Weekend In Hong Kong

Architectural detail Po Lin
Monastery

The gloomy, chilly mist of the Hong Kong morning matched the way my body felt after a sleepless night and a sleepless flight. Elizabeth and I chose not to sleep the night before since we didn’t trust that we’d be able to get up for a 4:30 am pickup for our ride to the airport. The flight left at 6:45 so we figured better to just stay up and sleep on the plane. Little did we know that the extra legroom emergency exit seats on the Air Asia plane do not recline, making a nap rather impossible. Also onboard was Melissa, Elizabeth’s coworker, who was also attending the workshop on higher order thinking. The poor girl had just flown back from the U.S. two days before and now was once again changing time zones.

Since I’m a veteran of physical pain, the knotted-up-chilled-to-the-bone-dead-tired ache I was feeling was par for the course. I have meditative imagery techniques that I’ve come up with over the years to just hang on when the pain is bad and there’s no promise of relief in the immediate future. I just needed to hold on until we got to the hotel and checked in before I could begin to address pain relief. As we rolled along the highway, my first impression of Hong Kong was not a good one. In fact just as I was trying to grin and bare the pain, I thought I would just have to grin and bare Hong Kong. It was Friday morning and we were only there until Sunday. I can do it, I thought. I hadn’t even packed a jacket for this whole trip because I was more worried about staying cool in Malaysia. Although Hong Kong is cooler than KL, I believe this was an especially cool and rainy weekend. As it usually goes, the one thing I could have used, a jacket, I didn’t pack. I warded off a full blown anxiety attack, something I’m prone to, when I felt the telltale tightening in my chest and my breath getting shallow and quickening. I took hold and slowed my breath into ‘three part’ breathing. My outlook on the rest of the weekend wasn’t good, but I was ready to just get through it. Little did I know what surprises Hong Kong had in store for me.

The hotel was very nice and in a nice location with a shopping mall connecting to it. The bellman was a tallish, gawky Pakistani man with a brown bellman uniform and a cap which sat askew on his head. His ill-fitted uniform made me think of the Wicked Witch’s flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. He insisted on helping me with me little rolling carry-on, (which I assured him I could handle no problem), by pulling it in a tug of war with me to the point of almost knocking me over in the effort. I have to constantly be reminded that there is no tipping in Asia, but even though the bellman Hassan almost sent me rolling backwards down the escalator, pissed Elizabeth off with his unbridled persistence and was a bumbling fool for the most part, I couldn’t stop myself from tipping him. It was a reward for his enthusiasm. Other aspects of the hotel made up for some confusion that dragged out our check-in and Hassan’s awkard welcome. The interior was designed in a modern zen. I loved the barn door for the bathroom. It’s a design application for a small space that I had been dying to use somewhere in my own home remodel. After the first compulsory tours around the room, checking everything out, we put our legs up for a bit. Then, soon enough we were off to the adjacent Mall to grab a bite to eat before checking out the city.

I must admit that the first day is mostly a blur with certain moments peeking out of my hazy memory. I know that we got some food (I got a bowl of noodles with veggies and pork–I think) at the food court. It warmed us and fueled us to take on venturing out into the damp gloom and begin getting acquainted with Hong Kong. After all, we didn’t have much time–especially Elizabeth and her co-worker, Melissa, who would be in the workshop for the next two days. Luckily there was a free shuttle from the hotel to Tsim Sha Tsui, the leaping point to most of the hotspots of Hong Kong. We wandered around somewhat aimlessly, stopping for coffee and peering into windows of Gucci and Prada and getting our bearings as best we could with our sleep deprived brains. I pushed ahead... and pushed...and pushed. It seemed like forever, but we were still in a two-block radius of where we were dropped off by the shuttle. I finally had to throw in the towel and head back. I would have the whole next day to explore. Collapsing in the middle of Hong Kong on the first day would definitely put a damper on things for the other two.

Elizabeth and I in front of a Chinese New
Year Tree decorated with Ang Pows.

I wanted so badly to go on to the Ladies Market, an outdoor Market that is touted to have some great deals on almost anything. I have gotten better at letting go of missing out. You have to do what you have to do. Seeing anything in Hong Kong is more than I’ve seen before, so it’s all good. Once I get over that hump of disappointment and adjust my perspective of the situation I can let it go and rest with hopes that the next day will be better. It’s only recently that I find I can let go of the expectations and just be ready for whatever happens next.

Elizabeth came back with a nice surprise for me from the Ladies Market: a pair of black super light weight cotton drawstring pants with wide loose legs. Just the thing I wanted to look for the Kuala Lumpur climate. It was so nice of her to think of me. She got a great deal on a bag and we laughed while she told me story about bargaining it’s price with the stall owner. I’m sure she was a formidable match for the seasoned market vendor. I was happy hearing about her adventures with Melissa in the market and happy that I made the right decision to come back to the hotel so they could enjoy the evening without worrying about me.

The next morning Elizabeth was up and out early for the workshop. I rested and took my time making it downstairs just in time to grab breakfast before they stopped serving. With brochures in one hand and my coffee in the other I decided that I would do an afternoon tour to Lantau, the largest outlying island that takes the Ngong Ping cable car up to the Po Lin Monastery where there is a huge bronze seated Buddha, one of five such statues in China. Once I made the decision to go my adrenalin levels rose so much I felt I could feel it rushing like a river running through me. I was off, choosing to seize this once in a lifetime opportunity to just go and take a little bite out of Hong Kong. I must have be some type of adrenalin junky. I was excited and nervous. The more nervous I got, the more I looked forward to venturing off alone. Well, not entirely alone, there were other people on the tour and the tour guide. And yet, I felt like I was off to discover new lands. The lands are well charted, but what was the unknown was how I would be able to handle the tour physically. There were steps and walking involved and I wouldn’t know how difficult it would be until I got there.

The cable car rose from the chaos of the city up into the mist and over the lush mountainous island of Lantau heading towards Ngong Ping. I am so happy that I happened to be seated in the gondola with some very nice people. There were two young men from Saudi Arabia, two other men who seemed to be from Indonesia and last but not least two Indian couples. One was from England, the other from India. They had just attended a wedding in India, (of which I was treated to viewing some video on one of my companions iPhone, to my excitement), and were on a little trip. Hong Kong and then off to Thailand, or was it Singapore. The men, one a little older than the other were funny. Especially the older one, whose name I later learned was Sabash. He was just a happy camper and his commentary on the way up was fun. Being a bit of a buster myself, I had to get in on it.

Boris and I. 

The real icebreaker was the little pocketsize HD video camera I bought just an hour before in Tsim Sha Tsui from Boris I had no idea how to use it and it’s diminutive size was a challenge to my clumsy hands. Nonetheless, I played with it, switching from still camera mode to video mode. It was a talking point and that was the how I met my new travel companions. The other man, Rakesh, was taking video of our ascent with his iPod. We got into a friendly debate over which device was better. The iPod or my little gadget. While the two men stood watching our ascent and making cute comments along the way, the women seated opposite smiling at me whenever I glanced at them. I got a good feeling from them and as these things happen, it was the beginning of being ‘tour mates’. Or maybe they just felt sorry for me because I was alone. Either way, we connected and I am so grateful that we were together in that little compartment together.

Ngong Ping Village

Tian Tan Buddha

Two of the 6 Devas

The design and architecture of Ngong Ping is one of an enchanting village which reflects the peaceful and contemplative spirituality of the island of Lantau. Nearby is the Po Lin Monastery. There, seated in meditation atop a lotus flower, is the giant Tian Tan Buddha with his hands in abahaya mudra signifying reassurance, blessing and protection. The left hand is palm up in the gesture of giving, or dhana, and his soft gaze of deep meditation emanates a peace that permeates the hilltop. Many devout Buddhists visit walking around the statue with hands in anjali mudra, prayer hands, stop periodically to bow to the Buddha and leave offerings of food, bowls of water, candles and incense at the altar inside the base. I consider myself a Buddhist in the sense that I have studied Buddhism and find that the Buddhist philosophies fit my outlook on life. I try to approach life from a perspective of compassion and finding the ‘middle way’. Unserstandably,  after years of learning about Buddhism, to find myself in a ‘real’ monastery (albeit touristic) was profoundly moving. Images of this Buddha and others are plentiful, but to be standing there feeling the peaceful hush that fell over the mountaintop and the outlying thick, green hills and valleys filled me with a quiet joy and stillness. The statues of the 6 Devas surrounding the Buddha are on their knees holding out offerings which represent the 6 traits one needs to achieve enlightenment and enter Nirvana: charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. I prayed and relished the moment.


 I could have stayed much longer at the monastery, but this being a tour we were off to the next stop. In fact, this was the second time that the tour guide had to come and accompany me to the bus. At least this time I was not last one. My physical pace is not ideal for a group tour.

Entrance to the Monastery Temple

A short bus ride carried us down the winding mountain road to Tai O, a quaint colorful fishing village. This was authentic and made me feel like, okay, I have seen a small piece of Hong Kong. For me when I’m in a new place I like to see real people. Now this village is on the tour itinerary, and yes, it the tourism tide bringing in waves of tourists, but the residents seemed nonplussed by all of us. They are just going on about their lives. The narrow streets are lined with open air shops selling mostly a plethora of dried fish, live fish, cooked fish, grilled corn on the cob, and of course souvenirs from the tacky to the one of a kind handmade treasures. I sampled fish balls (not what it sounds like) on a skewer and bought some dried fruit that I didn’t recognize but tastes sweet and was delicious. I snapped many pictures with my new video/still camera, but really what the weather-etched faces, hand-painted signs and small colorful boats stirred within me was to sit and sketch and paint. I started a new fantasy of returning to just stay in this small village with it’s double personality of village and tourist stop, and paint it. It was almost painful to not be able to. Although I am inspired just by looking around me this was something else. Something I haven’t felt in years.  The tour guide called and with no time to fulfill that urge. I promised myself that I would make a point to take advantage while I’m here in the East to break through my creative block and just start sketching. Sketching for me. I want to scope out some spots where I can just park myself with no worries of time or finished product and just get back to the basics of seeing. I was sad to leave this town that reignited that deeply burning fire I haven’t felt in so long. I missed it. And although chances that I'll ever make back to Tai O to just spend a length of time painting are slim to none, it will have a secret and important place in my heart for giving me the gift of my creative juices back to me.

From there a ferry was our vehicle back into the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong Island and then we were on our own from there. Of course something had  to go wrong and I realized that I forgot my bag with some things I bought at the monastery on the bus. My new friend Aruna and I found the tour guide on the ferry and he said he would contact the driver and if was found, would have sent over to the hotel. I bought a Buddha and pendants for my traveling companions Elizabeth and Melissa. Again the anxiety came knocking and I had to just let it go. What could I do. It’s not about the stuff, it’s about the experience. It was dark now and the energy and crowds picked up. A Saturday night brought out the locals as well as the throngs of tourists to Tsim Sha Tsui. I have problems with being neurologically over-stimulated in crowds. I lose my balance and fall, become tremulous and the list goes on. Let’s just say it’s not pretty. With my new friends, however, as tired and confused as I was by this time I just followed them until it was time to say goodbye with hugs and promises of keeping in touch, which I have every intention of doing.

Tian Tan Buddha        
 Po Lin Monastery      
 Hong Kong