chinatroll

Christmas in Hong Kong

20 Jan 2012 7 Comments

by chinatroll in Uncategorized

I don’t know why, maybe there’s a romantic sound to it or something, but I wanted to go to Hong Kong for Christmas. Another one of those, “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” sort of things. Nathan, my bus driving, photo-taking, film-making friend, needed to pick up some film that he had dropped off in Hong Kong earlier in the week, and we were planning to go to a nunnery afterwards and enjoy the ethereal sound of chanting floating over the tranquil grounds. Things started off peacefully enough, after a lazy Christmas morning at home.

The photo place was closed when we first arrived, and we wandered around a bit looking for lunch. We wound up in an Indonesian restaurant, after a sales critter, speaking comfortably good English convinced us of the great bargains to be had. We took an elevator to the eighth floor and it opened right out onto the restaurant. The restaurant was tastefully put together in deep purples, dark woods, and gold fringes. Athena proceeded to have a minor meltdown. We slowly coaxed her into the booth we’d been seated at. The Indonesian waitstaff smiled toothily at us and looked on with mild interest. Once Athena had calmed down a bit and agreed to sit next to me on the booth, we ordered, with the patient assistance of the waitress, who described in completely incomprehensible English what the dishes on the menu were. We had an incredible meal, despite having little or no clue what we were eating. None of us had ever had Indonesian food before, and now I intend to eat more of it every chance I get.

There was a narrow alleyway that had been turned into a shop just off the road we walked up and down to get to and from the photo place. It seemed to be run by  a woman and her husband. Fruit in styrofoam boxes, bottles of water, soft drinks and chips lined the alley walls on low plywood tables. On one side of the entrance to the alley, the woman stood by this little metal stand that had two waffle irons, and a pitcher of batter perched on it, with some evil looking tongs hanging off of its side. Athena wanted to buy cherries, but having no ready means of washing them, and not wanting to have to carry them around all day listening to her caterwaul about not being able to eat them RIGHT NOW, I persuaded her to be content with a waffle-thing. We watched the woman coat the iron with batter, shut it, turn it. Steam escaped. She opened the iron and skillfully loosed what looked like a bit of bubble wrap made out of waffle batter using the evil looking tongs. Athena was quite pleased with it.

After we’d picked up the photos, Athena informed us that today, Christmas Day in Hong Kong, was the day, preordained by the powers of the universe at large, that Athena was going to get her new shoes. Not being entirely aware of what we were in for, Nathan and I said to ourselves, each other and Athena, “OK, we’ll get your shoes, and then we’ll go to the nunnery.” Thus began the shopping expedition that, only by some Christmas miracle, didn’t end with Nathan hopping on the next stateside-bound plane out of Hong Kong.

What Hong Kong on Christmas amounts to is a colossal sale day. First we wandered around in a mall that we could not persuade Athena to leave for a painfully long time. There was every indication that this mall had absolutely nothing catering to the under-five set. We went to another mall and I asked the concierge where to find children’s shoes. We were directed to this monstrous complex known as Harbor City. Imagine all of downtown Seattle as a shopping mall. Now imagine each square foot packed with 13 people, all taking full advantage of the sales. This was Harbor City. Our crowd surfing began in earnest as the daylight receded and we were thrown into a dusky grayness. Lines of people waited outside of Gucci, and other designer stores. Streams of people moved forcefully inside the malls, and once caught up in a stream it was difficult to get back out. Somehow we managed to make it down into the labyrinthine children’s section, where we found a Stride Rite. Athena got her two pairs of shoes.

It was as dark as it ever gets in Hong Kong when we emerged into the open air feeling shell shocked. No nunnery for us. But the terminal for the Star Ferry was at hand, so we rode across Victoria Harbor to Wan Chai, looking at the Christmas lights, and marveling at how choppy the water was.

After a ride on the tram, sating the needs of two transit geeks, we stopped at a Starbucks for a blood sugar boost and then began the journey home. Athena spent most of the ride home playing her version of Rock Paper Scissors with Nathan. Athena would say, “Rock, paper, scissors,” and then watch to see which one Nathan would put down before selecting her own winning hand shape. Then she would laugh mischievously and say, “Let’s play again.”

Christmas lights!