Thursday, November 14, 2013

Hong Kong, China and Singapore. October 16 – November 4, 2013.

This trip serves multiple purposes: We plan to visit HC’s staff in a city north of Beijing to conduct a series of discussions on how to raise a child (and I don’t plan to say too much about that); we plan to visit Anne’s aunt in Singapore; and I will spend a week with Ruth, who is visiting from Australia, in Hong Kong.

October 17, Thursday.  CS picked us up as a Wheelsfellowship ride.  We brought along quite a few gifts for various people, so we had to check in luggage.  UA117 was packed, so it is good starting next year they will get some competition from Cathay Pacific.  While we didn’t get much sleep, it was by-an-large an okay flight.

October 18, Friday.  We got in on time (around 7 pm) and took our time getting a phone card for Anne, and ate dinner at Jade Restaurant at the airport.  Since the Tai Po House is still occupied by Vicky and thus not available, we were staying at Tim’s apartment in Causeway Bay.  We got to his house at around 10 pm.

October 19, Saturday.  In the morning we met up with Eric Wang, Anne’s cousin (Uncle Kenny’s son) at Bonfire Coffee House.  We had a good chat of about 2 hours.  We had dinner with Alyson at the Chinese Restaurant in Cubus.

October 20, Sunday.  We took a morning flight to Beijing.  The flight was packed and we lost our pre-assigned seats.  The agent (or rather her supervisor) was kind enough to give us two seats in the first coach row, which had considerable leg room.  We were met by Mr. X who then drove us to city Y to spend the night.  City Y is about 2 hours away from City Z where we will conduct our workshop.  However, City Z has security measures that our stay there may cause problems for our hosts, so it would mean long drives for Mr. X the next couple of days.  The highway from Beijing to City Y was clogged with heavily-laden trucks, so it was nerve-wrecking at times.

City Y is by the Great Wall and probably does reasonable tourist business.  However, our hotel, which is quite grand, had only a few guests.  The dining room wasn’t open, so we drove into town for a simple dinner of dumplings – we ate a lot of them, though.

Hotel (2 nights): A Convention Center Hotel in City Y, about an hour from Beijing.

October 21, Monday.  We left at 6:30 am to get to City Z where we conducted workshops from 9 am to about 6 pm.  Lunch was hosted by the local organization.  Dinner was at a “Home Cooked Food” Restaurant next to Mr. X’s apartment, after which we drove back to City Y for the night.  Traffic was okay both ways.

 Hotel courtyard as seen from our room.  There were few tourists this time of the year, we felt we had the entire place to ourselves.

 We led the workshop in this meeting location.

Dinner with a coworker, our hosts (not pictured) and their two children.

October 22, Tuesday.  Our hosts had pity on us, so we got to leave half an hour later today.  The workshop was half-day, and I hosted a lunch for the attendees.  The bill came to around $70 for 16 people, and we had a lot of food.  Mr. L and Mr. X were going to drive us to our hotel in Beijing, the Metropark Lido.  Mr. L is a very deliberate driver, doubly so when it was raining as it did during our trip, so at times we were crawling along at half the speed limit.  The Beijing traffic control was such that no outside cars were allowed on or inside the “Fifth Ring” after 5 pm, so we had to be dropped off at the airport instead.  And then we got lost … All said and done, it was quite a while before Anne and I checked into the Metropark Lido Hotel – after enduring the grumpy attitude of the taxi driver who was complaining the ride was too short for the long wait he endured at the airport.  All this reminded me of why I stopped going to China for a while (contributing reasons, not the major ones.)

Hotel: Metropark Lido, Beijing.  Used to be Holiday Inn Lido.  I still remember having a celebratory steak dinner with my colleague Brian there after a good meeting in Beijing.

October 23, Wednesday.  A travel day.  We first took CA111 from Beijing to Hong Kong.  This flight used a 777, so we had use of a jetway on both ends.  There were only a few passengers in premium economy, but the regular economy section we used was full.  Since Anne and I had the two window/aisle seats, it was an okay flight.  (The 777 had a 2-5-2 configuration.)  We had a few hours in Hong Kong, so we spent a couple of hours in Tsing Yi Island checking out various places, including Rambler Garden Hotel – turns out it wasn’t all that exciting.  We got back to the airport and exchanged our Beijing suitcase with the Singapore one; Perry brought that along.  We got upgraded to business on UA895.  This is an old United plane and has 8 across seating in business, with half the seats facing backwards.  Anne and I were not together, and I had a center seat which really felt cramped.  After dinner I moved back to Economy Plus which was perhaps 10% full and enjoyed the spaciousness and privacy of three seats.

It was after midnight when we got into Changi Airport, and after 1 am when we checked into our hotel.

Hotel (3 nights): Furama Riverfront, Singapore.

October 24, Thursday.  We woke up rather late today.  We first strolled to Chinatown, buying a SIM card along the way, and had KFC and some local wrap for “brunch.”  Anne got in touch with Auntie Bonnie and we took a taxi out to where she lives.  It is a huge house built on a huge plot of land; nowadays it’s only she and a maid that live there.  Her son “Ah Bin” was there to meet us also.  After chatting for a bit and getting a tour of the house she has been in for over 50 years, we went to the Island Country Club for lunch.  The few dishes we ordered were quite interesting.

Anne and I then went to the Garden by the Bay area and visited some of the sights: skywalk, cloud forest, and flower dome.  The first two are quite interesting, the third one just so-so.  They are all artificial, but the designs are all quite interesting.  We also stopped by the hawker’s market on Tiong Bahru Road for dinner.  It was not quite 8 pm when we got there, and more than half of the shops were closed already.  It was a short walk back to the hotel from there.

Auntie Bonnie's Garden at her house.

 The rambutans will be ripe soon.

 Admiring the stained glass panes in her house.

 Auntie Bonnie's house.

With Auntie Bonnie and her son Ah Bin at Island Country Club.

Two dishes at the Club, and they look exactly like ...

... what the menu shows.

Impressive looking Marina Sands Hotel, the structure on the top is the Sky Garden.

Supertree Grove, Gardens by the Bay.  Notice the walkway among the structures.

On the walkway.

Singapore Flyer across the river.  It opened in 2008 and is taller than London Eye which opened in 2000.

Inside Cloud Forest.

Somehow a vast man-made structure in the background is congruent with an equally artificial rain forest.

Flower Dome is basically a huge greenhouse.

The different shapes of the Baobab trees reflect the difficult environments these trees grow in.

October 25, Friday.  We went to the Singapore River to catch a water taxi to cruise down the river.  Calling it a river is doing the word much injustice since the waterway is at best a short canal across part of the island; it does have a source, and evidently played an important role in the country’s history.  Singapore Symphony Orchestra has a concert for the evening, so we stopped by the box office to purchase a couple of tickets.  This was followed by lunch at Marina Square.  We then strolled over to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Convention Center for a short stroll.  These are impressive buildings.  The hotel consists of three towers atop which sit a Sky Garden for those not afraid of heights.  We next wanted to visit the ArtScience Museum.  To the best of our knowledge, it had three special exhibitions: one on the fifty most famous National Geographic Photographs, one on mummies on loan from the British Museum, and one on a couple with last name Eames.  We decided to save the considerable admissions charge ($25 to see two) since (i) we can see the photographs on the web, most probably; the most famous one being the Afghan girl; (ii) we have been to the British Museum multiple times; and (iii) we don’t know whom the Eames are, and nothing in the lobby made us want to see it.  In hindsight, we should have purchased admission for one exhibit so we can check out the inside of this building.  The outside certainly looks very interesting.

Since we were quite sleep-deprived, and have a concert and a short night this evening, we decided to head back to the hotel to catch a bit of sleep.  We went back to Marina Square for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant, and then attended the concert (which I will describe separately.)  The Esplanade Theatres comprise of a concert hall and a theatre in shapes of half ovals.  The “scales” on the surface evoke the scales of a puffer fish, the skin of durian, or small sails a la the Sydney Opera House.  After the concert we stopped by the hawker area next to the concert hall but it was still very congested, so we grab a quick snack at the Toast Box before catching a taxi back to the hotel.  It was about 11:30 pm when we got to bed, and we had to wake up early.

 Tiong Bahru Market is within walking distance to our hotel.  Unfortunately most of the stores were closed when we showed up at around 8 pm.

 Anne joing a discussion among some revered scholars (no idea who they are.)  At least that's what I thought, until a search of the web showed that these are merchants negotiating.  This is Singapore the practical city, after all.

 Watching little kids jump into the Singapore River.

 I don't know if these plants are parsitic or symbiotic.  I don't even know if they are natural or grafted on by humans.  That's also Singapore.

 The Singapore Lion used to be THE attraction in the city.  Now you have to look for it.

 The unusal ArtScience Building.  In the middle is a floating football field (soccer pitch.)

 Esplanade Theatres on the Bay.

 National Geographic is having an exhibition at the ArtScience Building.

 Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.  Passports are required for entrance into the Casino - which offers free soft drinks and coffee - and there are separate lines for locals and foreigners.

We couldn't find seats at the busy night market next to the concert hall.

October 26, Saturday.  Early meant 3:30 am wake-up and 4:30 am taxi for a 6:30 am flight.  We could have gotten up half an hour later since the taxi ride was just about 20 minutes and immigration was straightforward.  Security at the gate was a bit slow but we had use of the express line.  UA896 on a Saturday seems a lot more popular as we didn’t get upgraded, and the economy plus section is quite full (Anne and I do have vacant seats next to us.)

Some observations on Singapore after this trip.  The weather was very cooperative, not that hot, and while it rained on and off on Thursday we managed to stay dry.  The air is much cleaner than Hong Kong and China, although I understand every now and then the air quality is affected by forest fires in neighboring countries.  Traffic jams do exist, although not as bad as Hong Kong or New York.  The pace is generally a bit slower.  The business district skyline is impressive, as are some of the other buildings I described earlier.  However, the city doesn’t seem to have the vibrancy of a Hong Kong or New York.  While the streets are clean (chewing gum is still prohibited), there are a surprising number of people who smoke.  That is surprising for a city well-known for government intervention in people’s ordinary lives.  While one may joke about that, it is also clear that the livelihood of the people has been dramatically improved over the last few decades.  What I can’t say is if that is a good tradeoff.  Our taxi driver last night was the only one who opened up to us.  He did say a lot of that structure is a façade generated by good PR, in reality you can still violate some laws and grease the skids to get things done.  I am not sure I will take his advice.  The other unrelated yet amazing fact is: we didn’t see any houseflies in Singapore, even in the hawker markets.  Gnats seem to be around, though.

We took a taxi to Tai Po, left our luggage there, and headed back to town to meet up with Elaine.  After waiting in vain for a vacant taxi or a minibus with empty seats, we decided to walk to the MTR station, stopping by Fairwood for a quick lunch.

We chatted with Elaine for quite a while at the Hong Kong Club, and then went to Repulse Bay to have a BBQ dinner with Anna and Kenneth.  By the time we got back to Tai Po (via taxi, bus, MTR, and minibus) it was close to 11 pm.  Ruth and Stephen had gotten in earlier that evening.

We will be staying at the Tai Po house while in Hong Kong.

October 27, Sunday.  Yum Cha at MTR Chiu Chow Restaurant.  We again had to walk to the MTR station to catch transportation to the Aberdeen Boat Club, dropping Anne off at the Country Club along the way.  Rode on Tim’s boat to Lamma Island, lunch followed by a 1-hour walk on the island.  We also ran into Anna and Kenneth at the restaurant.  Dinner was take-out food bought at various Tai Po stores.

October 28, Monday.  Stephen, Ruth and I all accompanied Anne to the airport for her 10:25 am flight back to Newark.  Afterwards we hanged out in the area before we got back to Tai Po in the afternoon.  I tried to get some translation work done but discovered the wrong file was sent to me, so the afternoon ended up being unproductive.  Dinner at a Shanghai Restaurant in Tai Po Plaza.

October 29, Tuesday.  I stopped by CGST to pick up Wally’s diploma, then went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Leung in Kowloon Tong.  I lasted visited Mr. Leung right after he had spinal surgery; he is better now, but still feels some numbness and pain – perhaps to be expected for someone who just turned 80, too bad nonetheless.  We then went to Kowloon Plaza for lunch.  During lunch we talked about concerts and stuff, and they showed some interest in go to the one on Ring without Words conducted by Maazel.  Ruth, Stephen and I then went to the Cultural Center to pick up the tickets: full price at HK$480, half price for everyone over 60 (which is 4 out of 5 in our group.)  Prices are certainly good, we’ll see about the performance.

October 30, Wednesday.  We went to Tuen Mun to check out the new mall.  I was told the new travel restrictions in place (no free trips, only limited amount of milk powder can be brought back to China, limited luggage allowed on MTR, perhaps others) have cut down on number of shoppers from mainland China.  The new mall at Tuen Mun simply reinforced that.  I can never understand policy that stifles commerce, but many in Hong Kong clamor for the peace and quiet of not having to fight with mainland shoppers for seats on the train, for instance.  Merchants, on the other hand, are swatting flies (Cantonese term for not having much business.)

I also decided to book a short Singapore trip for the three of us: Thursday through Saturday.  Yes, you read it right: I was in Singapore just last week.

October 31, Thursday.  Ruth and Stephen are flying on the 3:15 pm CX flight, so then left around noon.  I left a little before them to meet up with Howard and Ruby.  The last time I saw them was before I got married (mostly likely around 1974), and they have lived in New Jersey for 15 years!  Howard was my high school and Cornell classmate (there are three of us) and Ruby went to Cornell also – we were in the orchestra together.  They are in Hong Kong visiting Howard’s mother.  Howard is retired now, Ruby is a chaired professor at Princeton.  They actually just got to Hong Kong from Singapore (Ruby is from Singapore originally.)  The dim sum place (Tim Ho Wan) got famous for being awarded a one-star status by Michelin.  Tim tells me they now have many branches and are not that special anymore.  That would explain why we would get seats readily, the price was right though (we had a lot for about US$35, Howard paid.)

I got back to Tai Po, and decided to go on the elliptical for 30 minutes.  By the time I showered I realized it was going to be a bit tight for my 9:35 pm UA flight to Singapore.  So I called Mr. Tsang who arranged for a taxi in about 15 minutes.  The way to the airport was straightforward.  I again got upgraded, and this time stayed in the business class seat even though it was again in the middle.  By the time I checked into the hotel, it was around 2 am.

Hotel (2 nights): Park Regis, Singapore.

November 1, Friday.  Woke up at 9:30 am or so.  Met up with Stephen and Ruth and went to Chinatown.  I didn’t want to seat anything from the hawkers, so it was McDonalds again.  I played tour guide for the day and we visited the casino, went to the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, walked around the supertree grove, and visited Cloud Forest and Flower Dome.  We planned to have a sandwich at the Ku De Ta lounge on the roof of the Sands Hotel – you are let in for free instead of the $20 admission – but decided not to stay because of the loud music.  Did catch a glimpse of Singapore from the high vantage point, though.  Foreigners have to show their passports to get into the casino, and to our surprise there is a smoking floor.  They offer water, soft drinks, and coffee for free to everyone.  We also decided to try the Sentosa trip but gave up when we found out the cable car costs $28 roundtrip.  We had dinner at Xi Men Ding in VivoCity before we headed back to the hotel.  I went to the waterfront for a short walk, and was surprised at the crowds.

 Views from Sky Garden.



November 2, Saturday.  Had to wake up at 3:15 am again to catch the 5:45 am UA flight back to Hong Kong.  The same flight yesterday was delayed by more than 9 hours because of crew availability.  Ours had a small maintenance problem and was about 45 minutes late.  Which will still get us into Hong Kong before 10 am.  I stayed at the airport for a while to talk to Anne on the phone.  My decision to take public transportation back to Tai Po was a bad one, as I managed to miss all three train connections by 9, 6 and 6 minutes – totaling over 21 minutes.  The journey took about 1:45 hours.  I managed to sleep a little bit in the afternoon before Ruth and Stephen come back.  We met up with the Leungs at 5:30 pm at the Kowloon Tong Club to have a quick “western café” type dinner.

All five of us attended a Hong Kong Philharmonic concert, conducted by Lorin Maazel.

November 3, Sunday.  Stephen decided to rest up from his trip to Singapore, so only Ruth and I went to meet Tim and Alyson on Tim’s boat.  We stopped over to have Café de Coral breakfast at Admiralty.  Despite the typhoon signal of 1, Tim decided to take the boat to Po Toi Island.  We walked for about 40 minutes on moderately difficult terrain, and spent some time taking pictures.  After the hike, we rewarded ourselves with afternoon tea at the Parkview Club.  By that time we were quite famished: it was close to 3:30 pm before we got our food served.  This wasn’t your regular high tea where scones, finger sandwiches and pastries were served; instead we got some savories, some sweets, and some crackers with spreads served.  It was good, and inexpensive for tea.  The bill came to about HK$500.

 It was a windy day on Po Toi Island.  With Alyson and Ruth.

An interesting rock formation on Po Toi.  With Ruth.

My son asked me to check out if there were Chinese speaking toys for Emmie, so I first went to Sogo and then Toys R Us in Tsim Sha Tsui to see if I could find any.  I had looked for them unsuccessfully at Shatin Toys R Us earlier in the week.  No luck either this time.  Actually the Toys R Us person said they didn’t carry Chinese-speaking toys with an attitude bothering on pride.  For some reason that bothered me.

Dinner with Ruth, Tim and Alyson at Kaya Korean on Russell Street in Causeway Bay.  The food was okay, the servings were small.  I was shocked that the bill came to HK$1700.  For four BBQ meat dishes and a noodle soup, basically.  Something that would cost less than half in a decent Korean Restaurant in New Jersey.  And the service wasn’t that good.  We brought some takeout from Tai Hing back for Stephen.  It was after 9 pm when he had dinner.

November 4, Monday.  Mr. Tsang came by at 8:30 am to pick up.  I also wonder at his ability to dispatch taxis, drive, and carry on a conversation with me at the same time.  There was a few traffic jams enroute, so the trip took close to an hour.  There are a few scattered empty seats on UA896 for Chicago, but I am not next to one of them.  We are about 12 hours into the 14-hour flight as I type this, and I have managed to doze off a few minutes here and there.

There is a new procedure (new as far as I am concerned) where passport control is now done by machines.  Most of the machines were showing green lights by only about half of them were used (there were about 3 people pointing people to the 10 or so available ones.)  That was bad enough; worse was that the passenger had to then take the confirmation from the machine to an immigration officer, which means another line.  I imagine they are not doing that on purpose, but the wisdom of which is really puzzling.  Good thing is I got to the line relatively early, and then opened up several more human desks soon after I got through the machine; so the whole process took about 20 minutes.  The flight from Chicago to Newark was also packed, and the “lap” sitting behind me kept kicking the seat back.  Anne picked me up at the airport.

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