This morning I went out to the airport to see what I could see. I didn't make poor Meredith go with me since I there wasn't much she could do about the whole thing. After wandering neighborhood for about 40 minutes I finally made it the 5 block distance to the subway station. As it turns out, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention at 1am when Mere led me back from the airport. But all is well that ends well and I made it out to the airport with no major mishaps.
After wandering bleak back corridors of the airport, I gained nothing really. I filed official reports, talked to the airline, had a Starbucks coffee, and got back on the train to Meredith's neighborhood knowing no more about my wallet than I did when I left the neighborhood.
Just let me just say that Meredith's neighborhood definitely has a local feel to it...and I mean LOCAL. I like it but it has a definite gritty feel to it. I think the street my hotel is on must be the "metal working" street. There are a couple tiny little autobody shops, a metal fabrication sort of shop, and a couple metal scrape shops. These places are tiny--they would be about the size of small newstand at home.
When I got back to the hotel, Mere came over and I used her phone to call the bank to try and get a new ATM and credit card sent to me but of course that is not as easy as they make it sound on the tv commercials. Next I called poor Ian, crying and hyperventilating, and God-bless-him, the first words out of his mouth were "why don't I just send some cash and a credit card with one of your classmates who are leaving on Saturday?"
Why hadn't I thought of that?
Because I am a poor, tired, frantic dumbass with only 5.5 hours of sleep in 48 hours who isn't thinking all that clearly. That's why.
So once Ian solved all my problems, I was able to have a nice lunch with Meredith and a pleasant afternoon of wandering around.
Meredith had told me at lunch about the pet-fish market which I decided to check out this afternoon and it was a delight. There is a 2-block stretch where all the shops sell tropical fish in little bags, ready for you to take home and they are beautiful. I like the blue ones the best but there was one place that had the cutest little pink fish. Some of the places also sold tiny turtles.
Later, I took the ferry across the harbor into HK proper and it was an excellent value for 2.3 HK$ which would be something like $0.45 US$ (I think---you all know how bad I am with math-- but the bottom line is that it was cheap). The weird thing is that the difference between Hong Kong and Kowloon is night and day. Kowloon, which is Mere's side of the harbor is a strange and exotic place where I encountered maybe 6 caucasians in the entire day--and HK could be any major 1st world urban center on the planet.
While I was far more comfortable and at home in HK, I think I like Kowloon better.
It is amazing to me how quickly one becomes accustomed to one's environment--regardless how foreign it may be. I noticed this in NYC last week and here today but when I got off the subway at the Olympic Center station which is the one closest to my hotel, I really felt like I was home!
Complete change of subject...I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" on the plane yesterday and I would definitely recommend it. It was wonderful--definitely worthy of all the praise it has received. And Mary Jo, it has an ending you would be pleased with!
5 comments:
Are the turtles intended as pets or a snack? I'm never sure with Asian culinary preferences...as though I have a clue about such things.
It's good that Ian was able to provide you with a virtual paper bag to help you with the hyperventilation and an expedient solution to your credit card problem.
It sounds as though What's-Her-Name has done yoeman's work (Yo, woman's work!) getting you acclimated to Hong Kong. Are able to communicate with her, or has she gone totally native and speaks only Mandarin or Cantonese?
My, my, my... Someday, when we can all laugh about this (and I am close!), I will be curious to learn how in the hell you allowed your wallet to part company with your flesh? You would seriously have to dismember me to get my little travel wallet off my person... But that is a conversation for another day!
I too liked Hong Kong - and found Mere's little neighborhood quite comfortable and industrious, in time. If she has not already done this, Mere can show you some delightful eateries. And the Olympic Station Mall is actually very large and a nice place to browse, grab McDonalds and/or Starbucks, hit the drug store, etc. I also enjoyed the parks where there was always a lot of neighborhood activity (soccer, basketball, tai chi, walkers, joggers, etc.)
I was happy to hear that Ian talked you off the ledge, we have all seen you on that ledge and it can be scary. I hope you didn't buy a pet fish or turtle to take home with you. The Noah Clan would be fascinated, after all Caleb's favorite pet at Pet Expo was the corn snake, but I think you might have problems with customs.
It does sound like Meredith has done an excellent job of taking care of you in your hours of stress.
I do know what you mean about very quickly becoming part of a new neighborhood and feeling it is home. We experienced that in Rome and various parts of Europe and last year in New York even the younger members of the Noah Clan recognized our neighborhood and nearby restaurants and subway entrances as "ours".
Hopefully your identification will all show up quickly and safely and that Ian's plan will carry through until then.
Love you!
Ian is kind of a sap.
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