Hong Kong

Our last full day today before heading him (or Chicago in my case).  There are some touristy things to do in Hong Kong (like the tram up to the Peak), but after three weeks, we’re a little burnt.  Even though it is our only full day here, we still only managed to straggle out of the hotel around 11:30.  With nowhere in particular to go, we walked a little deeper into Kowloon to see some of the city away from the tourist center (and all the touts pitching suits, handbags and watches).  Even there though the volume of people was oppressive.

After lunch we took the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island. For about 30 cents it is a great value as the trip is fairly quick and the view from the water going across is great.  The Hong Kong side is home to more of the financial district and foreign companies so it has a different feel from Kowloon.  In a lot of ways is feels like a cross between London and New York, and if the population were about half what it is, I could see it being a fairly reasonable place to live.

Wandering around we spent some time looking at old furniture and artifacts.  There were a few things we found interesting, but knowing know what they cost in Beijing it’s harder to justify paying the up charge just to get them here.  I fear for the most part we are going to return home empty-handed (save for the piles of gifts for the kids).

For our last dinner here we met up with some old classmates from Stanford at a very good Mexican restaurant (or it may have just seemed very good after 20 days of sometimes suspect Chinese food. It was good to see some familiar faces and to have a conversation in English with someone other than ourselves.

About this time tomorrow we’ll be touching down in San Francisco.  This has been a wonderful trip with many memories that will not be soon forgotten. But there’s something special about home, and after being gone for so long, it will be great to be back.