Hong Kong: There Be Dragons

And now for some regional humor. Time Out Hong Kong recently created an insightful map of the Special Administrative Region (SAR). This should explain a little of what-happens-where in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Click to enlarge the image above.

The island at left, home of "Buddha, Buffalo and Boars" is Lantau, where a giant Buddha sculpture looks out from a hilltop. The Passengers visited in 2009. The island just above is the international airport. You get to the monastery and sculpture via a cable car that departs from the remote suburb of Tung Chung Town, the area of Lantau for "People Who Have Given up on Life."

Up north the Angry Villagers live next to the mainland boomtown of Shenzen. They are even further north than where more centrally located  Hong Kongers go to the racecourse – there be "Horses." For comparison, here's a map that's a little less atmospheric and names some actual districts. This comes from the local census department, where you can look up all sorts of other data and actual facts.

City Hotels - Tokyo & Hong Kong

Our room in Tokyo at Sakura Ryokan.

I have been writing furiously (on academic subjects) for the past couple of weeks so I have not had a chance to post here for awhile.  I owe pictures from Japan, but the Passengers just spent a fabulous weekend in Hong Kong, and I am still jazzed about that. Allow me to somehow combine the two.

Above is a picture of room in Tokyo at the Sakura ryokan.  We had a lovely stay in this traditional Japanese B&B.  The futons are pretty good for sleeping and we stayed in the old-style Asakusa neighborhood.  Our room did not have an en-suite bathroom and breakfasts were served downstairs at communal tables.  It definitely took me back to days of student hostels, but in a good way.

Our bedroom at JIA in Hong Kong.

 Last weekend the Passengers decided to go to Hong Kong in celebration of wedding anniversary number two. Since it was a commemorative event we decided to splurge for a couple of nights at JIA (sound alert). It's a boutique affair, opened by a Singaporean I think, designed by the ever chic Philippe Starck.  There is, of course, lots of white-on-white decor, and the only untinted mirror stands above the bathroom sink. But one doesn't spend a weekend in a design hotel in Hong Kong for practical living.  Quite the opposite, really.

Main room of our suite at JIA.

 The staff were very kind to upgrade us to a suite so we had plenty of space to spread ourselves.  I didn't include pictures of the kitchen or bathroom, but all the facilities are excellent.  The hotel even gave us a discount card to use at some of the shops near the hotel in the Causeway Bay neighborhood.  They also booked us into one of Hong Kong's private members clubs Halo on Friday night.  We were exceptionally well treated.  I have heard of people being placed at JIA for a number of weeks while working on business assignments.  Can someone get me one of those deals?

Dining table in the main room of our JIA suite.

Reading nook behind the television and stereo.  Love the gnome seats.

More on Japan soon, I hope.

Excellent mascots

The Passengers are enjoying a weekend in fabulous Hong Kong. Last night we propped up the bar at a basement members club. Here is an extract from the best conversation of the night:

Passenger H & Passenger J are introduced to another patron of the establishment.
Pleasant Stranger (to Passenger J): So what do you do?
Passenger J: I'm an Art Historian.
Pleasant Stranger: That's great! I went to Art School!
Passenger J (interested): Oh really! Where?
Pleasant Stranger: Rhode Island School of Design.
Passenger H (excitedly, over J's shoulder): Go Nads!

For those of you who are not well versed in the mascots of university ice hockey teams, the RISD team is called the Nads.  Passenger H has been waiting for the opportunity to work that one into  a conversation for a very long time and was ready when the moment came.

Lantau Buddha, Hong Kong

All is still crazy in Passenger Land. We landed yesterday at Heathrow for about 10 days of R&R at H's family home. While she sleeps off the flight and the stress of closing down our New York apartment, I will provide more belated images from Hong Kong.

The Passengers ventured off Hong Kong Island on a journey to the Po Lin monastery on Lantau, one of the many islands in the Pearl River Delta within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Despite the July heat and soaring hills, the journey was not difficult thanks to a load of technological wizardy. The Tung Chung terminus of the rapid, efficient MTR brings visitors to the brand-new Ngong Ping cable car.

The gondolas wind up and over a sweeping landscape of rugged, iconic hills rising out of the South China Sea. I would love to come back with hiking boots and a picnic for another trip. The ride brings thousands of tourists and locals up to a recreated Chinese village, built by the cable car company and filled with mulitmedia exhibits, souvenir stands, and a Starbucks. The Po Lin monastery nearby hosts the real attraction: a 112-foot bronze sculpture of the Buddha seated on a lotus throne. This is not an historical attraction. The statue was finished in 1993, and the two locations enjoy a mutualistic, capitalist relationship. The monastery welcomes devotees and lures pilgrims with its gigantic statue, while the Ngong Ping provides spectacular transportation and attends to visitors' more base desires with tchotchkes and gelato in the village. Win-win.

Weekenders use parasols to ward off the sun as they walk from the village to the monastery.

Warning: crowds and stairs ahead. The flag of Hong Kong SAR appears at left.

A statue of a devotee making an offering.

The walkways around the Buddha statue provide stunning views of the South China Sea. High-speed ferries can be seen streaking west to Macau. The former Portugese trading post is now a gambling/party mecca.

Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong

The 160-year old temple has resisted the general compulsion of Hong Kong to build skyward.

One of our stops during the long weekend in Hong Kong was the Man Mo temple on Hollywood road. The building was erected in 1847 and stands as a lonely holdout within the city’s vertical density. The temple honors the gods “Man,” and “Mo,” two deified kings. The amalgamated name exemplifies the playful and dualistic devices that punctuate Chinese names and superstitions. Literally these two words mean “civil” and “martial,” respectively.

Offerings of incense contribute to interior's air of ceremony.

Most of the sacred space has been decorated in red, an auspicious color in Chinese beliefs.

One of a pair of animal sculptures flanking the incense burner before the gods' images.

Back online: Hong Kong

Night view of the Kowloon skyline from across the harbour.

I know the blog has been running far behind the curve. I have vowed to supply more pictures and to try to break up the backlog. The big distraction in Singapore lately has been Passenger H’s opportunity to stay on after the completion of her short-term assignment. That has meant the end of our plush, serviced accommodations, but we now have a two-bedroom flat near Novena to call our own. Over the next few weeks we will pass through New York and the London area to tie up loose ends in those places.

As an attempt to make amends for going off the radar, here are some introductory images from the Passengers’ sortie to Hong Kong a full month ago.

A buddhist statue impassively watches over the bustle around Hollywood Road.

Antiques vendors hawk their wares on Cat Street.

A look downhill along Mee Lun St. shows the dynamic verticals of the city.

Even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have to build upwards in the density of Hong Kong.