Elsebeth in Hong Kong

Sunday, March 6, 2011 – Sea

Wonderful evening with the Filipino Crew Show!! It was wonderful. Bamboo dancing, candle light dance, castanet dance and singing by our friends.
“A journey of a thousand miles must being with a single step”. – Lao Tzu

Monday, March 7, 2011 – Hong Kong, China

We docked at the Ocean Mall, on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong, which is made up of approx. 235 islands. European trade with China had been taking place since the 16th century but as European demand for tea and silk grew, the balance of trade became more unfavorable to the Europeans, who were expected to pay in silver. In 1773, the British unloaded 155,000 pounds of Bengal opium and the Chinese taste for the foreign mud grew exponentially. Alarmed at the drain of silver from the country and the increasing number of addicts, the Emperor banned the drug trade but the Europeans and the corrupt Chinese officials kept the trade in opium going until 1839. It was a British dependency from the 1840s until July 1, 1997, when it passed to Chinese sovereignty as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

We were met by Elsebeth, my Danish exchange sister now living in Hong Kong! She was invited onboard and we showed her around and had lunch before venturing out to tram-hop on Hong Kong Island. After taking the Star Ferry across the Victoria Harbour, we rode on the upper deck in the local tram all the way to Kennedytown, passing the Western market and seeing all the fresh and dried fishes in the various shops. We take the local train to Sha Tin on the Kowloon side and then the local bus up a windy hill to their pink apartment building connected with the Hong Kong Baptist University. Elsebeth and her husband, Hans Jorgen, are both teachers and two of the three boys are attending school here. The eldest returned to Copenhagen for his adventure in school and employment. After a nap, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with everyone and took the train back to the ship. We were able to walk underground approx. a mile from the train/subway exit to the ship! There are extensive underground subways connected to their transportation system and an extensive network of malls above-ground so you never have to be out on the street to face the cold or the extreme heat.
By this time, I was not feeling great but we tried to work on the free internet in the Ocean Mall.

“A single rose can be my garden…a single friend, my world.” – Leo Buscaglia (read his books!)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 – Hong Kong, China

New passengers boarded and some of our friends departed – crew and passengers. We walked in the mall all the way up to the ferries to Macau and saw the new terminal. They go every half hour so maybe next time we will venture there. Walked through Kowloon Park and down Nathan Road. Many of the museums are closed on Tuesday but the Space Museum looked really nice – IMAX and all! And the theatre is very close by the ship also so it would be a great option for an evening’s entertainment also. We missed the onboard Hong Kong Cultural Arts show at 7PM which had the dragon dance and other fancy costumes. There is so much to do in Hong Kong. You have to choose just one or two things and go there...Stanley market, Victoria Peak, shopping...

Dinner onboard with Emil and Elsebeth and the laser light show at 8PM over Victoria Harbour from the pool deck! Was a nice evening to share in Hong Kong. We worked on the computer in the mall, phoned the USA and boarded the ship to find out that we were wanted by Chinese Immigration and the Captain, Guest Relations Manager and Hotel Manager! Since we “thought” we might go to Macau, we had filled out a form stating that intent and the ship had stamped our passport as if we had departed. So since they thought we had left the country we needed to “legally” enter the country. But since we had never really left and had never retrieved our passports from the pursers office, we were not sure what happened on their end but we ended up having to appear in front of the officials so they could see us face-to-face and then issue that ever-so-valuable departure stamp.
I practically fell in to bed that night.

From Sydney to Hong Kong, we have traveled 4900 miles at an average speed of 16.9-19.8 kts.