Hong Kong: To Like or Not to Like? (Part 2)

Now safely on the other side of the harbor, we had arrived in what is known as "Central". Our collegues had raved about this place, so we were full of expectation. We set as our destination the "zoological gardens". To get to most places in "Central", a cool escalator system is set up. Since the entire area is built on the side of a mountain, the idea is to just let the escalators take you up, and you have to switch escalators after every street/block. This is a very cool idea, except when one section of the escalator is broken. Stairs are much less fun. Finally, we resorted to taking a taxi up to the top of the mountain (where the zoological gardens most inconveniently happened to be located). We soon found here that the emphasis was on "gardens", and that you had to be a mountain goat to explore them. There were a few bird cages and some lemurs, but the steep inclines took away our enthusiasm to look for anything else. Satisfied that we had a least given "Central" a try, we decided our excursion was over, took a harrowing taxi ride down the mountain, and re-crossed the harbour on the 'magical' ferry.

To be fair to Hong Kong, it does have some great restaurants. You can find any type of ethnic cuisine there, as well as American comfort food chain restaurants (T.G.I.Fridays, Outback steakhouse, etc.). We expats from the mainland love to indulge in these Western delights. Hong Kong is also a great place to get "souveniry" -type things. Ladies Street and Temple Street are both great for this. However, be warned: don't even casually ask the price of something unless you love it and are ready to bargain to the death for it. The vendors in the stalls know some english, and they aren't afraid to use it! They won't want to let you go until they've made the sale. Sometimes even after you've left their "shop", they will follow you with calculator, shouting "how much? How much?" (do you want to pay). This is especially hard to deal with if you've decided you don't really want the item at all. I discovered one way to get out of the situation is to quote a price so low that they are disgusted with me and stop trying to bargain. I've even been thrown out of a shop before for that! However, offending people is probably not the best way to go, in general. It's better to see bargaining as a game . . . I think they do!

Isaac at the Charlie Brown Restaurant

So that was our Hong Kong trip. And as we made our weary way back across the border, I was very glad to be back in China . . . where everything makes sense! (?)