholera, and starvation.

While the Brits seemed like the good guys at that point, it wasn't always so. The way they got Hong Kong in the first place is arguably as disgraceful and underhanded as probably anything they ever did during their sketchy empirical past. Basically, the Chinese wouldn't do international trade with Britain, so those wily Brits flooded the area with opium, getting the population so addicted that the locals would agree to anything.

On a side note, because it was a weekday, we were surrounded by school groups. Most of the children looked to be in kindergarten or first grade. Clyde pointed out in contrast to what you might see at home, the adults supervising these groups weren't engaged in crisis management, yelling at the kids to pay attention or stay together. They were, instead, interacting with the children about the exhibits. All of the children were writing on worksheets presumably answering questions about what they were seeing. And though there were hundreds of them, I at no point felt stressed or inconvenienced by their presence. In fact, they were just cute as could be.

So back to the exhibits ...

Fortunately, according to the museum, Hong Kong is no longer ruled by Britain. You see, during the second half of the 20th century, after WWII, Hong Kong was a chaotic place of floods, fires, and riots. Thanks to the wise negotiations of the People's leaders with the rulers of the UK, Hong Kong was ceded back to China in 1997.  The very last exhibit in the museum is a movie describing all of this, ending with a great show of celebratory fireworks.

I had no quibble with any of the history presented up through WWII. In fact, it reminded me of how much I don't know about the world. Even the point of view describing the post war years was important to see. This is why it's important to travel. Seeing first hand how others see the world, learning what they value, and learning what they're taught, helps us understand each other better. When you get right down to it, it's harder to go to war  (or justify a stupid, unnecessary, counterproductive trade war, which yes, is affecting Hong Kong) with people that you've met in person.

Post Blog from Hong Kong

Today we took the subway out to Tung Chung, on an island out in the boonies, basically in the South China Sea. From the town center, we took a bus up to one of the largest Buddas in the world, the Tian Tan Budda at the Po Lin monastery. To be accurate, the bus took us nearly to the top of a mountain. We had to climb approximately 1 million steps to get to the actual Budda.

The Budda itself is very spiritual and very ancient, having been constructed in the late 20th century - 1990-1993 to be exact.

Although I suffered terrible motion sickness, the bus trip up was interesting. I always thought of Hong Kong as just this big city. But there's a rural part too - complete with water buffalo hanging out. And cattle of course. Free ranging it on the road. There are signs that say, "Don't feed the animals."

The mountains are lush and beautiful. There are houses, not particularly fancy, with large gardens and I imagine they have something to do with the cattle. I wanted to take pictures of the scenery but the bus (and on the way down, the taxi) was going too fast - and I was concentrating on not tossing my cookies.

This is my second trip to Hong Kong. Clyde has been here many times. It's a a hard working city. It's truly one of a kind, world class in the truest sense. It's one those cities I want to require provincial New Yorkers to visit when they act like New York is the only city in the world. I remember how small Denver seemed after my last trip here. Imagine the organization and engineering it takes to cram 7 million people on this little island much of which, by the way, is made up of mountains to steep to build on.

I wonder what the future will be like here as the People's Republic continues to gradually tighten the noose. Can I write that? "Someone" is probably reading this. No joke. I've heard that no one, not even tourists, can take privacy for granted anymore.

It has occurred to me that the British turned Hong Kong over to the People's Republic in 1997. That was 21 years ago. The agreement was that they'd let Hong Kong remain autonomous for 50 years. We're almost half way there already.

As the subway made an appearance above ground, we passed one of the largest ports in the world. Noting thousands of of those freight containers that they pile onto those large container ships, I couldn't help but wonder: is our new washer over there? It's supposed to be delivered in December.

Random Thoughts on Travel to Hong Kong

• Time is a fluid concept. We had breakfast on the plane (it was Central Time on board I guess) and an hour later we were on the ground at 7:30 p.m. local time. I asked Clyde about dinner, naturally.
• The Arctic Ocean. It's the only way Chicago could conceivably be on the way to Hong Kong. San Francisco seems like it's on the way to Hong Kong but not Chicago. United Airlines had suggested we change our connection from San Francisco to avoid delays due to the terrible California wildfires. So instead of flying over the Pacific Ocean, we flew over the Arctic Ocean. And by going through Chicago, we actually got there an hour earlier. It makes my head spin.
• Hong Kong is a tiny little city by Chinese standards. A mere 7 million inhabitants, it is dwarfed by many other Chinese cities that are home to 25 to 40 million. 
• The Arctic for a second bullet point. Does anyone else think it's mind blowing to be  going on a flight that goes inside the Arctic Circle? I understand in my head that the Earth is round and this is the most direct route. But my mind still can't quite grasp it. 
• It is yesterday at home. 
• In the taxi from the airport train to the hotel, I freaked a little because the driver drove on the left side of the road. I'd temporarily forgotten that in this former British colony, people drive on the left. I thought for sure we were going to crash into oncoming traffic.
• Back to the Arctic, people aren't meant to travel so far north. It isn't natural. Nor is it natural to fly at 30,000 feet. The only natural way to go to China is to travel for several months on foot to the ocean, the Pacific Ocean, take a ship for several more months, and never return. It only took us 15 hours to get here from Chicago. And that's a long travel day by 21st century standards.
• 18th century pioneers went great distances and never returned, but they also never had to make a connection at O'Hare.

All You Have to Do is Buy a Ticket

A co-worker asked where Clyde and I were going on our next big trip. When I told him we were going to Hong Kong and Tokyo right before Thanksgiving, his eyes opened wide and he shook his head with disgust.

"You ... jet setter!" he said.

He didn't mean anything bad, I don't think. But it amazes me how most people think that world travel is beyond them. I used to be that way until I met Clyde.

My annual trips to San Diego were the extent of my travels. I bought the least expensive plane tickets - the ones with a stop in Houston (a thousand miles out of the way) in the middle of the night. I rented cars from the low cost places where they often ran out of the economy model I reserved. So they bumped me up to something huge like a Yukon which I had to fit into the tiny parking spot at the cheap hotel, where the shampoo comes in a paper envelope.

Then I started hanging out with Clyde and realized, and I said this to my co-worker, that it's easy to go to Hong Kong. All you have to do is buy a ticket and go.

The world is so small now. You can go anywhere. All it takes is money. Then again, my perspective may be that of a relatively financially well off old white man. My dental hygienist, Chris, who I also saw this week (my teeth are fine thank you) is young, I would guess in his 20s. He went on a "once in a lifetime" trip to Japan last spring. Chris is still paying off the credit cards he maxed out to go and he says he won't be going anywhere again for a while.

I remember travel in my 20s. I never saved up to go anywhere. All of it went on credit cards. I never stayed in hotels, always with friends or relatives. Or friends of friends or relatives. I slept on a dining room floor on my first visit to San Francisco. I got around on BART and the public bus, not in a rental car. I hung out with lots of other young people, including some sailors I met who were on leave. It's not what it sounds like, but I did become acquainted with someone under that dining room table.

Anyway, back to the present. Clyde and I put travel at the top of our priorities. We live in a modest home. We drive ordinary cars. We have no debt except a small mortgage, so we can afford two big trips a year and a couple of small ones.

We do get around. But jet setters? I guess I've been called worse.

And with Clyde, I no longer stay in cheap hotels. He has years of corporate travel under his belt with all the benefits. So we rarely stay anywhere but the Marriott. I love the Marriott with its all you can eat breakfast buffets and wonderful coffee. Even in the most humid cities (Hong Kong, Rio), our room is chilly with air conditioning.

That's how grownups travel.

My poor co-worker just bought a house in Arvada. As Clyde and I watch YouTube videos about Japan in order to make plans for our trip, he's probably scraping together his next house payment and college tuition for the kids.

It was fun all those years ago, but I prefer traveling in my 50s with Clyde to crashing under furniture even with, um, temporary travel acquaintences.


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After Hong Kong, Denver Seems Kind of Small

Ever since my extensive four day trip to Hong Kong in November, Denver is looking rather small.

Our highrises are shorter. Our light rail trains, though plenty cool, are not subways. We don't have those space-efficient double decker busses.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

The mile high city seems positively huge when you're driving inbound on I-25 after visiting Wyoming, for example.

Hong Kong, much bigger than Denver, is actually quite small compared to other Chinese cities that most of us have never heard of.

These considerations are important if your self-worth is tied up with where you live. And mine is.

Denver is the biggest city and the urban hub for a huge geographical portion of the United States.

Because I believe Denver to be superior to most other places, I believe myself to be superior also, simply by virtue of my being  smart enough to live here.

I have it on good authority that others feel the same way about where they live. New Yorkers exemplify this more than most. They believe absolutely and without a shadow of a doubt that they live in the greatest city in the world, and all others are inferior.

I enjoy the occasional opportunity to voice my opinion to these folks that the greatest, most vibrant city in the world is --- London. Hey, I like Denver, but I'm not stupid.

Postblog From Asia: A BillsWeek List

I’m feeling pretty well traveled and rather well versed about what’s going on in Asia. This after spending a few days in Hong Kong, a half hour looking at Taiwan from 30,000 feet, and three hours sitting in the United Airlines passenger lounge of Narita International Airport nibbling chicken nuggets and drinking diet coke (so technically I can say I’ve been to Tokyo). Regarding the political situation or economics, I’m happy to give my lengthy opinion to anyone who asks even out of the most restrained or merely courteous interest.  

In this very special edition of BillsWeek, I offer some observations from a recent trip I took with Clyde, my globe-trekking boyfriend:

• Hong Kong has great Italian food. We also ate Spanish and Thai food. I’m happy to report that we turned our noses up at every McDonalds we passed, though we did succumb to a couple of Starbucks along the way.
• If you are lounging by the hotel pool and haven’t taken your shoes off before putting them up on the chair, an attendant will appear from nowhere and very politely insist that you put a towel under your feet.
• You see a lot of white men with younger Asian women but never Asian women with younger white men. The women, however, always seem to be paying.
• There are Starbucks and 7-Elevens everywhere – unless you really want one. Then they are nowhere to be found. Just like home.
• I was worried about Americans being boorish slobs in Hong Kong. I’m happy to report that Australians are worse. I’m sure they never take their shoes off by the pool.
• Hong Kong is serious about this bird flu stuff. If you cough or sneeze at the airport, you may be approached by a health official to have your temperature checked. I don’t know what happens to you if you have a fever but I wonder if you are whisked away never to be heard from again. irport, you may be approached by a health official to have your temperature checked. They are ser
• Netflix is not available in Asia.
• Vapid skinny women are the same everywhere.
• The Today Show on Australian TV is a little less stupid than the American version. But the male host seems to be on every program at all times of day. Or is it just that all the male hosts look the same? And by the way, is it a little odd to be getting Australian TV in Hong Kong? I usually turned the channel to CNN.
• Hong Kong has more malls than anyplace I’ve ever seen, and they are all underground on the way to the subway. Clyde calls them mall traps.
• As at home, mid-November finds exclusive high priced stores and little street markets alike gearing up for Christmas with tacky red and white do-dads and depictions of snow.
• Victoria Harbour smells just like the waterfronts in New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Baltimore, and anyplace else with access to the ocean.
• I know I’m not very sophisticated, but I like my meat butchered, wrapped in plastic, and not in any way, shape, or form resembling the living thing it once was.
• And by the way, the Boeing 787 non-stop flight home was awesome! It was great to touch down in Denver approximately four hours before we left Tokyo.

So anyway, if you have any questions for me, be sure to ask. I’m more than happy to share my expertise. And by the way, sumo wrestling was on TV in the Tokyo airport, so there was more than just chicken nuggets to be had there.

Globe-Trotting Boyfriend Inspires World Travel

I could follow my boyfriend to the ends of the earth.

And that's not just passionate hyperbole.

Clyde is actually going to China, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Qatar in the next few months for his job.

When he called me last week from Beijing, it blew my mind to think we were as far away from each other as it is possible to be while still on this planet. As a genetic Nebraskan, naturally, I wanted to know what the weather was like over in China and what he had been eating. In case you're wondering, the weather was cold, and as for food, I was sorry I asked. Clyde's vivid descriptions of the crunchy insects and wriggling sea creatures for sale on Beijing streets left me a little queasy.

Nausea not withstanding, as Clyde's significant other with available PTO, I am in the enviable position of tagging along occasionally. So next month, I'll be accompanying him to another part of China, Hong Kong.

It's been 10 years since I stepped outside of the United States. Usually, my universe exists between central Denver and suburban Highlands Ranch where I work. I go to California once or twice a year and occasionally venture into the foreign lands of Wyoming and Nebraska.

Clyde says Hong Kong is a good first place to visit in Asia. The city-state welcomes people from the west and signs are often in English so you can get around with less chance of getting lost.

I am excited about my first trip to Asia, but I'm a little nervous too. Clyde assures me there will be plenty to eat that doesn't wiggle on the way down. But what clothes should I wear? I'll probably want to avoid the usual American outfit of short-shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops. What will it cost to use my iPhone? What about jet-lag? What if the Chinese don't like me?

This is an incredible opportunity to see a distant place with someone who's already familiar with it. In return, I have offered to sweep Clyde away for a weekend in Nebraska. Can you believe he's never been there?