Beginning at Jimmy's

May 6, 2007
HK - Day 1

The Singaporeans are arriving tonight along with the kick off dinner to officially start the program: Eating our Way across Asia. I spent my last day of freedom visiting relatives from my father's side of the family.

Early in the morning, I followed the throngs of middle aged women and boarded the Star Ferry. For CAD$0.31, I traversed across the murky waters from Tsim Tsa Tsui to Hong Kong Island, taking in the smoggy city skyline.

Taking the Star Ferry to Hong Kong island

I was supposed to meet my Uncle at the pier at 11am, but unfortunately, we both had hazy memories of each other. When I finally spotted my Uncle half an hour later he exclaimed, "Oh! You've been here for a long time!"

View from the Ferry

At Central Pier

My uncle led me onto a bus and we headed towards Aberdeen for a meal of dim sum. Along the way, he pointed out various buildings where I used to reside. It feels strange looking at landmarks that were once part of my life.
Dimsum was held at the famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant, a massive eatery floating on water. To get there, we stepped onto a pier with the overhead sign "JUMBO" and sat in a small boat that took us over. The place was grand and the food was tasty.

After lunch, my relatives took me to a famous fish ball noodle restaurant on Old Main Street. Although I was still stuffed full with dimsum, I was happy to oblige as the restaurant is located on the street where my father grew up. I can now place a picture to my dad's numerous stories of his past.

Boarding a boat to Jumbo Floating Festaurant

Barges/Boat Ports

At the front entrance of Jumbo Floating Restaurant

Walking along Old Main Street, Aberdeen

I raced back to the YMCA afterwards and met up with my class just in time for another meal. Dinner was held at Jimmy's Kitchen, chosen by Professor Johnson for its reputation as the oldest Western style restaurant in Hong Kong.

At Jimmy's Kitchen

I'm pretty excited about the start of this program. Let's hope this goes well!

The Big Buddha

May 7, 2007
HK - Day 2

Making our way through Kowloon Park

After a morning of fresh faced introductions at Hong Kong's Kowloon park, the class headed towards the famous Chungking Mansion near the YMCA. Among my classmates, the mansion is famous for its shabby, almost ghastly exterior. The fact that we were advised to stay away from it added to its intrigue.

Chungking Mansion!

Chungking Mansion is an old residential building with two levels of retail space at the bottom. The interior, however, does not hold up the menacing persona projected by the exterior. The two bottom floors look like any other old style shopping malls in Hong Kong. What is intriguing, however, is the location's strong representation of South Asians and Middle Easterners. They comprise of the majority of shoppers and shopkeepers.

Central on a Sunday morning

I am starting to notice a strong social stratification in this city. Central, during Sundays, is a gathering point for another ethnic minority: Filipino maids. They use cardboard mats like picnic cloths on sidewalks, subway tunnels and any other open space where they can sit and socialize. In Central Park, clusters of Indonesians and Malaysians can be found.

In the afternoon, the UBC crowd headed to Lantau Island to visit the big Buddha. We took the Ngong Ping 360 sky rail and caught a glimpse of the smoggy but breathtaking skyline of Hong Kong.

Ngong Ping 360 Skyrail

When we got there, we passed by a touristy Chinese style village. This "village" houses convenience stores, a Starbucks, and even a shop devoted to selling sets of fancy chopsticks. It's interesting how Buddhism serves an important purpose for both locals and tourists.

Starbucks

The Big Buddha

Feeling small next to Buddha

View from the top

The Sun Yat Sen of Hong Kong

May 8, 2007
HK - Day 3

I started my day off with an early morning laundry wash followed by a brunch at a local eatery with a couple of my fellow students. We ordered a dinner menu of bbq pork, duck, gailan and curry. It was a good meal, but I was disappointed that it tasted no better than the Chinese food served in Vancouver. I've been hoping to be blown away by authentic Chinese food here, but it seems authenticity has already made its way across the Pacific.

The group then headed towards the Sun Yat Sen Museum in Aberdeen.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Museum

A Dr. Sun Yat Sen Historical Trail though Hong Kong!

Wandering through the streets of Aberdeen

Taking a break

Nearing the Peak tram

At night, we took the tram up to Hong Kong's famous Peak; a mountain top with a spectacular view of the city. Expectedly, we were greeted by a shopping center at the summit. We ended up visiting Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum for a while before grabbing dinner at Mc Donald's and snapping some photos of the Hong Kong skyline.

Li Ka Shing, the richest man in Hong Kong

Posing with Lee Kuan Yew

Dwarfed by Yao Ming

My colonial roots

Hong Kong from the Peak

Sam Tung Uk

May 9, 2007
HK - Day 4

Today the class took off bright and early to the Sam Tung Uk museum in Tsuen Wan. Sam Tung Uk is the remains of an old Hakka village built by the Chan clan family. Interestingly, it was a British official who fought for the preservation of the building.

According to Professor Johnson, Tsuen Wan was a rural village that blossomed into an industrial town after World War II. The Communist takeover of China and the subsequent changes in policies gave incentive for many Shanghainese industrialists to migrate over.

Front entrance of Sam Tung Uk - a contrast between old and new

A bedroom

Hakka chicken manure creeper dumplings

Afterwards, the group headed towards the nearby temple of Ma Zhu. Our visit coincided with her birthday. The place was bustling with villagers carrying incense sticks and dishes of goods for offering. The altar overflowed with food and in every direction people were maneuvering and pushing past bodies. It was quite a sight.

Most of the people present were elderly or middle aged women. Maybe this gender bias was because we were visiting in the mid afternoon and the men were at work and children at school. I wonder, however, if the younger generations of the village still adhere to these religious activities.

Ma Zhu Temple

The offerings

I also met the village leader of Tsuen Wan. I was extremely surprised village leaders still exist in Hong Kong. His title seems so out of place in my culturally naive mind. I am aware of the use of a village leader in China, but to meet one in Hong Kong, an international business hub, caught me off guard for a second.

A group of us headed to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum afterwards.

At the Hong Kong Heritage Museum

At night I chowed down some Japanese fusion food at Watami. Once again, I'm pleasantly surprised at how comparatively good Chinese food in Vancouver is. Watami did have some interesting concoctions though. My favorite was their spinach lasagna - meat sauce and cheese on top of a layer of gyozas.

MTR

May 10, 2007
HK - Day 5

Today was a free day in Hong Kong so I traveled around the MTR with Linda.

At night, we had dinner with some of our Singaporean colleagues at Fairwood, a cafeteria style fast food restaurant and rival of the ubiquitous Cafe de Coral.

Billboards!

A typical neon sign

Some shopping mall escalators skip floors you can quickly ascend the number level of the building

Roast meat vendor

Guangzhou & the Massage Girls

May 11, 2007
Guangzhou - Day 6

We checked out of the YMCA this morning and headed across the Hong Kong border to our next destination: Guangzhou, China.

Somewhere in Guangzhou

Somewhere else in Guangzhou

After a quick stop at our hotel, we took the bus to the Li Wan Qu Hua Qiao Xue Xia: a primary school for children ages 6 to 13. It's a state run school that was originally funded by overseas Chinese. The school is gigantic in comparison to elementary schools in Vancouver.

View from my hotel room

At night, we had dinner with post-graduate students from the Guangzhou Foreign Studies University. I conversed with a young graduate student studying translation in hopes to become an interpreter. She told me a lot about city life in this area. We discussed about the use of money as a leverage in China, traditional parenting, discos, the proper age for marriage, minorities in Guangzhou, the disadvantaging of women and even on how she thinks Deng Xiaoping is cute. I was extremely surprised at how open she was, especially when we reached more sensitive topics concerning her country. Maybe I'm judging too quickly based on the stereotypes I've been told.

After a happy dinner at the university's restaurant

After dinner, a group of us went back to our hotel to try out a cheap massage parlor. Several days of continuous walking convinced us to get the foot massage packages with prices ranging from around CAD$10 to $20. Half way through the massage, one of the young masseurs started showing an interest in our male classmate. I'm not sure if she was joking, but he left the place in a rush just as a precaution.

Having a drink before the massage

The White Swan Hotel

May 12, 2007
Guangzhou - Day 7

We went on a guided tour of a comprador's house today. A comprador is a person who assisted in trades between foreigners and the Chinese back in the 19th and early 20th century. Because of their association with foreigners, they were not well liked individuals.

Walking through the main entrance

An elaborate residence

At the end of our tour, our guides insisted we stay to watch a Chinese calligraphy show which would start in a few minutes time. Then they skillfully left us in their gift shop with the added note that all their goods were authentic items collected from villagers. I'm not sure if this was really the case, but a lot of people bought souvenirs in the end, including myself. "Authentic Chinese" is a great marketing tool.

Afterwards, the bus drove into the French concession. A couple of us went to the nearby White Swan hotel, a famous name among those in the adoption circle. Parents from around the world reside here while they await the arrival of their newly adopted Chinese children.

At the French concession

Inside the White Swan Hotel

Singapore

May 13, 2007
Singapore - Day 8

Everyone seemed relieved when we set foot onto Singapore this afternoon. We are finally back in what is perceived to be a cleaner, safer and more culturally familiar country.When we arrived at the airport, Trevor promptly drank from a water fountain - just because he could. I feel more at home here too. Singapore's lush greenery and open space reminds me a little of Vancouver.

By the time we arrived, it was already late afternoon. After quickly dropping off our bags at NUS, the Singaporeans treated us to a dinner at a Hainanese Chicken restaurant. The food was great.




















Orchard Road

After dinner, we wandered over to Orchard Road, the main shopping district of Singapore. Even though it was late at night, the streets were still lively with throngs of people. It is obvious there is a mixed population here. I know I have not been in this country for long, but it doesn’t feel like there is a Chinese dominance here. However, HP later told me racism in Singapore occurs in very subtle ways.

Chinatown

May 14, 2007
Singapore - Day 9

The first stop as a group today was the Chinatown Heritage Center. This museum focuses mainly on the personal histories of Chinese migrant life in Singapore. Video interviews, long quotations and displays replicating storefronts, bedrooms, kitchens, food and so on makes this museum a refreshing change from the usual. It definitely helps one's imagination of the past.





















Strolling down Chinatown





















Chinatown

Afterwards, we all broke off into small groups and visited various tourist sights including the Tian Hock Temple. In contrast to Hong Kong, most dishes used for offerings in Singapore are vegetarian.





















Searching for the Tian Hock Keng Temple
















Finally here - Tian Hock Keng
















Vegetarian offerings
















According to Ying Kit, this plaque was a gift from a Chinese emperor

We also made our way to the business district, the Merlion, the Esplanade and then to a nearby shopping center. At night, we had more chicken rice.












The big durian





















My failed attempt at drinking from the Merlion





















Apparently this building is modeled after Batman's Gotham City





















The gorgeous Raffles Hotel





















Busy at work in the courtyard kitchen





















Standing beside Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore