Bangkok to Hongkong: just enough time to get a lunch. The approach was splendid: sightseeing from 500 m above ground. The sea covered with busy sailing boats and ships, green steep hills and high-rise buildings all seem rocketing into the sky. The new airport was built on reclaimed land far away from the city-center. Fortunately sister Loo collected me from the airport and brought me "safely" to her chic apartment near Aberdeen. She works as teacher at the Singapore International School.

The bicycle would rest for the next 2 weeks packed under my bed in the guestroom. Public transport is excellent and I don’t feel like riding my bike in this humid climate.

Besides exploring this city, there was plenty of homework to do: preparing the China side-trip, read about Taiwan and Japan and update my homepage.

I’m not in shopping mood – I already had to pay for excess luggage on the way to Hongkong… so no more souvenirs. Well, it depends what you want do buy, but it's not cheap in this city and shopkeepers are unfriendly.

Hongkong still has countryside and green islands, no trees anymore, just grass and scrub. If you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars for a hotel bed, there are a couple of youth hostels. During one weekend trip, we walked up the highest mountain "Tai Mo Shan" (957m) and stayed in one of them. The tall buildings disappeared in the haze and you didn’t feel that you were in Hongkong. Of course there is a big communication tower on top, but it is very different to "Victoria Peak" with the city-sky-line view. The visitor center is informative and old photos show that there were paddy fields and plantations all over the valleys. Now most of these products are imported from abroad and the mainland. On the road up the summit we encountered cows and apes… the latter were sitting in sport cars with running motor and air-con. The nature could be harmed…

The next morning Ching Yee walked steadily and fast because she knew that there was a "dim sum" place at the village below. It was Sunday and hundreds of Hongkongers were staggering up the track. Well equipped with latest hiking boots, walky-talkies and umbrellas to shelter against the sun. We were happy that we could "shift" the place.

We visited several temples and enjoyed the nice surrounding . We watched the chanting monks and the people going in and out. Chinese people believe they can influence their "joss" (luck) with worshipping and burned incenses sticks. Imagine the smoke created by all this "wanna be lucky" businessmen. Today there is enough money to buy arm-thick sticks and burn bundles of smaller ones. Well farang tourists were seen burning bundles of them too. Do they really know what they are doing???

A ride on the "Star-ferry" between Hongkong Island and Koowloon gives the feeling of busy waterways. A boat ride from Mai Liu Shui to Tai Tan let you escape this metropolis. We came across empty beaches and abandoned houses. The "New Territories" have still a lot of space, but how long? We were waiting for almost 2 hours for the ferry. When it came, they denied the place we wanted to go. The ferry left without us. Still doubtful about the words of captain, we phoned the office again. Yes it would go to our destination and learning that it was the last ferry, we requested the ferry to turn back for us. (Not confident if they would accede to our demand, was just trying our luck) And just what? They actually ordered the boat to head back to us – we couldn’t believe it!. Misunderstanding from the deckhand…

Luckily we would soon get our seafood in Sai Kung. Our experience: certainly it was fresh, but as "gwailo" (ghost person = white man) we paid more than in Paris. A local confirmed the problem; they would get the better food for 6 person.

Well for the "Beijing Duck" we went to decent place with fixed menu prices. We paid even more, but at least we knew it before and it was mmhh...

What else did I eat: jellyfish, frog and more…

It happened that a friend of my family works as volunteer in a drug project on Hongkong Island. On a sunny Saturday afternoon I visited the place with Ching Yee. Daniel welcomed us to an old battered mansion, situated at top of a hill overlooking the Tim Tam harbor. If it hasn’t been the drug rehabilitation center with a dozen teenagers, it could be a youth hostel. The group guides the heroin addicts through the "cold turkey" treatment. The method is praying and engaging them in meaningful activities which help to build their self-esteem. The aim is to get them off the drugs with any substitutes, closely supervised in a "second stage" house.

"Jesus loves you" is the main message and it seems to work. We are spontaneous invited to the barbecue, offered from visiting church members. It’s a very different insight to the normal Hongkong life.

Memories from an old movie made "Macao" an exotic place to me. After visiting the three islands I was happy to return with the jet-propelled catamaran back to Hongkong. Besides some interesting museums, (written as Portugal is the center of the world), there was nothing more. Ok I’m not gambling and I don’t pay for women, so I was in the wrong place. Macau is following Hongkong’s way of reclaiming land, building high-rise estates and so on. If China would remove the "Dr…" street signs and the Portuguese macho-statues, there will only be the few colonial buildings, which remind of the past. Not only an honorable Portuguese name had to be on the street sign, now the full title was important.

End-Last edited 12.5.00 eb