Day 346: Flying Lotus

Hong Kong, China

Back in 2001 when I backpacked around the United Kingdom, I met a Hong Kong-nese older couple with whom I struck out conversation that I didn’t expect to last more than our 9-day trip together. However, Aunt Sylvia had proven to be good at keeping in touch, even when it required the old-school way of letter writing and international phone calling. All these years, I have been receiving at least one letter per year from the couple. And all throughout the letters and accompanying photos, I had been jealous of their annual trip all over places like Turkey, Jordan, etc. Now that I’m in Hong Kong, it’s a no-brainer to meet up with them again. It’s been more than a decade.

Aunt Sylvia and I met up in the late afternoon in the touristic district of Kowloon called Tsim Sha Tsui. The Star Walk promenade that spans along the riverside has a collection of hand prints of the famous stars as well as a statue of the master Kungfu figher Bruce Lee :] After dinner, we took the dirt cheap ride of the Star Ferry across the river back to the Hong Kong island. The ride is enjoyable, best to be taken at night where you can see the impressive skyline of both Hong Kong and Kowloon . The other place to view the night cityscape, though not as cheap and easily reachable, is The Peak. There’s a tram that goes up the hill, but we called a cab instead for convenience. I was trying to refuse Aunt Sylvia’s hospitality of wanting to show me The Peak for it was getting late when we were heading up there. But I’m glad we did go, the view was stunning.