Tag Archives: Hong Kong

Temple Street Night Market

The Temple Street Night Market was a real treat. It was also a necessary treat. I got there at dusk. I had to buy another daypack as the one I bought at Wal-Mart for $10 gave up the ghost on me and started coming apart. I got a nice new spiffy one for $20, not the best price in the world. I should have bought the pack back in Siem Reap, Cambodia where they had more really good looking packs than I could shake a stick at and prices that would make a banker slobber. Unfortunately, my daypack decided to start coming apart in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Flower Market

It was the Hong Kong Flower Market. It was quite large. There were lots of people shopping for flowers. Too bad I had no place to put them. I also got to see the Hong Kong Bird Market which was located adjacent to the flower market. There were lots of nice flowers and birds. Another interesting thing about the markets was that when I left, I took the bus in the wrong direction and got to see miles and miles of Hong Kong that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. When I figured it out, I got off the bus in a neighborhood where no one spoke English. That was fun.

Hong Kong Museum of Art

I went to see the Hong Kong Museum of Art. I’m a culture buff. Sort of. You wouldn’t want to have me teach an art course anywhere and I cant tell a Ming Vase from a Song Vase, but I do tend to go to the museums. In Hong Kong they have a great museum deal. Pay $4 and get an entrance to seven of their best museums for a week. How’s that for a deal? Plus, all the museums have such clean toilets.

Hong Kong Walk of Stars

It was the Hong Kong Walk of Stars. This is a picture of Bruce Lee. He, I recognized. I also saw a nice presentation of Jackie Chan. There were, however, dozens of stars that had stars on the walk much like the stars that are found on Hollywood Boulevard in the U.S. Trouble was that most of the stars in SE Asia are just that – stars in SE Asia and I’d never heard of them. The Walk of Stars is, however, located in a really great place with really great views and all the local people seemed to know who all the stars were.

Hong Kong History Kids

I went to the Hong Kong History Museum and was impressed. Not with the kids, who numbered several hundred, or so it seemed, but with the museum. Okay, the kids were cool, too. The museum gave me what I wanted, to understand the history of Hong Kong. It did that rather well. Maybe too well. You see, the history of Hong Kong started with the colonial period in British history and, in particular, the Opium Wars that Britain had with China. The Opium Wars didn’t appear to be a very complementary episode in British diplomacy and the whole presentation of the museum caused me to question the concept of colonialism in general. Who gave all those countries the right to jump off a boat onto someone else’s shores, plant a flag and lay a claim of sovereignty, anyway?

Hong Kong From Kowloon – Night

This is a night view of Hong Kong Island from Kowloon at night. It’s not an especially good picture because it was a somewhat cloudy night and my camera is nothing to brag about. I’ve seen good cameras that take great pictures and, unfortunately, mine’s not one of them. Then again, I don’t lug around seven cases filled with four hundred pounds of photographic equipment. That being said, this is truly one of the great views of the world.

Hong Kong Map

So what’s the point of the above map? Well, today is the first day that I have ever made one of my own maps on Google. I did it to try and get some orientation of the city of Hong Kong. I placed markers on the map for the following tourist attractions: Chi Lin Nunnery, Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Lan Kwai Fong, Ocean Park, Star Ferry, Ten Thousand Buddha Monestarty, Tian Tan Buddha, Victoria peak, Stanley Market Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong Museum of History, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong Science Museum, Temple Street Night Market, Chungking Mansion and the Clock Tower. What I will now do is find a good place to stay near the center of the attractions and plot my entries and exists on the subway system so that I won’t spend all day trying to figure out what I’m doing when I actually get to the city. Plus, with a map, I can group attractions as well as have a better orientation for the city. I’ve started making maps of several cities. This one is of Hong Kong.

Laos_Visa

Laos Visa – the picture (courtesy of Wikipedia) is of a Laos entry and exit stamp on someone’s passport that was obtained when they were entering and exiting the country. Countries area little weird about someone coming in or leaving. They want to know where everyone is and what is the purpose of their visit. For me it’s pretty simple – tourism. Generally, that’s not a problem. However, there may also be costs associated with getting into and out of the country. Further, I may need to get a visa before I get to the country. For instance, I will fly into Hanoi, Vietnam and I have found out that it may be a lot easier to get a visa to enter the country prior to arriving at an immigration facility that when I actually get there. Other countries may be different. For example, I can just show up at the airport at Hong Kong, China and they will welcome me with open arms. I can’t actually get into mainland China without a visa, but I can wander around Hong Kong all I want without one. Getting visas for countries isn’t terribly complicated, but it requires a little forethought. It’s part of my Trip Planning I do while I’m at home or out on the road in my big truck.

Rolling Okie

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