Pub Lunch in Farringdon

The Passengers took H's parents for an enjoyable outing in London last week. We wandered the streets around Farringdon Station and Smithfield Market. I'll provide more photos later of the area's architectural delights. The highlight of the day was lunch at the Fox & Anchor, an impeccably equipped gastropub off Charterhouse Square run by the boutique hoteliers responsible for the nearby Malmaison Hotel. The snug dining nooks inside the pub have been clad in dark wood and warm lights glint off the pewter beer tankards. Add oysters, homemade pork pies, and a syllabub dessert and you have a classic of British hospitality and cuisine. Also I love the historic art deco building.

The Fox & Anchor is also an inn with six rooms available.

Drinkers have long benches and all the day's papers at the bar.

Diners sit in the back rooms and contemplate the pie of the day.

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.

Movers

Movers have descended on the Passengers tiny New-York abode! We have spent the morning watching our whole life get efficiently, yet conscientiously, packed into a truck by two representatives of an international relocation firm. Passenger H's new job has guaranteed us a 20-ft. shipping container. Given that our little flat measures about 400 sq. ft., I think we will be lucky to fill one corner of such a massive unit. We should see our worldly goods again in about six to eight weeks.

Tip: always get your job to organize your move. They provide the help and the boxes.

Student Discounts

National Rail enlisted glam rocker (and later sex offender) Gary Glitter to promote their Young Persons Railcard. Turns out hindsight has a sense of humor (thank you, bitterwallet).

My upbringing by a coupon-clipping mother has taught me to feel proud of searching out good bargains. I admit I enjoy the thrill of possibility whilst elbows deep in the disorganized bins at down-market clearance stores. At other times I am simply the guy with tips on where to reliably find a good men's shoe sale. My favorite cost-cutting mechanism: the student discount. It's like a coupon that can't expire until graduation.

Last weekend I exercised Club Monaco's newly offered discount on purchases for myself and Passenger H. It's a great offer since I think the shop asks about 20% too much their merchandise anyhow. J. Crew also lends a hand to students, but they fluctuate their rates and terms regularly. My university also let's me buy cheap movie vouchers and Broadway tickets through their box office. Plus, loads of New York museums that give free or reduced admissions.

Of course, European countries are even more generous to students, especially when it comes to the expenses of daily life. Britain gives students 1/3 off rail fares. Amtrak only does 15%. Apparel retailers in Britain who cut students a ten-percent break include Topshop and Uniqlo. But what really underscores the difference for my European colleagues is the astounding situation whereby stipends given to students in America that exceed tuition and fees are taxed as income. Heaven knows what the IRS thinks we do for food. Until then, we will take solace in all the corporate welfare we can find.

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.

The Latest in Flight

Singapore Airlines has made available loads of photos to trumpet their deployment of the A380.

My flight today from Singapore to London took place on one of the new Airbus A380 superplanes. I wasn’t fortunate enough to sit on the upper deck, where business and first class resides, along with a few rows of economy. My deck did feature the personal suites, but I had to make due with the lower tier’s sixty-some rows of economy arranged 3-4-3 across. Fortunately, the sheer size of the aircraft lets everyone stretch out, even with ten seats across the body of the jet. Even better, a new jet means all the fixtures are clean and shiny: fresh upholstery, the latest seat-back televisions, and grime-free paneling.

My seat overlooked the starboard wing. When the plane rests on the tarmac the stupendously long appendages bend down so dramatically under their own weight that the foil fins atop the wingtips almost disappear under a titanium horizon. Once in flight, the wings’ aerodynamics create the forces and the lift needed to produce an unbroken, rigid sight-line. It’s fabulous engineering, but a slightly unnerving spectacle.

Home counties for the rest of the week. Back to New York on Friday with H.