Day 41 – October 28 – Hong Kong

Honestly, I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. It was so comfortable, the first nice bed I’ve slept in since South Korea. I was able to get my butt out of bed, however, and I got ready for my hike. Palin gave me a couple of ideas for trails that are located around the island, easily accessible via the subway system. I put on my smelly boots, grabbed my camera case, and left for the subway. This is a great subway. I bought an Octopus Card, which is like a debit card for all of Hong Kong. Its primary use was for discounted rides on the subway system, but acceptance of the card has spread to vending machines and some stores. No vending machines take coins anymore, instead, one puts the Octopus Card near the sensor (it can even be in a wallet or bag) and then selects the beverage of choice. Nice! I like this system.

I took the subway out to the end of the island, disembarked, and started my climb. To get to the trailhead, one must venture through a housing estate and then climb up through a cemetery. The cemeteries of Hong Kong are primarily located on hills since no large structures can be built into the sides of these steep mountains. As I walked up, I thought a lot about my mom. Why, you might ask? Because my mom loves cemeteries. I remember when we lived in Greenwich, Connecticut for a summer and my mom loved to drive by the old cemeteries around the town. LA is so young, we don’t see the old, crumbling or ornate graves that are present on the East Coast. This cemetery was very interesting since there were pictures of most of the dead on the actual tombstones. I think that is a little weird, but that’s how it is here. I was fortunate to see a funeral procession while I was up on that hillside. The participants were dressed in long white robes, some with pointed white hats which resembled Ku Klux Klan outfits, but these obviously have a different meaning. I watched as men carried the casket up the steep staircase and put it into a waiting grave. The procession was warmer and less of a somber affair compared to what we have in the US. It was very moving to watch.

I continued along the path and found, what I thought to be, the head of the Dragon’s Back trail. I eventually discovered that I was mistaken and this was the Dragon’s Leap trail. The views from up here were incredible. Although I could not see the central business district of Hong Kong and its incredible steel towers, I could see across to the Kowloon side and some fantastic views of the harbor and coastline. I thought it was fantastic. At the end of the trail was a small path that led to a lighthouse. I followed it and noticed a worn trail to the left of the end of the path. I decided to see what was down there. A rope was tied to a tree at the top of the trail and was helpful in climbing down the steep hillside. At the bottom I found a rocky outcrop where an older man was casting out a line, although I did not notice any fish in his bucket. This was great, the waves were crashing against the rocks, the cliffs rose vertically from the water, and a small fishing boat was anchored just off my location. I sat there on the rocks, enjoying the view and the strong morning sun. I lay there for about an hour, listening to the sound of the waves hitting the rocks, before packing up and scrambling up the hillside to the path. From there, I returned to the subway and back to the hotel. I needed to get ready for dinner with Palin!

I met Palin at Central station on the Hong Kong side. She looked beautiful! I hadn’t seen her since I visited her at Oxford in 2007, just before she graduated with her Masters (yeah, she is way smart). She came to visit me in Paris in 2006 around Christmas time, which had been a lot of fun, too. Palin was one of my three housemates senior year at Brown and we had met as Freshmen living on the same hallway. She was always a sweetheart and very seldom have I ever seen her without a big, bright smile. So seeing such a good friend with such a fantastic attitude after traveling solo for the past few weeks was fantastic. She took me to dim-sum. She ordered in Cantonese for me and we sat there and reminisced about old times and talked about life at the moment. She had worked at Citi in Hong Kong and then left to work at an NGO which focuses on anti-drug use in youths. She is dating a guy named Todd who happens to be from Los Angeles and works in real estate (yeah, I’ve rubbed off on her). After dim sum we got ice cream (yum) and went to one of her favorite bars. It was great, situated outside in a small alleyway with all manner of different chairs which appeared to be salvaged from the dump. It was a chill place that reminded me of our days in Providence at Captain Seaweed’s. We had a couple of beers before Todd arrived. He is a great guy, which is good, because Palin deserves a great guy. We tipped a couple back at this bar before heading to another which was on Hollywood Street. Yes, Hollywood Street. After a couple more, it was late and we split up, me heading back to Kowloon and them staying on the Hong Kong side. It was a great night.