She sends us upstairs where I finally get a Year of the Tiger stamp!
We have very little time before we need to leave for our return ferry and we still have Macao money to spend. I'd planned on getting some wine with lunch but the Brazilian place didn't have any red. So, we look for a bottle to take home. Wine is very expensive in Singapore. It's about as costly in Hong Kong where it's saddled with a 70% tax. In Macau the tax on wine is only 20% and there is no tax on Portuguese wine. We find a grocery store where we purchase a promising Portuguese red.
Need to rush for the ferry now. We catch a cab (fairly reasonable here - ignore the touts!) and get caught in a rush hour traffic jam! We get through it eventually and make it to the ferry OK.
After landing at Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island, we poke around that neighborhood a bit before collapsing back at Peggy's apartment. Another wonderful day!
Wednesday, we have an errand to run in the morning. Sybil had forgotten to pack some of my clothes when we left the Marco Polo. I'm not too concerned as I usually purposely leave clothes behind in hotel rooms, but she wants to retrieve one of my few good shirts. The hotel staff was able to dig up the clothes, even retaining the Singapore coins I had in my pockets. All in all, it's a pretty good hotel and I can recommend them if you don't mind spending some money or get a good deal on a room like we did (tel: 852 2113-0888, fax: 852 2113-0022).
We have plans to meet Ming for lunch, so we spend a few hours in the Hong Kong Art Museum (free admission on Wednesdays). They have some great historical pictures and a nice collection of calligraphy, as well as traditional and modern scroll paintings. It's not a huge museum but it's well laid out and right on the harbor with great views out the windows.
Back at Tai Koo, we meet Ming for lunch at the Cityplaza Mall. Ming tries to steer us to two of the nicer restaurants, but since they are both jam packed for lunch we wind up eating at the equally crowded but faster moving food court there, grabbing some Vietnamese food. Ming is an extremely amiable guy. Sybil talks to him about genealogy and he talks about possibly emigrating to Australia with his sister Peggy and his girl friend.
After lunch I had plans to do some more hiking, perhaps on the Wilson Trail. Unfortunately, my poor Sybil is not feeling well, so we go back to Peggy's apartment to rest. Our return trip is easy as the Airbus leaves from Cityplaza every 15 minutes. Sybil stocks up on chewing gum at the airport to smuggle back into Singapore. A great trip!
One funny thing about our Hong Kong friends (Peggy, Alfee, Michelle, and Ming) is that they sometimes refer to themselves as 'honkies', meaning that they are from Hong Kong. We've already warned Peggy that this word has a very different meaning in the States. I find it very humorous to imagine Peggy describing herself as a 'honkie' to someone in America.
Reasons why one might prefer to live in Hong Kong rather than Singapore:
Movies aren't censored.
Bigger city with much more to do.
Hills! The landscape of Hong Kong is far prettier.
Expats are friendlier.
Wages are better.
Western food is cheaper.
Great hiking trails nearby.
It actually cools off once in awhile.
Libraries are better.
City invests more money in infrastructure.
Less constrained society.
Better news coverage.
Reasons why one might prefer to live in Singapore rather than Hong Kong:
Housing is much cheaper.
Many more flowers.
Streets are much, much cleaner.
Multi-cultural society.
People don't smoke everywhere.
Nearby countries are more interesting (when they don't have riots).
Food courts are cheaper.
Not part of the PRC.
People are far less rude.
Pace of life is slower.
Tap water is much cleaner.
Less cheating of gweilo westerners.
Actually, I like both places a lot. They both have great food, wonderful public transportation and no winters. One the downside they both have too many (stressed-out) people, alcohol is expensive (although this can be a plus), and the societies are too materialistic.
Reciprocal links:
The introduction to the Round The World Journal can be found at http://www.travel-library.com/rtw/donath/. Still thinking of starting in Java provided it's safe enough. I know that may be overly optimistic.
The 'Singapore Journal' can be found on Brian Lucas's Rec.Travel Library pages at: http://www.travel-library.com/asia/singapore/matt_donath/index.html. If you want to send me email my address is mdonath@yahoo.com.
(Journal index)
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